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earlier, accusations against the opposition were readily broadcast by television channels.
Notoriously, NTV, which even before the elections served as the key media outlet for
compromising regime opponents, issued several “investigative” shows during the 2011-
1
2 campaign, one of which was devoted to slandering Golos while another, titled the
“
Anatomy of Protest,” was about the organizers and participants of anti-government
meetings.
Although top-ranked officials normally refrained from naming the alleged
conspirators, some secondary political figures periodically claimed that the United
States was behind the protests. The new U.S. ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, has
been a recent conspiracy target, his appointment explained by his scholarly
specialization in democratic revolution. The invitation to some opposition activists to
visit the U.S. embassy shortly after his arrival in January 2012 was portrayed by theorists
as a training session for organizing protests. As often happens in such cases, attempts of
Embassy representatives to refute these accusations had little success, mostly because
the pro-Putin propaganda machine dominates the Russian information space. Moreover,
such conspiracies are hard to refute since a significant portion of the Russian population
distrusts the United States. This distrust is illustrated by the fact that since 2005 the
United States has appeared regularly among Russia’s top five enemies, according to
surveys by the Levada Center polling organization.
How the Opposition Tries to Avoid Being Targets of Conspiracies
Of course, opposition members try to avoid or counter any conspiracy charges directed
against them. Some typical ways they do this include:
1
. Refuting allegations using rational arguments and pointing to the inadmissibility of
unproven personal accusations. In some cases, victims attempted to sue conspiracy
theorists (as was done by some opposition leaders depicted as accomplices of
foreign powers in the previously mentioned “Anatomy of Protest” film). Such
cases rarely end successfully.
2
. Delegitimizing the accusers. Some opposition members claim that pro-government
conspiracy theorists try to divert public attention from their own nefarious
affairs, such as corruption and election fraud. Some in turn accuse top officials of
serving the interests of foreign countries by using Russian financial reserves to
support their economies, allowing NATO to have a transshipment point in
Ulyanovsk, or making concessions to foreign countries that could contradict
Russian national interests. Sometimes even liberal opposition members make
these kinds of accusations.
3
. Using irony, especially farcical confessions intended to deprive such allegations
of their seriousness. Alexei Navalny often makes such confessions in his blog.
Similarly, after the opposition was blamed for receiving money from foreign
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