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The [[European Union]] told the ''[[Sydney Morning Herald]]'' it was an escalation of Russian "[[information warfare]]" against the West.<ref name="Miller2016" /> She has published an article in the journal of the centre-right [[European Peoples Party]] describing the "brutal" harassment that she attributes to Russian trolls.<ref name="European View">{{cite journal|last=Aro|first=Jessikka|title=The cyberspace war: propaganda and trolling as warfare tools|journal=European View|date=June 2016|volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=121–132 |doi=10.1007/s12290-016-0395-5}}</ref> This behaviour includes [[doxing]] such as the revelation of her drug conviction for possession when she was 20 which was turned into a false claim she is a "NATO drug dealer".<ref name="European View" /><ref>{{cite news|last1=Aro|first1=Jessikka|last2=Yates|first2=Will|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-41499789|title=Jessikka Aro: How pro-Russian trolls tried to destroy me|work=BBC Trending|date=6 October 2017|access-date=19 January 2019}}</ref><ref name="Higgins2018" />
The [[European Union]] told the ''[[Sydney Morning Herald]]'' it was an escalation of Russian "[[information warfare]]" against the West.<ref name="Miller2016" /> She has published an article in the journal of the centre-right [[European Peoples Party]] describing the "brutal" harassment that she attributes to Russian trolls.<ref name="European View">{{cite journal|last=Aro|first=Jessikka|title=The cyberspace war: propaganda and trolling as warfare tools|journal=European View|date=June 2016|volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=121–132 |doi=10.1007/s12290-016-0395-5}}</ref> This behaviour includes [[doxing]] such as the revelation of her drug conviction for possession when she was 20 which was turned into a false claim she is a "NATO drug dealer".<ref name="European View" /><ref>{{cite news|last1=Aro|first1=Jessikka|last2=Yates|first2=Will|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-41499789|title=Jessikka Aro: How pro-Russian trolls tried to destroy me|work=BBC Trending|date=6 October 2017|access-date=19 January 2019}}</ref><ref name="Higgins2018" />

According to [[Foreign Policy]] Aro was informed by the [[United States Department of State|US State Department]] that she would be one of the winners of the 2019 [[International Women of Courage Award]]s. The notification was rescinded shortly before the award ceremony, allegedly because of her positive public statements about the [[Special Counsel investigation (2017–present)|Mueller investigation]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/03/07/u-s-cancels-journalists-award-over-her-criticism-of-trump-international-women-in-courage-award-state-department/|title=U.S. Cancels Journalist’s Award Over Her Criticism of Trump|work=Foreign Policy|date=7 March 2019|access-date=7 March 2019|first1=Reid|last1=Standish|first2=Robbie|last2=Gramer|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190307193452/https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/03/07/u-s-cancels-journalists-award-over-her-criticism-of-trump-international-women-in-courage-award-state-department/|archive-date=7 March 2019}}
</ref>


==Legal case==
==Legal case==

Revision as of 19:45, 7 March 2019

Jessikka Aro in 2017

Jessikka Aro (born c.1980) is a Finnish journalist working for Finland's public service broadcaster Yle. In September 2014, she began to investigate pro-Russian Internet trolls, but became a victim of their activities herself.[1][2] This harassment led to three people being convicted in October 2018.[3]

Russian trolls

Aro saw the actions of Kremlin-connected internet trolls as "a threat to Finnish people's freedom of speech" telling Deutsche Welle (DW) she "was really astonished to find out that it's quite big—super big actually."[4]

After a visit to St Petersburg to investigate the Internet Research Agency, where she interviewed employees at the "troll factory" who create fake online accounts and produce fake stories, she encountered a significant backlash from pro-Russian trolls.[4][1][5] She describes responses as including a phone call from a Ukrainian number with the sound of a pistol firing in the other end, as well as a cell phone text message purporting to be from her father (who had died 20 years earlier) indicating he was keeping watch of her.[6] Another particularly vocal critic was Johan Bäckman who made false claims about her assisting the Estonian and United States security services.[2][6] Aro told Foreign Policy magazine: "The goal of these campaigns is to discredit the voices in Finland that are critical of Russia."[7] Her series of articles led to Aro receiving Bonnier's Award for Journalism in March 2016.[8]

The European Union told the Sydney Morning Herald it was an escalation of Russian "information warfare" against the West.[6] She has published an article in the journal of the centre-right European Peoples Party describing the "brutal" harassment that she attributes to Russian trolls.[9] This behaviour includes doxing such as the revelation of her drug conviction for possession when she was 20 which was turned into a false claim she is a "NATO drug dealer".[9][10][3]

According to Foreign Policy Aro was informed by the US State Department that she would be one of the winners of the 2019 International Women of Courage Awards. The notification was rescinded shortly before the award ceremony, allegedly because of her positive public statements about the Mueller investigation.[11]

In October 2018, the Helsinki District Court found Ilja Janitskin, Johan Bäckman and a woman guilty of sustained defamation against Aro. The final judgement said the two men had committed "an exceptionally aggravated set of crimes". Janitskin, the founder of the MV-Lehti website was sentenced to 22 months in jail for 16 criminal counts while Bäckman received a year's suspended jail sentence for aggravated defamation and stalking.[3] They had to pay damages to Aro and other plaintiffs in the case.[12] The New York Times called this "the first time that a European country had taken action against pro-Russian disinformation spread through social media, websites and news outlets controlled by or linked to Russia." Bäckman described his conviction as "another dirty trick by NATO."[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Higgins, Andrew (30 May 2016). "Effort to Expose Russia's 'Troll Army' Draws Vicious Retaliation". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  2. ^ a b Aro, Jessikka (9 November 2015). "My Year as a Pro-Russia Troll Magnet: International Shaming Campaign and an SMS from Dead Father". Yle Kioski. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d Higgins, Andrew (19 October 2018). "Three Internet Trolls Convicted of Systematic Defamation Against Journalist in Finland". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  4. ^ a b Schultz, Teri (17 October 2018). "Pro-Kremlin online harassment on trial in Finland". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  5. ^ "Yle Kioski Traces the Origins of Russian Social Media Propaganda – Never-before-seen Material from the Troll Factory". Yle. 20 February 2015. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  6. ^ a b c Miller, Nick (13 March 2016). "Finnish journalist Jessikka Aro's inquiry into Russian trolls stirs up a hornet's nest". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  7. ^ Standish, Reid (1 March 2017). "Why Is Finland Able to Fend Off Putin's Information War?". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  8. ^ Siren, Torasti; Huhtinen, Aki-Mauri (2018). "Jedi and Starmen—Cyber in the Service of the Light Side of the Force". In Lehto, Martti; Neittaanmäki, Pekka (eds.). Cyber Security: Power and Technology. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. p. 91.
  9. ^ a b Aro, Jessikka (June 2016). "The cyberspace war: propaganda and trolling as warfare tools". European View. 15 (1): 121–132. doi:10.1007/s12290-016-0395-5.
  10. ^ Aro, Jessikka; Yates, Will (6 October 2017). "Jessikka Aro: How pro-Russian trolls tried to destroy me". BBC Trending. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  11. ^ Standish, Reid; Gramer, Robbie (7 March 2019). "U.S. Cancels Journalist's Award Over Her Criticism of Trump". Foreign Policy. Archived from the original on 7 March 2019. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
  12. ^ "Jessikka Aro: Finn jailed over pro-Russia hate campaign against journalist". BBC News. 18 October 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
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