The European Union moved to block RT and Sputnik after Russia invaded Ukraine last February. RT and Sputnik were his two top channels in the Kremlin for spreading propaganda and misinformation about the war.
Nearly six months later, the number of sites pushing the same content exploded as Russia found a way around the ban. They rebranded their creations to disguise it. They transferred some of their propaganda duties to diplomats. And they cut and pasted much of the content for the new website — a website that had no apparent ties to Russia before. NewsGuard, which researches and tracks information, has identified 250 websites actively spreading Russian disinformation about thewar,and dozens of new websites have sprung up in recent months. Added.
Allegations about these sites include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's public disguise of a deadly Russian attack on the Ukrainian military to gain global support. or that Ukrainian refugees are committing crimes in Germany and Poland.
Some sites masquerade as independent think tanks or news outlets. About half are in English, but the rest are in French, German, or Italian. Many were established before the war and apparently had no ties to the Russian government until they suddenly started parroting the Kremlin's points.
"They may be establishing sleeper sites," said Gordon Crovitz, co-CEO of NewsGuard. A sleeper site is a website created for disinformation campaigns that remains largely dormant, slowly gaining an audience through harmless or irrelevant posts, and is used for propaganda or disinformation at designated times. switch.
NewsGuard's analysis found that much of the disinformation about the war in Ukraine originated in Russia, but also found instances of pro-Ukrainian pro-Ukrainian false claims. They included a claim about a talented fighter ace known as the Ghost of Kyiv, which officials later admitted was a myth.
YouTube, TikTok, and Meta, which own Facebook and Instagram, have all pledged to remove RT and Sputnik from their platforms within the European Union. But researchers have found that in some cases, all Russia had to do to get around the ban was to post from another account.
Europe The Disinformation Situation Center, a coalition of disinformation researchers based out of the site, has found that some RT video content is appearing on social media under new brand names and logos. For some video footage, the RT branding was simply removed from the video and reposted on a new YouTube channel that is not subject to EU bans.
According to Felix Kartte, senior his adviser to his Reset, a UK-based non-profit organization that funds the work of the Disinformation Situation Center, social media is becoming more proactive. Content controls could make it more difficult for Russia to circumvent the ban. Critical of the role of social media in democratic discourse.
"They are playing whack-a-mole with the Kremlin's disinformation machine, instead of putting in place an effective content management system," he said.
YouTube's parent company did not immediately respond to questions.
In the EU, officials are stepping up defenses.This spring, the EU approved a law requiring tech companies to do more to root out disinformation.
European Commission Vice-President Vera Jourova said last month that misinformation is "a growing problem in the We have to take action,” he said.
Spike of sites spreading disinformation about war in Ukraine shows Russia had plans in case government or tech companies tried to restrict RT and Sputnik That means Western leaders and tech companies must do more than shut down. Brill said
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