A chilling account of Russian information warfare, Putin’s Trolls exposes the individuals and organizations behind the Kremlin’s coordinated, military-style social media operations against the West.
In this courageous and unflinching book, award-winning journalist Jessikka Aro interweaves her own dramatic story as a target of Russian social media propaganda with accounts from many internationally known critics of the Kremlin, who share their own stories of being targeted by Russia’s multifaceted cyber warfare campaigns.
As Aro began to investigate the impact of the Kremlin’s troll operations outside of Russia, she learned that private citizens in many other countries were being victimized by Kremlin-designed information campaigns. These actions were frequently conducted through an organized “troll factory” led by Russia’s security and intelligence apparatus, using unregulated social media platforms including YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. Many of the disinformation campaigns were centered around the 2014 Russian invasion of Ukraine and subsequent occupation of the Crimean Peninsula.
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“In this important, firsthand account of Russian malfeasance, Aro shows how she has suffered personally and professionally during her diligent quest to expose the rampant social media incursions orchestrated by Putin and his minions…A damning portrait of Putin and his autocratic, manipulative regime…An extremely valuable lesson.”
— Kirkus Reviews
“Ms. Aro has done the world a huge service by showing us how these tactics work so we can better defend ourselves going forward.”
— Bill Browder, activist and New York Times bestselling author“Shines a bright light on the dark world of online information manipulation operations that can upend the lives of individuals and the health of democracies.”
— Liz Wahl, American journalist“A frightening and fascinating book, chronicling Russian information warfare in irrefutable detail. Exposing Putin’s trolls is dangerous, vital, and ultimately heroic work.”
— Anne-Marie Slaughter, Princeton professor emerita of politics and international affairs and author of RenewalBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Jessikka Aro is an award-winning investigative reporter with Yle, the Finnish Broadcasting Company, specializing in Russia, extremism, and information warfare. Due to her investigations of pro-Kremlin social media trolls and their influence on public debates outside Russia’s borders, she became the target of an international propaganda and hate speech campaign. In 2019, the US State Department awarded her the International Women of Courage Award, but the award was mysteriously rescinded by the Trump administration, allegedly due to her social media criticism of President Trump.