Report
Latvia Weekly: MP’s Arrest Fuels Populist Narrative Online
Aleksejs Roslikovs transformed his detention by Latvia’s State Security Service on charges of assisting Russia and inciting hatred into a powerful social media narrative of political martyrdom, portraying himself as a persecuted victim fighting government oppression. His TikTok videos reframing the criminal investigation as evidence of his heroic resistance demonstrate how populist politicians can exploit legal troubles to strengthen their anti-establishment credentials and generate massive online engagement.
Weekly Reports
Latvia Weekly: Scandinavian Banks, Private Planes and Flu Epidemic
Main narratives: Overview: From the findings of the examined week the content mainly surrounds domestic controversies especially concerning corruption. The main topic remains the private airplane flights taken by the ex prime minister Krišjānis Kariņš. Other topics include Scandinavian banks and Covid-19 however they are not widespread amongst all of the channels examined. Contrary to…
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Estonia Weekly: Taxes and the poor
This week there was a lot of talk about the 2024 Estonian budget and how this new budget will create more poverty and monetary hardships for the Estonian people. There was also a lot of mention of Prime Minister Kaya Kallas, her meeting with Ukrainian president Zelensky, and how many other politicians agree that her resignation would help the political situation in Estonia improve.
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Lithuania Weekly: Ukraine’s Prioritisation over Lithuania
Scrutinised pieces during this reporting week were mainly criticising the prioritisation of Ukraine over Lithuanian issues. Hostile outlets also further undermined Lithuania’s ongoing support for Ukraine, claiming that it “leads nowhere” and accused the government of Lithuania for putting the war in Ukraine first and domestic issues second. Also, Kremlin-aligned media harshly criticised local politicians, questioning their competencies and financial transparency (referring to previously analysed MG Baltic case).
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Latvia Weekly: Domestic Violence and Corruption
From the findings of the examined week, there is a noticeable trend of the topic of the Istanbul Convention being decreasingly addressed in comparison to the prior weeks especially weeks leading up to its ratification in the Latvian Parliament. Whilst it is still addressed by the majority of the sources examined it is no longer getting as high of an engagement which could be the direct cause for the decrease in content discussing the topic. Similarly to the prior weeks, the private jet flights of the former prime minister and current foreign minister are still at the centre of discussion. Concerning engagement, there is a noticeable trend of the comment section featuring more critical comments hence that questioning the credibility of the information expressed.
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Estonia Weekly: Economy and Western propaganda
This week there was a lot of talk about the 2024 Estonian budget and how this new budget will create more poverty and monetary hardships for the Estonian people. There was also a lot of mention of Prime Minister Kaya Kallas, her meeting with Ukrainian president Zelensky, and how many other politicians agree that her resignation would help the political situation in Estonia improve.
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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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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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Estonia Weekly: Western Propaganda and Deportations
This week mostly talked about the way the West has affected the population, how it is affecting the youth of today and of the past, and why people should turn away from the western countries’ cultures in order to maintain their state of mind.
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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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