Jessikka Aro
Jessikka Aro in 2017
Jessikka Aro is a Finnish journalist working for Finland's public service broadcaster Yle. In September 2014 she began to investigate pro-Russian Internet trolls.[1] The series of articles led to her receiving Bonnier's Award for Journalism in March 2016.
Her investigation encountered a major backlash from the pro-Russian trolls.[2] She describes responses as including a phone call with the sound of a pistol firing in the other end, as well as a cell phone text message purporting to be from her father (who had died 20 years earlier).[3] Another particularly vocal critic was Johan Bäckman.[4]
She has also written articles about the role of Internet trolls in modern information warfare,[5] and is currently[needs update] working on a book about the phenomenon. She has published an article in the journal of the centre-right European Peoples Party describing the "brutal" harassment that she attributes to Russian trolls, which includes the revelation by "fake sites" and "Twitter trolls" of her drug conviction.[5] During the summer of 2016, she raised more than 30,000 USD through the crowdfunding platform Indiegogo.[6]
In October 2018 a district court in Helsinki found Ilja Janitskin, Johan Bäckman and a third person guilty of sustained defamation against Aro and gave them unusually harsh sentences: Janitskin was sentenced to 22 months in jail for 16 criminal counts while Bäckman received a year's suspended jail sentence for aggravated defamation and stalking. They will also have to pay damages to Aro and other plaintiffs in the case. The New York Times called this "the first time that a European country had taken action against pro-Russian disinformation spread through social media, websites and news outlets controlled by or linked to Russia."[7]
See also
- Internet Research Agency
- Russian web brigades
References
^ Aro, Jessikka (November 9, 2015). "My Year as a Pro-Russia Troll Magnet". Yle..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ Higgins, Andrew (May 31, 2016). "Russia's 'Troll Army' Retaliates Against an Effort to Expose It". New York Times. p. A1.
^ Miller, Nick (March 13, 2016). "Finnish journalist Jessikka Aro's inquiry into Russian trolls stirs up a hornet's nest". Sydney Morning Herald.
^ "My Year as a Pro-Russia Troll Magnet: International Shaming Campaign and an SMS from Dead Father". Yle Kioski. 2015-11-09. Retrieved 2017-02-09.
^ ab Aro, Jessikka (June 2016). "The cyberspace war: propaganda and trolling as warfare tools". European View. 15 (1): 121–132. doi:10.1007/s12290-016-0395-5.
^ "Vladimir Putin's Troll Empire - The Book!".
^ Higgins, Andrew (19 October 2018). "Three Internet Trolls Convicted of Systematic Defamation Against Journalist in Finland". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
External links
- Jessikka Aro's prize-winning stories on Russian propaganda
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