Skip to content

Latvia

September 16th - September 22nd, 2024 | Week 55 | Month 13

Latvia Weekly: Bureaucracy, Language Policy, and COVID-19 Spark Debate

Domestic issues dominated the narrative, focusing on bureaucracy, corruption, mandatory COVID-19 vaccines for children, and the use of the Russian language in public spaces. Opposition parties criticized the parliamentary decision to exclude the Russian language from ATMs, labeling it as Russophobic and inconvenient for Ukrainian refugees.

by Otto Tabuns
ATM
Main channels: Facebook, Twitter, TikTok

8

Main narratives:

  • Glorifying Soviet Past
  • Blames of alleged russophobia
  • The incompetence of the current government
  • Creating the divisions between politicians and “ordinary” citizens
  • General anti-government sentiments

Overview:

The narratives focused on domestic issues, specifically the burden of bureaucracy and corruption, mandatory COVID-19 vaccines for children, and the use of the Russian language in the public sphere.

The parliamentary decision to exclude the Russian language from ATMs was widely discussed by opposition parties on social media, with claims that such measures are Russophobic and create inconvenience for Ukrainian refugees. In terms of engagement, topics like COVID-19 gained significantly more attention on TikTok compared to other platforms. While TikTok remains the platform with the highest engagement, there has been increasing activity on Twitter as well.

Weekly Reports
Saeimas

Latvia Weekly: How Outrage Is Fueling a Populist Surge

April 14th - April 20th, 2025

Estonia Weekly: Concerns Over Russian Propaganda and Youth Indoctrination

April 14th - April 20th, 2025

Military

Lithuania Weekly: Silence After Tragedy Fuels New Conspiracy Theories

April 7th - April 13th, 2025

Market

Latvia Weekly: Russophobia, Decline, and Delusion - Narratives Fuel Division

April 7th - April 13th, 2025

Ship

Estonia Weekly: Seizure of Sanctioned Tanker Sparks Kremlin Backlash

April 7th - April 13th, 2025

Pabradė

Lithuania Weekly: Conspiracies After Successful Pabradė Operation

March 31st - April 6th, 2025

Army

Latvia Weekly: Propaganda Paints Latvia as Aggressor

March 31st - April 6th, 2025

Tallinn

Estonia Weekly: Propaganda Targets Censorship and Spending

March 31st - April 6th, 2025

Pabradė

Lithuania Weekly: Pabradė Tragedy Sparks Anti-NATO Narratives

March 24th - March 30th, 2025

Riga

Latvia Weekly: How Kremlin Channels Paint Latvia as Collapsing

March 24th - March 30th, 2025

Don't miss a story.

We publish stories that change laws, lives, minds and the world. Subscribe to our newsletter to get our investigations delivered to your inbox.