Exploring Russian Information Troops Using Geography and Google Trends

With this project, we focus on Russian information-based global influences or “hacks” in order to generate new ideas about disruptive digital activities that can emanate from any country and bring effects that are potentially global in their impact. Russia as both a site and political actor exemplifies a case of global, digital, and democratic disruption, and this research points to potential locations housing Russian information troops. The findings provide a way to see patterns in media-related tactics contributing overall to the existing evidence of ‘hybrid’ or information warfare identified in recent literature.