The followers of Vladimir Putin have set out to build a parallel reality that justifies the invasion of Ukraine and presents NATO as a threat to world peace.
And with that objective, in Spain the pro-Russian community is especially active in social networks, with the help of propaganda techniques and the creation of "artificial conversations" through bots, according to the latest study by the Observatory of Social Conversation in Spain La Vanguardia- LLYC.
In fact, this extensive analysis – carried out between April 1, 2011 and May 15, 2022 – confirms that the pro-Russian community dominates the conversation against NATO, but with “patterns of activity” that reveal the massive use of bots.
The main profiles of this community are the official account of the Russian Embassy in Spain or Actualidad RT, although there are also some fellow travelers who denounce "the fascist barbarism of kyiv". This community associates NATO with US interests and presents Ukraine as the aggressor.
The LLYC study has also found that "only those who are against NATO speak on the networks", despite the fact that 80% of the Spanish population is in favor of belonging to that organization. That is to say, the digital conversation "is monopolized by detractors" of the Atlantic Alliance, which "is especially relevant", since "social networks are already, together with TV, the main source of social information".
Behind the pro-Russian extras (with almost 30% of the registered messages), appears the extreme right, which is not openly anti-NATO, but is very critical of the Government and the lack of Atlantic coverage of Ceuta and Melilla. The third group is made up of the extreme left, in which “former politicians from the Podemos environment, such as Pablo Iglesias and Juan Carlos Monedero, participate.” This community criticizes both Russia –for its attack on Ukraine– and NATO “because it does not guarantee security” and its expansion “is a provocation”.
Together, the extremes –the pro-Russian community and the communities led, respectively, by Santiago Abascal and Pablo Iglesias– account for almost 80% of the social conversation about NATO, as they account for 77% of the messages and 63% of the the profiles. On the other hand, NATO supporters – that is, the community linked to the Government of Spain and those related to the Alliance, as well as other corporate accounts – account for a total of 7% of the messages and 9% of the profiles.
This community “shows its support for NATO actions” and presents “a high influence potential”, but its “activity index” leads to a “low” engagement in the conversation. Finally, the role of the media in the digital conversation about NATO is “not very decisive”. It accounts for 7% of the messages and its content is informative, "focused on the dissemination of news appearing in headers".
Lastly, interest in Defense and NATO topics has more than doubled since 2020, but online conversation is still low.
