Freedom House Chapter 2 Propaganda at Home and Abroad The following propositions have all appeared in the , ’ Russian media over the past few years: If the 20th century was defined by the battle for freedom of information ¢ The United States naira Islamic sla KeTUST ISIS and against censorship, the 21st to sabotage the Russian semmercial alniiner that century will be defined by malevo- was destroyed after takeoff in the Sinai in 2015. : lent actors, states or corporations, ¢ A three-year-old boy was crucified by the U.S.- abusing the right to freedom of backed Ukrainian army in Slovyansk in 2014. information for quite other ends.” ¢ The United States is planning a major war in Eu- EEE EL rope to enable Washington to cancel its national : debt. Information wars have already become standard practice and the « The dexuning of the talaysian airliner over main type of warfare. The bombers eastern Ukraine in 2014 was in fact the central : : . , ee . ; are now sent in after the information ingredient in an elaborate, American-driven plot Gg to place blame on Russia. Campalgn. —Dmitry Kiselyov, chief Russian propaganda strategist e American policies will lead to a global “homosex- ual sodomite tsunami." This is just a small sample of similar claims or conjec- particularly in postcommunist societies where strict tures that have made their way into Russian news cov- press censorship had prevailed for years. Even if the erage, especially in the wake of Moscow's occupation professionalism and ethical standards of journalism of Crimea and invasion of eastern Ukraine. They stand in those countries were not always up te the highest as a reminder that under Vladimir Putin, the Russian levels, the fact that the press spoke with different media environment has been transformed from one voices, different opinions, and even different biases marked by vibrancy and diverse opinions (if not high was a huge step toward a world in which democracy professional standards) to one dominated by