Russian media is facilitating Russia's growing control over the global information flow, the report prepared by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD) said.
"Russia utilizes its growing empire of state-funded "independent" television, radio, and Internet outlets, such as RT and Sputnik and is actively opening new affiliate branches around the world by making strategic acquisitions in local news outlets via opaque intermediaries, thereby gaining greater control over the flow of information," the reports says.
According to the report, Russia's media strategy is to "confuse, paralyze, and disable its opponents" home and abroad in order to promote its ideology, which combines nationalism, conservatism and Christian values.
The document lists different ways in which Russia has been able to extend its influence over a number of European countries and notes that some European leaders, including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, admit to modeling their policies based on Russia's.
