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https://repositorio.consejodecomunicacion.gob.ec//handle/CONSEJO_REP/7192
Title: | Googling in Russian Abroad: How Kremlin-Affiliated Websites Contribute to the Visibility of COVID-19 Conspiracy Theories in Search Results |
Other Titles: | International Journal of Communication |
Authors: | Toepfl, Florian Rizhova, Anna Kravets, Daria Beseler, Arista |
Keywords: | engines Russia |
Issue Date: | 2023 |
Publisher: | International Journal of Communication |
Citation: | Toepfl, F., Ryzhova, A., Kravets, D., and Beseler, A. (2023). Googling in Russian Abroad: How Kremlin-Affiliated Websites Contribute to the Visibility of COVID-19 Conspiracy Theories in Search Results. International Journal Of Communication, 17, 21. Retrieved from https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/19423/4042 |
Abstract: | Research that audited search algorithms typically deployed queries in one language fielded from within only one country. In contrast, this study scrutinized 8,800 Google results retrieved in November 2020 from 5 countries (Russia, the United States, Germany, Ukraine, and Belarus) in response to queries on COVID-19 conspiracy theories in Russian and English. We found that the pandemic appeared similar to people who googled in Russian independent of their geolocation. The only exception was Ukraine, which had implemented rigorous media policies to limit the reach of websites affiliated with Russia within its national public sphere. Conspiracy narratives varied with input language. In response to Russian-language queries, 35.5% of the conspiratorial results suspected U.S. plotters to be behind the pandemic (English language: 5.8%). All source pages that blamed U.S. plotters showed connections with Russia’s elites. These findings raise important theoretical questions for today’s multilingual societies, where the practice of searching in nonlocal languages is increasing. |
URI: | https://repositorio.consejodecomunicacion.gob.ec//handle/CONSEJO_REP/7192 |
ISSN: | 1932-8036 |
Appears in Collections: | Documentos internacionales sobre libertad de expresión y derechos conexos |
Files in This Item:
File | Description | Size | Format | |
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Googling.pdf | Googling | 437,21 kB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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