Over the past year, Russia has seen an unprecedented rise in the activity of "Kremlin trolls" - bloggers allegedly paid by the state to criticise Ukraine and the West on social media and post favourable comments about the leadership in Moscow.
But prominent journalist and Russia expert Peter Pomerantsev, however, believes Russia's efforts are aimed at confusing the audience, rather than convincing it.
'What Russians are trying to go for is kind of a reverse censorship', he told Ukrainian internet-based Hromadske TV ('Public TV'). They cannot censor the information space, but can 'trash it with conspiracy theories and rumours', he argues.Posting messages on publicly accessible internet sites have had the effect of shutting off dialogue on events of the day.
Reading and writing under such a regime . . . communicating meaningfully in any way . . . dead.
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* Ukraine conflict: Inside Russia's 'Kremlin troll army' - BBC News
