cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/8405152

Here is the full report: MANUFACTURING IMPUNITY: RUSSIAN INFORMATION OPERATIONS IN UKRAINE - (pdf)

Global Rights Compliance (GRC) lawyers and researchers at the Reckoning Project worked to expose how information operations and digitally enhanced propaganda were used as an integral part of criminal acts.

This report provides an in-depth examination of “information alibis”, a distinct form of disinformation employed by the Russian Federation (‘Russia’) in armed conflicts. Information alibis involve the preemptive dissemination of false information, carefully crafted to deflect responsibility for crimes committed by the actual perpetrator or perpetrating State.

By constructing these deceptive narratives, Russia aims to absolve its leadership of culpability and manipulate the information landscape to its advantage. This tactic represents a cynical weaponisation of rhetoric as part of Russia’s broader military strategy.

The report analyses the structure, purpose, and objectives of information alibis within the wider context of Russian information operations. It reveals a coherent strategy rooted in state doctrine, evident in operations within Ukraine, Syria, and other regions.

This strategy involves a complex interplay of state actors and carefully orchestrated disinformation campaigns designed to mislead both domestic and international audiences.

The report establishes a foundational understanding of how information alibis function as an important tool for a group of persons acting with a common purpose. Future efforts will focus on expanding case-specific investigations, strengthening attribution to individual perpetrators, and translating findings into probative evidence for accountability mechanisms.

The project was aimed at combining investigations into the command structure of Russian information operations, detailed content analysis of propaganda, data analysis of online behaviour, and other evidence to make a compelling case that:

– Shifted the public debate to clearly mark the difference between even the most extreme types of abhorrent but legal speech and the use of information operations as part of criminal conduct;

– Established a foundation for stronger sanctions and other forms of public pressure to disrupt the funding and functioning of Russian information operations, thus weakening Russia’s military and ‘hybrid war’ machine in Ukraine and across the world;

– Advanced legal principles and build the evidentiary basis necessary to pursue criminal cases against those responsible for integrating information operations into criminal acts.

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