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Reports

November 2023 by Olevs Nikers

Estonia Monthly: Restrictions on Native Language

The Estonian social media and web-based media actors during the reporting month predominantly were still focusing on the Estonian/Russian language policy issues, specifically the policy which is introducing Estonian language in all the government funded schools, human rights issues, democracy and trust towards elected officials, war in Ukraine, as well as the international security situation in general. This month the attention towards terrorist crisis in Israel somehow diminished, but in turn, it went more over the economic and financial issues and the context of the European Union in this regard. Accordingly, the main narratives that were spread over the social media were the following: 

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November 20th - November 26th, 2023 by Urtė Andriukaitytė

Lithuania Weekly: Finalised MG Baltic Case

During this reporting period, the Lithuanian Court of Appeal issued a ruling in one of the most resonant political corruption cases in Lithuanian history. Eligijus Masiulis, Raimondas Kurlianskis and Vytautas Gapšys were convicted of bribery and influence peddling in the scandalous MG Baltic political corruption case. Even though this case started back in 2016, being the largest one in Lithuanian history, it has still attracted mass attention. Besides intriguing citizens, the MG Baltic case also strongly affects the public’s opinions on the courts and the judicial system in general.

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November 20th - November 26th, 2023 by Otto Tabuns

Latvia Weekly: Istanbul Convention and Economic Struggles

At the centre of discussion of the examined week were two topics that have been prevalent in the disinformation content examined prior- the ratification of Istanbul Convention and the controversy surrounding private jet flights by the current foreign affairs minister and the former prime minister Krišjānis Kariņš. With Istanbul Convention getting closer to ratification which had been priorly articulated by the examined accounts as impossible the narratives now help to fuel their aspiration of dismissing the current parliament for which they are currently trying to obtain necessary votes for a referendum. In regard to the private jet flights, there is an overall agreement that this constitutes excessive spending however it helps the examined authors to further create the image of Latvia being corrupt, its people being poor and create and shape and overall narrative of not thrustworthy government. During the examined week, the volume of content examined was significantly lower than prior weeks. From the examined platforms, it follows same as the prior weeks- video content reaches bigger audiences and creates more engagement with Twitter and Telegram receiving the least engament and Tiktok and Facebook the most.

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November 13th - November 19th, 2023 by Urtė Andriukaitytė

Lithuania Weekly: Another Removed Citizenship?

During this reporting period, Kremlin-aligned media channels in Lithuania promoted “Lithuanians are Russophobes” narrative. Following on the removal of Drobiazko’s citizenship, another case appeared in the Lithuanian media: famous Russian ballet dancer Ilzė Liepa, who openly praises Putin and his war in Ukraine, and who holds Lithuanian citizenship, is now being considered for removal of it. Some posts backed up the argument of Russophobia and called Liepa a “victim”, “Drobiazko-2”, and the whole situation as “outraging the Russophobes”.

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