THE INFLUENCE OF RUSSIAN PROPAGANDA AND DISINFORMATION ON POLAND’S POLITICAL CULTURE ON VIRTUAL SPACE

Abstract

Contemporary political debate – public and individual – is undergoing progressive degradation, exemplified by the growing problem of hate speech, fake news and manipulation etc. The transfer of this debate to the web – further reinforced by the pandemic period – is resulting in the increased involvement of previously relatively passive citizens. The most serious current, though not de facto modern, problem affecting the state of domestic political culture is the disinformation and propaganda of the Russian Federation, especially that part of it directed directly against Poland and its society. Paradoxically, however, apart from the decidedly negative aspects of Russian propaganda, a phenomenon of political activism of Poles is observed. An area of this activism is the Internet, through which the process of strengthening the democratically desirable “participatory” model of political culture is taking place. The text is a reflection on the current state of political culture and its role in levelling the crisis of democracy.