Since the collapse of the USSR in the 1990s, Russia has launched several misinformation campaigns to regain lost satellite countries, specifically in the Baltic regions. Countries like Lithuania have faced a series of challenges from the Kremlin, and with the rise of social media, Russia has established publications dedicated to impress false information on the Lithuanian people. Journalists such as Ruslanas Iržikevičius stand at the front to combat these campaigns to preserve democracy and his country’s independence.
Iržikevičius recently visited the United States through an invitation from the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program, and was directed by the organization to visit Kent State to network with the School of Media and Journalism. Iržikevičius said he was excited to speak with Kent State students and staff and to bring new ideas back to his home country to combat Russian disinformation.
Iržikevičius said Russia has consistently tried to impose its ideologies onto Lithuania and other free Baltic states, and the Kremlin uses publications such as RT, Russia’s state-controlled international television network, and Twitter and Facebook to sow seeds of disinformation.
“The Russian propaganda campaign is so good that they are like a gas,” Iržikevičius said. “You know that it's there, you know that it's damaging your brain, your well-being, (and) you know that it's destroying parts of your body as a state, but you don't feel it.”
In response to Russia’s campaigns, Iržikevičius has founded publications such as the Lithuanian Tribune and various newsletters to inform Lithuanians on foreign policy and current events surrounding Russian disinformation. Iržikevičius said Lithuanians have maintained a resilient spirit for hundreds of years. They've preserved their culture against censorship by teaching their people the Lithuanian language when it was outlawed by Russia in the early 20th century.
“We had books smugglers smuggling books from Prussia and Lithuania, and books from Prussia to Lithuania,” Irzikevicius said. “And of course, we kept our language alive for grassroots involvement so (the) Lithuanian language was taught secretly in the villages. People were doing it in secret, and so this is why we kept our language alive, basically. . . . No matter how much the Russians, the Soviets tried to take us out of the Western world, they never managed to do it. We always look at the West, even during the Soviet times, we'll look at the West.”
Iržikevičius spent several days in Kent speaking with students in classes such as Communication and Terrorism and Ethics and Issues in Mass Communication. Director of the School of Media and Journalism Emily Metzgar said Iržikevičius’ visit helped students and staff gain a better understanding on how misinformation is spread in Europe.
“People like Ruslanas are on the front lines of pushing back on this relentless Kremlin-funded effort,” Metzgar said, “and it’s our hope that this exchange offered Ruslanas some new insights he can apply to his work when he returns home. He certainly taught us a lot about Lithuania and about how wonderful it is to connect with new friends from afar.”
The Humphrey Program, established in 1978, provides a year of professional enrichment in the United States for experienced professionals from designated countries undergoing development or political transition. Approximately 150 Fellowships are awarded annually.