Sign in

florian-toepfl.bsky.social

@florian-toepfl.bsky.social
320 followers 238 following 39 posts

Professor of Political Communication with a Focus on Eastern Europe and the Post-Soviet Region, PI of ERC consolidator project RUSINFORM on Russia's informational influence abroad. All opinions private.

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by @florian-toepfl.bsky.social
Andreas Umland @umland.eurosky.social · 27/08/2026
@florian-toepfl.bsky.social & Markus Mathyl: How does Russia’s authoritarian regime as an external actor seek to subvert liberal democracies in Europe? @unipassauresearch.bsky.social link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...
link.springer.com
Russia and Dissensus over Liberal Democracy in Europe
How does Russia’s authoritarian regime as an external actor seek to subvert liberal democracies in Europe? To answer this question, this chapter first outlines the strategic goals of Russia&#821...
147
florian-toepfl.bsky.social @florian-toepfl.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
1/3 New chapter out: “Russia and Dissensus over Liberal Democracy in Europe.” We argue that the Kremlin's foreign propaganda is not simply disinformation, but can be understood as part of a broader proto-fascist ideological project against liberal democracy. link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...
link.springer.com
Russia and Dissensus over Liberal Democracy in Europe
How does Russia’s authoritarian regime as an external actor seek to subvert liberal democracies in Europe? To answer this question, this chapter first outlines the strategic goals of Russia&#821...
110
Reposted by @florian-toepfl.bsky.social
florian-toepfl.bsky.social @florian-toepfl.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
Publication alert: We have a new publication on "Disrupting or invigorating an anti-democratic counterpublic? How highly active commenters engage on RT German’s Facebook page" journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
journals.sagepub.com
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
041
florian-toepfl.bsky.social @florian-toepfl.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
Publication alert: We have a new publication on "Disrupting or invigorating an anti-democratic counterpublic? How highly active commenters engage on RT German’s Facebook page" journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
journals.sagepub.com
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
041
Reposted by @florian-toepfl.bsky.social
Serge Poliakoff @sergepoliakoff.bsky.social · 09/01/2026
Co-authored with @florian-toepfl.bsky.social, our new Europe-Asia Studies article is out in open access. Using 350 self-published CVs (2013-2021) from Prigozhin’s IRA “troll farm”, we map staffing, task divisions, a five-level hierarchy, 2014 recruitment surge. doi.org/10.1080/0966...
doi.org
0114
Reposted by @florian-toepfl.bsky.social
Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 11/01/2026
Ready or not, "Europe should embrace the idea of going it alone." www.ft.com/content/1da0...
ft.com
Europe should embrace the idea of going it alone
The more the EU has to pay for ingratiation with Trump, the less convincing its strategic rationale for doing so
23312
Reposted by @florian-toepfl.bsky.social
Gwendolyn Sasse @gwendolynsasse.bsky.social · 11/01/2026
My Op-ed @theguardian.com on #Ukraine, the Paris declaration & unrealistic hopes for a ceasefire⬇️
053
Reposted by @florian-toepfl.bsky.social
Dariia Mykhailyshyna @dariia.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
My university, Kyiv School of Economics, is hiring postdocs & professors of all levels! Join the best economics department in Ukraine, with excellent colleagues, modern campus and make an impact teaching the new generation of Ukrainians! Link: www.aeaweb.org/joe/listing.... #EconSky #econjobmarket
aeaweb.org
American Economic Association: JOE Listings - August 1, 2025 - January 31, 2026
13018
Reposted by @florian-toepfl.bsky.social
florian-toepfl.bsky.social @florian-toepfl.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
Als Tipp, weil ich das Paper gerade im Examensseminar bespreche: Ein exzellentes Paper und must-read für alle, die Kriegsberichterstattung inhaltsanalysieren. Uns fehlen aktuell vergleichbare normative Reflektionen zum Umgang mit rechtsextremen Akteuren: link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com
Der russische Angriffskrieg gegen die Ukraine in den deutschen Medien: Kritik des Maßstabs „ausgewogene Bewertung“ in Inhaltsanalysen - Publizistik
Content analyses of the presentation of conflicts in the media are often conducted to empirically examine the accusation of one-sidedness. This raises the question of how the demand for a balanced ass...
121
florian-toepfl.bsky.social @florian-toepfl.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
Als Tipp, weil ich das Paper gerade im Examensseminar bespreche: Ein exzellentes Paper und must-read für alle, die Kriegsberichterstattung inhaltsanalysieren. Uns fehlen aktuell vergleichbare normative Reflektionen zum Umgang mit rechtsextremen Akteuren: link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com
Der russische Angriffskrieg gegen die Ukraine in den deutschen Medien: Kritik des Maßstabs „ausgewogene Bewertung“ in Inhaltsanalysen - Publizistik
Content analyses of the presentation of conflicts in the media are often conducted to empirically examine the accusation of one-sidedness. This raises the question of how the demand for a balanced ass...
121
Reposted by @florian-toepfl.bsky.social
Sociology FU Berlin @socfub.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
📰 Dr. Teresa Völker zeigt, wie politische Debatten zur Normalisierung der AfD beitragen. Wenn demokratische Parteien rechte Narrative übernehmen, verschiebt sich der Rahmen unserer Demokratie. Deswegen der Appel: wachsam bleiben und Haltung zeigen. 👉 www.tagesspiegel.de/gesellschaft...
tagesspiegel.de
Diskursive Normalisierung der AfD: „Demokratische Parteien haben den Prozess beschleunigt“
Rechtsextremes Gedankengut ist in Deutschland sagbarer geworden. Hier erklärt eine Forscherin, ob sich dieser Trend jetzt noch umkehren lässt.
0116
Reposted by @florian-toepfl.bsky.social
Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 29/11/2025
Time to ask: In whose interests is American foreign policy being conducted?
891865679
Reposted by @florian-toepfl.bsky.social
Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 29/11/2025
Extraordinary WSJ reporting today that unveils the extent to which Trump, Witkoff, Kushner and US business executives are salivating over business deals with Russia while Putin’s forces kidnap Ukranian children and bomb civilians in their apartments. 🎁 www.wsj.com/world/russia...
WSJ
Gentry Beach, a college friend of Donald Trump Jr. and campaign donor to his father, has been in talks to acquire a stake in a Russian Arctic gas project if it is released from sanctions. Another Trump donor, Stephen P. Lynch, paid $600,000 this year to a lobbyist close to Trump Jr. who is helping him seek a Treasury Department license to buy the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from a Russian state-owned company.
One sign that he may be serious is that some of his most-trusted friends, sanctioned billionaires from his St. Petersburg hometown-Gennady Timchenko, Yuri Kovalchuk and the Rotenberg brothers, Boris and Arkady-have sent representatives to quietly meet American companies to explore rare-earth mining and energy deals, according to people familiar with the meetings and European security officials. That includes reviving the giant Nord Stream pipeline, sabotaged by Ukrainian tactical divers, and under European Union sanctions.
Earlier this year, Exxon Mobil met with Russia's biggest state energy company, Rosneft, to discuss returning to the massive Sakhalin gas project if Moscow and Washington gave the green light.
10731081505
Reposted by @florian-toepfl.bsky.social
Andreas Umland @umland.eurosky.social · 29/11/2025
The ibidem-Verlag Book series "Ukrainian Voices" on Amazon: www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/...
175
florian-toepfl.bsky.social @florian-toepfl.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
A schoolbook example of a propaganda campaign. Banal and and very likely effective at the same time. meduza.io/en/feature/2...
meduza.io
‘Life matters more than your wallet’: Meduza takes a look at the Kremlin’s new media guidelines for spinning Russia’s tax hikes — Meduza
Russia’s new budget includes tax hikes that the Kremlin knows will anger the public. So the Putin administration has issued detailed instructions to state-run and pro-government media on how to frame ...
010
Reposted by @florian-toepfl.bsky.social
Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 12/11/2025
There's always a Russian connection ... "Jeffrey Epstein claims he gave Russians insight into Trump. Newly released emails show the late convicted sex offender’s extensive network of foreign contacts, whom he corresponded with about Trump’s policy decisions." www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
politico.com
Jeffrey Epstein claims he gave Russians insight into Trump
Newly released emails show the late convicted sex offender’s extensive network of foreign contacts, whom he corresponded with about Trump’s policy decisions.
43414
Reposted by @florian-toepfl.bsky.social
Renee DiResta @noupside.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
New from me: “working the refs” has come for Wikipedia. The same type of attacks alleging anti-conservative bias that right wing politicians have make about social media are coming for the encyclopedia — because of its critical role in shaping AI answer engines. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
theatlantic.com
The Right-Wing Attack on Wikipedia
The free internet encyclopedia is widely used to train AI. That’s why conservatives are trying to dethrone it.
10356184
Reposted by @florian-toepfl.bsky.social
Paul Bernal @paulbernal.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
For the government to remain on X is now unconscionable.
1314552
Reposted by @florian-toepfl.bsky.social
Thomas Hanitzsch @thanitzsch.bsky.social · 27/10/2025
Out now: key data from the third wave of the Worlds of Journalism Study. 75 countries, >32,350 journalists, >300 researchers, seven years of successful collaboration. Many thanks to all who contributed to this project! www.worldsofjournalism.org/reports-wjs3/
01512
Reposted by @florian-toepfl.bsky.social
Anton Shekhovtsov @shekhovtsov.substack.com · 21/10/2025
That there will likely be no Trump-Putin meeting in the near future does not change the fact that Putin’s psychological operation to disrupt the Tomahawk deliveries to Ukraine has been, so far, a success. That disruption was the only thing that actually mattered.
34716
Reposted by @florian-toepfl.bsky.social
Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 21/10/2025
Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences slashed the number of Ph.D. student admissions slots for the Science division by more than 75 percent and for the Arts & Humanities division by about 60 percent for the next two years." www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
thecrimson.com
Harvard FAS Cuts Ph.D. Seats By More Than Half Across Next Two Admissions Cycles | News | The Harvard Crimson
The Faculty of Arts and Sciences slashed the number of Ph.D. student admissions slots for the Science division by more than 75 percent and for the Arts & Humanities division by about 60 percent for th...
075
Reposted by @florian-toepfl.bsky.social
Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk @ilkokowalczuk.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
1/Die Berlinskaja Prawda bietet heute ihren Leser*innen eine besondere Überraschung an: eine Kurzreise "Auf den Spuren Wilhelm Piecks". Ich vermute, nur wenige werden sich daran stören - wer war Pieck schon. Ein alter Mann mit immer guter Laune, den alle mochten... Kann man doch
58120
Reposted by @florian-toepfl.bsky.social
Vassili Golod @golod.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
Trump will den Krieg seit Amtsantritt einfrieren. Die Ukraine ist seit Monaten dazu bereit. Doch Russland verhindert Frieden. Putin will mehr ukrainisches Staatsgebiet, als er erobern konnte. Ohne echten Druck der USA wird er weiter mit Gewalt versuchen, sein Ziel zu erreichen.
1025744
Reposted by @florian-toepfl.bsky.social
Cas Mudde @casmudde.bsky.social · 09/10/2025
media world vs. real world 😵‍💫
15130
Reposted by @florian-toepfl.bsky.social
Paula Villa Braslavsky @paulita.bsky.social · 09/10/2025
why don't I see any critical coverage of this in Germany?
2228
Reposted by @florian-toepfl.bsky.social
florian-toepfl.bsky.social @florian-toepfl.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
Excellent read with many leading academics cited. On how Trump provokes violence to gain control. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | Trump Is Not Afraid of Civil War. Neither Is Stephen Miller.
021
florian-toepfl.bsky.social @florian-toepfl.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
Excellent read with many leading academics cited. On how Trump provokes violence to gain control. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | Trump Is Not Afraid of Civil War. Neither Is Stephen Miller.
021
florian-toepfl.bsky.social @florian-toepfl.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
youtube.com/watch?v=Nmen...
youtube.com
Historian Timothy Garton Ash on the 'new West' after 'Trump shock'
YouTube video by Kyiv Independent
010
Reposted by @florian-toepfl.bsky.social
Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 04/10/2025
"We've been incredibly naive in entrusting our democratic space to social networks that are controlled either by large American entrepreneurs or large Chinese companies, whose interests are not at all the survival or proper functioning of our democracies." - Macron defenddemocracy.eu/macron-democ...
defenddemocracy.eu
"Europeans, let's wake up!" — Defend Democracy
“We have been incredibly naive in entrusting our democratic space to social networks.” President Macron on the occasion of German Unity Day, 3 October 2025.
8357117
florian-toepfl.bsky.social @florian-toepfl.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
It seems likely that Russia will use the nuclear power plant in the next days and weeks to put pressure on Ukraine, in a very risky game. kyivindependent.com/its-a-risky-...
kyivindependent.com
'A risky situation' — The critical state of Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, explained
The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) remains disconnected from the Ukrainian electricity grid and without external power for the 10th consecutive day, creating an increasingly "risky" situation...
020
Reposted by @florian-toepfl.bsky.social
Annette Werberger @awerberger.bsky.social · 27/09/2025
Sitzen zwei Dikatoren in Europa beisammen und jammern, wie schlecht es ihnen geht: "Gestern saß ich den ganzen Tag mit Putin zusammen und wir haben darüber nachgedacht, wie wir diese schwierigen Zeiten überstehen können.”
34515
Reposted by @florian-toepfl.bsky.social
Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 21/09/2025
Over the last century, many democracies have started down the road to autocracy. Some managed to turn around. What did these 'U-turns' have in common? Political economist @marinanord.bsky.social & colleagues' conclusions are clear and succinct. Full research summary: www.v-dem.net/media/public...
13219
florian-toepfl.bsky.social @florian-toepfl.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
A highly recommended read: policyreview.info/articles/ana...
policyreview.info
Facebook, the EU and Russia’s war: Challenges of moderating authoritarian news
Despite several measures to curb their visibility, this study shows how Facebook mediates predominantly Russian state-aligned news during Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine
031
Reposted by @florian-toepfl.bsky.social
Serge Poliakoff @sergepoliakoff.bsky.social · 11/09/2025
My new article, “ANO Dialog: Innovation in Controlling Russia’s Digital Information”, is out in Post-Soviet Affairs in Open Access. With @florian-toepfl.bsky.social & @jkling288.bsky.social, we extend our OSINT CV analysis method of Prigozhin’s troll factory to a new case doi.org/10.1080/1060... 1/3
doi.org
ANO Dialog: innovation in controlling Russia’s digital information
ANO Dialog, a new organization closely linked to the Russian presidential administration, was founded in Moscow in 2019 with the aim of “creating digital dialogue between the state and the public.”...
1154
florian-toepfl.bsky.social @florian-toepfl.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
A new paper of ours on one of the successor organizations of Russsia's infamous Internet Research Agency (IRA) has been published: Congratulations to my (former) doctoral students and co-authors @sergepoliakoff.bsky.social and @jkling288.bsky.social! www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
tandfonline.com
ANO Dialog: innovation in controlling Russia’s digital information
ANO Dialog, a new organization closely linked to the Russian presidential administration, was founded in Moscow in 2019 with the aim of “creating digital dialogue between the state and the public.”...
081
Reposted by @florian-toepfl.bsky.social
Markus Wehner @mwehner.bsky.social · 04/09/2025
Am 18.9. erscheint unser Buch „Der Stille Krieg. Wie Autokraten Deutschland angreifen“ (mit @RBingener). Es zeigt das Spektrum hybrider Kriegführung von Sabotage über Desinformation bis zu Migration und enthält eine Fortsetzung der #MoskauConnection.
6478
Reposted by @florian-toepfl.bsky.social
Ursula von der Leyen @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu · 24/08/2025
A free, democratic and independent Ukraine. That's what you are fighting for. That's what our efforts are all about. We are with you, for as long as it takes. Because a free Ukraine is a free Europe. Happy Independence Day, Ukraine!
581516396
Reposted by @florian-toepfl.bsky.social
David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 24/08/2025
Vance can’t be this ignorant, can he? WWII was not ended with a negotiation. Germany and Japan were dictatorial and genicidal regimes that had to be crushed by the military might of the US and Russia. FDR did not sit down and negotiate with Hitler.
2221167256
Reposted by @florian-toepfl.bsky.social
Darth Putin @darthputinkgb.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
We refuse to allow Ukraine to interfere in its own internal affairs.
30653134
Reposted by @florian-toepfl.bsky.social
Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 20/08/2025
What are the chances Budapest II holds when Budapest I collapsed so spectacularly? The first was a toothless failure, empty assurances with no enforcement. All signs point to Budapest II being more of the same: non-binding, unenforceable, and already discredited by precedent.
1134
Reposted by @florian-toepfl.bsky.social
Olga Onuch @oonuch.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
This is amazing. (Is there a precedent?) The Ukrainian Embassy in DC becomes THE welcome place for some of the world’s most powerful leaders. European unity is on display and Ukraine is the host and unifer. United for just and sustainable peace. Video c/o President Zelensky’s Official Telegram
528473
Reposted by @florian-toepfl.bsky.social
Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies @europeatharvard.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
Center-right politicians erode democractic norms more through rhetoric than their far-right counterparts. A new study looking at Germany🇩🇪 by @dziblatt.bsky.social @valentimvicente.bsky.social & @eliasdinas.bsky.social in @bjpols.bsky.social ‪⤵️ www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
0169
florian-toepfl.bsky.social @florian-toepfl.bsky.social · 14/08/2025
Empfehlenswerter F.A.Z. Beitrag: In Alaska droht ein zweites Münchner Abkommen www.faz.net/aktuell/feui...
faz.net
Trump trifft Putin: In Alaska droht ein zweites Münchner Abkommen
Die Agenda von Putin und Trump bei ihrem Treffen in Alaska lässt einen Rückfall in diplomatische Praktiken vor dem Zweiten Weltkrieg vermuten. Ein Blick in die Geschichte zeigt: Das hätte fatale Folge...
000
Reposted by @florian-toepfl.bsky.social
Cas Mudde @casmudde.bsky.social · 10/08/2025
Great article by @gabrielagreilinger.bsky.social on Orbán's successful efforts to bring far right and "mainstream right" elites together. What is important about these recent event though, is that the "mainstream right" and far right now meet on far-right events and, thus, on their terms.
hungarianobserver.substack.com
MCC Feszt – Normalising the Normalisation of the Far Right
MCC’s annual festival is merely a propaganda tool for the far right that the mainstream willingly participates in - writes Gabriela Greilinger
13925
Reposted by @florian-toepfl.bsky.social
Julia Davis @juliadavisnews.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
Meanwhile in Russia: state media outlet RIA Novosti:
35595298
florian-toepfl.bsky.social @florian-toepfl.bsky.social · 28/07/2025
edition.cnn.com/2025/07/28/e...
edition.cnn.com
Brutal punishments are being meted out to Russian soldiers no longer willing to fight for Putin | CNN
Russian soldiers call the practice a sacrifice to Baba Yaga, a fearsome witch from Slavic folklore who feasts on her victims.
000
Reposted by @florian-toepfl.bsky.social
Maria Popova @popovaprof.bsky.social · 25/07/2025
The wheels of anticorruption must be turning for real if we see this kind of growing pains. Ukr institutions and society need to push forward. Defending free, independent media like Ukrainska Pravda is essential.
27512
Reposted by @florian-toepfl.bsky.social
florian-toepfl.bsky.social @florian-toepfl.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
This seems to indicate a qualitative change in Russian policy towards media use, shifting the focus from punishing publication to punishing reception of banned ('extremist') content. (1/2)
meduza.io
В Госдуме предложили ввести штрафы за «поиск экстремистских материалов» в интернете и рекламу VPN-сервисов — Meduza
Комитет Госдумы по государственному строительству и законодательству предложил принять поправку, предусматривающую введение административного наказания за поиск запрещенных материалов в интернете, в т...
102
florian-toepfl.bsky.social @florian-toepfl.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
This seems to indicate a qualitative change in Russian policy towards media use, shifting the focus from punishing publication to punishing reception of banned ('extremist') content. (1/2)
meduza.io
В Госдуме предложили ввести штрафы за «поиск экстремистских материалов» в интернете и рекламу VPN-сервисов — Meduza
Комитет Госдумы по государственному строительству и законодательству предложил принять поправку, предусматривающую введение административного наказания за поиск запрещенных материалов в интернете, в т...
102