Bots, trolls, elves, and the information war in Lithuania: Theoretical considerations and practical problems

Abstract

Recently, the media sphere has been found to be regularly flooded with misinformation and disinformation. Some scholars refer to such outbreaks as infodemics (Bruns, A., Harrington, S., & Hurcombe, E., Media International Australia, 2020). We are at a point where we must challenge the assumption of online spaces as emblematic of democratic ideals where participation is assumed to solely foster healthy debate in an authentic marketplace of ideas. Prominent in this subverted media arena are bots, inauthentic participants in the exchange of information, and trolls, the “Ghostwriters,” flamethrowers of the internet, whether automated or not. This problem is felt acutely in Lithuania where there are fears that a Russian information war could turn into real war or other political disruption. It is, therefore, imperative to understand the process of this media manipulation. This chapter argues that researchers will have to adapt theories and methodologies to do so by linking the theoretical groundings of mass media influence to the concept of information warfare (Cronin, B., & Crawford, H., Information Society 15:257–263, 1999), where social media chaos can warp civic participation (Zelenkauskaite, A., Creating Chaos Online: Disinformation and Subverted Post-Publics. University of Michigan Press, 2022).