would buy these explanations. well, 0lga, you re a russian journalist based in berlin. let s pick up on that last point you make about the creation of narratives, because i guess one aspect of the story, as told through russian media, is the restriction of information. but another crucial aspect is the way that russia is seeking to create its own narrative around this war. let s consider how it s going about that. dr ian garner is also joining us he s a historian who specialises in russian propaganda. and dr garner, as you watch the russians construct their narrative over what they re doing in ukraine, how do you assess its success?
state media trying to rationalize why entertainment programmes are no longer available. - they re trying to say it s. because people are more interested in news right now clearly they re not telling - i the truth about why these companiesl and entertainment programmes are no longer available to russians. and i think that will be the key- for more people to start questioning the information they re getting on state tv, and seeking out. alternative information. and the bbc making those efforts to make it available will be - crucial in that sense. and i wonder whether you, and peter, perhaps you could come in on this first, whether you see what the bbc and others are doing now via newer platforms like tiktok is really any different to what bbc world service, voice of america, radio free europe, and others have been doing for a long time? is this different? you re asking the wrong person. the only reason i sound like an english person is because my parents, who were, sort of, exiled afte
they are providing more money to deceive you, to spread lies about what s going on in ukraine. and for a time being, at least, the viewers and users of russia s official narratives would buy these explanations. well, 0lga, you re a russian journalist based in berlin. let s pick up on that last point you make about the creation of narratives, because i guess one aspect of the story, as told through russian media, is the restriction of information. but another crucial aspect is the way that russia is seeking to create its own narrative around this war. let s consider how it s going about that. dr ian garner is alsojoining us he s a historian who specialises in russian propaganda. and, dr garner, as you watch the russians construct their narrative over what they re doing in ukraine, how do you assess its success?
in russia, there s something like 37 38 million regular users russians use it to message each other and make phone calls, but also as a source of news. and there are some really large independent channels, as well as state channels channels with millions of followers who are putting out any narratives they like. and so we re seeing a disinformation, misinformation war play out in that space that is really beyond the government s control. thank you very much indeed. olga, i could see you wanting to come in here how important do you believe telegram and other newer platforms are, in terms of the information russians are finding? it s definitely very important. and also, youtube, in recent years, has become an alternative to the tv for many russians. but i d also add something about the narratives ian just said that russian tv cannot show their own martyrs, because it s not a war. yeah, that s true, russian official media don t call this war a war,
and why have you decided it s still worth doing? well, of course, circumventing blocking is nothing new to the bbc world service. there s a number of markets we operate in so particularly our iranian services, our farsi services foraudiences in iran, but also services we do for audiences in north korea, for example, and whatever information we re able to get into mainland china, where we ve also been blocked for many, many years. so encouraging audiences to circumvent blocking is nothing new for us. and, of course, it s absolutely right that we give out information about freely available vpn services, and also the siphon service and the torbrowser, the so called dark web browser that would allow people to continue to access these services. and we can see from traffic that they are continuing to access them because, although traffic has fallen significantly, it hasn t fallen to zero. so we know that some of the digital information we re publishing from outside of russia is continuing