Z Generation: Russia's Fascist Youth

How Putin uses the media to indoctrinate Russia's youth

Previously in Internet Book Club:

• Extremely Online by Taylor Lorenz

• Filterworld by Kyle Chayka

• So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson

• The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt

• The Modem World by Kevin Driscoll

• Because Internet by Gretchen McCulloch

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Z Generation¹ by Ian Garner is a book about young people in Russia, how Russia uses propaganda and control of the media to influence them, and why so many of them have become pro-war ultra-nationalists. It’s not a fun book to read, but it’s well-written and vital for understanding how the Russian state creates the narratives that power the war. And you can learn something important from it - not just about what’s going on inside Russia, but about how digital influence works everywhere.

I’ve written about Russia here before - see posts like Why Telegram Matters, How Russian Disinfo Works, and You Are Still Not Worried Enough About Foreign Influence Operations. Consider those background reading for this post.

Russia’s Lost Decade