Jessikka Aro

Arles 2018

Jessikka Aro, a Finnish investigative journalist, has since 2014 been probing the pro-Kremlin “trolls” that flood social networks and help contribute to the spread fake news.

Aro is one of the journalists who uncovered the existence of the Internet Research Agency, a Saint Petersburg-based “troll factory” of dozens of employees that has helped sow doubt among internet users (especially during the 2017 U.S. election campaign.) Ako has won the Bonnier Prize for Journalism, the most prestigious in Finland, as well as gained international recognition for her contribution in revealing these troubling practices.

But she has also suffered retaliation from these “trolls,” who have been on her case since the investigation to defame her on social networks. This has not stopped Jessikka Aro from continuing her fight for the truth.