The Russia watchRussia & Cambridge Analytica; Sweden prepares for Russia’s meddling; FBI & countervailing pressures, and more

Christopher Wylie warns Congress of “re-segregation of society that’s catalyzed by algorithms” (Melissa Ryan, Media Matters)
Mr. Wylie goes to Washington to help America better understand what we’re facing from social media

A new program has helped bring better media literacy to Ukraine (Lisa Guernsey, Slate)
Could it work in the U.S., too?

Neglected backwater: Russia’s growing influence in the Balkans (William McHenry, Geopolitical Monitor)
Russian election meddling in the United States and Europe has captured headlines across both continents. As policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic develop their own responses, they have overlooked a key geopolitical theater, the Balkans. As part of Russia’s continuous efforts to undermine NATO and the EU, it has committed considerable resources toward gaining influence in the region. Not only has Moscow sought to halt the expansion of NATO and the EU, but it has also attempted to solidify its influence in the region by supporting pro-Russian political parties and leaders. To date, Moscow’s regional influence campaign has been as bold as it has been effective. Accordingly, policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic need to confront Russia’s meddling in the region and act in this neglected theater.

Putin’s ‘Five Year Plan’ and other sinister echoes of the Soviets (Anna Memtsova, Daily Beast)
Russia’s president has put forth amazing and utterly implausible plans to grow its economy while ignoring civil and human rights. Some Russians feel like they’re back in the USSR.

Here’s how Sweden is preparing for an information war ahead of its general election (Jill Bederoff, Business Insider)
In Sweden, voters will be heading to the polls on September 9 to elect members of parliament, county councils and local councils – and now, Swedish authorities are gearing up to deal with disinformation and propaganda in the upcoming election campaigns.

Dubai-based billionaire wins libel case over Brexit “hypocrite” claim (Paul Peachey, The National)
Christopher Chandler denied that he sought citizenship for EU-member Malta while pushing for UK to leave the bloc. He told the Sunday Times he believed he was the victim of a Russian disinformation campaign.

Poland breaks up pro-Russian group seeking to fuel tension with Ukraine (Reuters)
Poland has detained a Russian woman who was part of a pro-Russian group that sought to whip up tension between Poland and Ukraine and will expel her soon, the national agency for internal security ABW said on Thursday.

Backfire Hurricane (William Saletan, Slate)
The FBI’s Russia investigation was a tangle of conflicting motives and unintended consequences. his week’s New York Times report on Crossfire Hurricane, the FBI’s investigation of Russian involvement in the election, explores the dynamics that drove the inquiry. The investigation wasn’t a left-wing hoax or a right-wing cover-up. It was a mess of structural biases, idiosyncrasies, ulterior motives, misjudgments, and perverse effects. Here’s what the Times revealed: 1. Many factors relevant to the investigation’s fairness have been invisible; 2. Trump and his people brought the scrutiny on themselves; 3. The FBI’s secrecy helped Trump; 4. There were good reasons for the secrecy; 5. Investigators tried not to hurt Trump, in part to avoid helping him; 6. The “insurance policy” was an argument for propriety; 7. One key factor was that then–FBI Director James Comey was kept out of the loop.