Abstract
These days, social media has become a powerful weapon of Russian propaganda in the information component of Russia’s hybrid war against Ukraine. Kremlin Internet trolls use social media to spread Kremlin narratives because they are a common platform for the use of manipulative technologies of verbal influence. Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Kremlin trolls have become more active in the English-language segment of social networks. “Troll Factory” uses some of the most popular social networks today – in particular, TikTok and Twitter – to spread Kremlin anti-Ukrainian narratives, which aim to discredit the government and citizens of Ukraine in the eyes of the world. Manipulation is impossible without the use of verbal means of manipulation, so the study of identifying tools and tactics of verbal manipulation used to disseminate anti-Ukrainian narratives is an important task for modern linguistic studies. The aim of this particular research paper is to analyze the verbal means of manipulative influence used by the Kremlin’s “troll factory” to spread anti-Ukrainian narratives in the English-language segment of social media TikTok and Twitter. To solve the tasks set in the work, the following research methods were used: method of information analysis, method of synthesis, method of continuous sampling, descriptive method. It has been estimated that Kremlin trolls often use such means of verbal manipulation as substitution of concepts, labeling, panic tactics, information repetition tactics, and such rhetoric method as whataboutism to spread anti-Ukrainian narratives in the English-language segment of TikTok and Twitter. The identification and analysis of verbal manipulation tools used by the Kremlin’s trolls to spread anti-Ukrainian propaganda in the English-language discourse of social networks is an urgent area of research and has a scientific perspective in both the linguistic and communicative-pragmatic aspects of the study. Early detection and analysis of verbal manipulation used by Kremlin trolls to spread anti-Ukrainian propaganda in the English-language discourse of social media is a priority for researchers in the humanities, social sciences and behavioral sciences, as the spread of anti-Ukrainian narratives abroad can undermine the reputation of Ukraine
Keywords
information warfare, narratives, virtual communication, verbal manipulation, social media, Internet trolls
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