Russia and Disinformation: Origins of Deception

As technology advances, providing more complex and creative opportunities for alternative media, accurate reporting has become synonymous with exercising information literacy on not only the information provided, but also the source itself. While many rely on online news feeds and alternative media outlets, when strategically placed, these platforms have been used to effectively push ideologies and agendas that are not aligned with fact-based information. Some media outlets, such as RT, provide English-language news directed to audiences in the United States, the United Kingdom, as well as RT France, RT en Español, and RT Arabic. RT has also embedded itself on most Roku tv and other smart-tv devices bought at most local electronic stores globally. What is likely not known by RT’s 4 million YouTube subscribers and the RT America’s 375,000 Twitter followers is that RT (aka “Russia Today”) is one of Russia’s state-owned social media networks based in Moscow.