This thesis examines disinformation in Taiwan during the 2020 presidential election and the 2022 local elections. It argues that the Chinese government employs disinformation as a form of...Show moreThis thesis examines disinformation in Taiwan during the 2020 presidential election and the 2022 local elections. It argues that the Chinese government employs disinformation as a form of psychological warfare. Therefore, the thesis seeks to answer: “How is disinformation that is disseminated through content farms in Taiwan as a form of psychological warfare developing since the Taiwanese presidential election in 2020?” Using the 'content farm' Mission as a case study, the thesis finds there is a consistent bias against the Democratic People's Party (DPP) and favourable towards the Kuomintang (KMT), but (1) a slight decrease in terms of ‘lure’ and (2) a slight rise in the positive attention given to the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The thesis thus highlights the continuous development of China's state-led disinformation campaigns and its implications for democratic elections worldwide.Show less
This thesis seeks to address the academic debate surrounding the intervention of state actors in foreign information spaces, as this discourse lacks a coherent framework, allowing researchers to...Show moreThis thesis seeks to address the academic debate surrounding the intervention of state actors in foreign information spaces, as this discourse lacks a coherent framework, allowing researchers to identify, compare, categorize and hence explain acts of Information Intervention (II). To initiate a solution for this problem, this thesis aimed to create a typology of common contemporary types of covert and semi-covert state IIs beyond the means subsumed by the soft power and public diplomacy concepts. This process was facilitated by Kluge’s (2000) framework for the empirically grounded construction of types and an empirical research process, which was based on the identification of sources by employing keyword configurations and the search engines Google/Google Scholar. Given the scope of this project and the public unavailability of certain II practices, it was not possible to cover all acts of II for the given typology. Rather, the goal of this thesis was to guide future research in the field of Information Interventions, by providing a notion of the dynamics in the given field, on which future research can be built on. Therefore, while the typology presented in this thesis cannot be determined as universal, it made the first step towards the establishment of such framework, allowing researchers to systematically analyze IIs.Show less
Data sharing and data harvesting practices not only infringe the privacy rights of individuals but cause significant harms to others as well. Emissions of personally sensitive behavioural data are...Show moreData sharing and data harvesting practices not only infringe the privacy rights of individuals but cause significant harms to others as well. Emissions of personally sensitive behavioural data are leaked into the digital economy causing damage to social practices and destabilizing political and informational ecosystems. Data pollution is like industrial pollution, and environmental law suggestions can offer solutions to the problem. Will a Pigouvian tax on data extraction limit or constrain the negative externalities of data pollution? This explorative research aims to investigate whether a data pollution tax can operate as a regulatory instrument to curb data pollution and whether citizens support this measure. Do citizens support a data pollution tax designed so that harms to others, affecting their core human capabilities, will be taxed as a matter of principle? Suppose excessive (corporate) data sharing and extraction practices that cause harm to others will be taxed. Do individuals expect that persons and corporations will change their data transmission practices? Our survey findings show that (United States) citizens consider that harms caused by data pollution should be taxed. Respondents will also substantially decrease their data pollution behaviour once a tax is imposed. However, and to our surprise, our research findings also lay bare a possible ‘bad behaviour paradox’: the more significant the harm caused by some instances of data pollution, the less willing people are to change behaviour relative to the tax imposed.Show less
The downing of Flight MH17 in July 2014 constitutes a major crisis and a critical juncture in Dutch foreign policy towards Russia. This critical juncture created the conditions under which a...Show moreThe downing of Flight MH17 in July 2014 constitutes a major crisis and a critical juncture in Dutch foreign policy towards Russia. This critical juncture created the conditions under which a significant change in Dutch foreign policy towards Russia became possible as institutional constraints were suddenly loosened. By using process tracing this thesis studies the changes in Dutch foreign policy and the causal mechanism behind them following the downing of the airplane. The Dutch government initially took on a cautious position as it was hoping Russia could be convinced to cooperate with the investigation. However as the Kremlin continually spreads disinformation about Flight MH17 and consistently seeks to discredit and undermine the investigations, the Dutch government started to use more confrontational and less accommodating diplomatic tools. This is evidenced by the way in which the Dutch government exposed the foiled OPCW hacking attempt by the GRU as well as how it criticised Russia’s behaviour surrounding the downing of Flight MH17.Show less
This paper aims to analyse the democratic potential of the internet and the ways in which the Russian pro-government disinformation campaign is used to limit this potential by conducting...Show moreThis paper aims to analyse the democratic potential of the internet and the ways in which the Russian pro-government disinformation campaign is used to limit this potential by conducting exploratory research on Russia as a single case study. Firstly, Russia’s disinformation campaign is analysed on its own. Secondly, the paper causally connects this disinformation campaign to the internet’s potential to consolidate democracy, primarily as a new free medium for information. In doing so, the paper makes use of two theories, inoculation theory and network theory, as underlying mechanisms for its analysis. It is argued that a negative relation can be observed between the internet’s potential to consolidate democratic developments through free and truthful information and Russia’s disinformation campaign. As this paper remains primarily theoretical in its analysis, further research is advised to determine how this relation has manifested in Russian society and what practical implications can be observed.Show less
In this thesis I have conceptualized what is often called hybrid warfare as a deniable intervention: a military intervention by a state using covert forces as well as local insurgents, which have...Show moreIn this thesis I have conceptualized what is often called hybrid warfare as a deniable intervention: a military intervention by a state using covert forces as well as local insurgents, which have been catechized through pro-Kremlin media, to destabilize an adversary state and allow the intervening state deniability of involvement. The goal of this thesis was to determine if such a deniable intervention could be replicated by Russia in other states and therefore constitutes a regional threat. Four conditions were identified as having an influence on the efficaciousness of a deniable intervention. Consequently an empirical analysis was made to ascertain the extent to which these conditions are present in four cases: Belarus, Estonia, Latvia and Kazakhstan.Show less
