Digital Politics, Dissent, and Mobilization in Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia

Session Submission Type: Panel

Brief Description

Digital tools have become a pervasive tool of both regimes and populations in the former Soviet world. The Putin regime has become increasingly adept at using disinformation both abroad in the war in Ukraine and at home against its own population. Populations have countered disinformation through their own grass roots mobilizations throughout the region, developing new repertoires of contention through social media sites. The papers of this panel explore the use of digital technologies by both regimes and populations in Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia.

Sub Unit

• Politics/Law

Chair

• Yoshiko M. Herrera, U of Wisconsin-Madison

Papers

• What about Whataboutism - Hannah Chapman, U of Oklahoma; Anton Shirikov, The University of Kansas

• Making Sense and Pushing Back: Folk Theories of Social Media Algorithms in the Context of Russia’s War in Ukraine - Volha Kananovich, Appalachian State U

• The Digital Diplomacy of Russian Political Dissent during Russia’s War in Ukraine - Anna Popkova, Western Michigan U

• 'We are 97%': Network and Content Analyses of Belarusian Grassroot Activism via Local Telegram Channels - Steven Lloyd Wilson, Brandeis U

Discussant

• Yoshiko M. Herrera, U of Wisconsin-Madison