EUvsDisinfo: Disinformation is not potatoes (original title: Disinformation is not potatoes)
The Kremlin has attempted to impose itself in the public and information space with its messages about the Russian attack with a nuclear-capable ballistic missile on the Ukrainian city of Dnieper. The incident was covered on the front pages of Russian news outlets and became the central topic of discussions on state-controlled television. The goal is clear: domestically – to strengthen patriotism through the so-called siege mentality; and internationally – to stoke fears of nuclear war in order to intimidate and weaken support for Ukraine.
Charlatans fight fake news
We will not deal with the aforementioned fear-mongering, so as not to further advertise the Kremlin's messages on this topic. Instead, we will focus on another current story that is no less revealing. We will take a look at the Kremlin-funded “Global Fact-Checking Network“, a supposedly international initiative to combat bias and disinformation. Under other circumstances, the irony of this undertaking might even be funny. But in this case, things are very serious – This is yet another tool-weapon for activating and reinforcing manipulation internationally.
This network was announced during the Kremlin-organized forum “Dialogue on Fakes 2.0“ in Moscow a few days ago. The forum is hosted by the Russian government-funded NGO “Dialogue“. According to its director Vladimir Tabak, the initiative aims to establish standards for fact-checking. He invites journalists and organizations to join the network by signing the so-called “Codex for Responsible Fact-Checking“. The network claims to develop tools to identify fake news, train professionals and compile a public database of “proven false data“ accessible globally.
Under the guise of fact-checking
Training experts, setting standards and creating tools to combat disinformation are goals that “EUvsDisinfo“ fully supports. However, there is a catch: NGO „Dialog“ and its affiliated organization „Dialog Regions“ are funded by the Kremlin and are designed to manipulate information at home and abroad to serve the Kremlin's interests. Its director Vladimir Tabak falls under EU sanctions and in 2024. The US Treasury Department has linked the organization to Russia's foreign influence operations, including election interference through artificial intelligence and the "Doppelgänger" disinformation campaign. In other words, the NGO "Dialogue" and Vladimir Tabak themselves produce and disseminate disinformation and conduct information manipulation operations in favor of the Kremlin. The announcement of a "global fact-checking network" is nothing more than the latest manifestation of a years-long campaign to copy the verbal and visual vocabulary of real fact-checking organizations in order to spread lies.
„Noodle Media“ and “WarOnFakes“
In 2021, „Dialog“ signed the „Memorandum on Combating Fake News“, launched by major Russian internet companies. After that, „Dialog“ launched the „Project „Lapsha Media“ - a website and social media campaign with all the trappings of a fact-checking organization: slick promotional videos telling users not to believe everything they see online, a weekly newsletter with “top fakes“ and calls for readers to send in their own “fake news“ reports to be verified by “experts“. “Lapsha Media“ is available in Russian and is aimed at a Russian-speaking audience, but Timofei Vasilev, who worked for “Dialog“ in the past, also created the “WarOnFakes“ project available in several languages – a propaganda platform posing as a fact-checking organization (which, by the way, has failed to attract many followers among the European public).
A fraud wrapped in data
The NGO “Dialog“ masquerades as a modern, technologically advanced non-governmental organization whose main purpose is to offer advice on communications and digitalization to Russian state institutions. Commenting on the dangers of online disinformation and fake news fits into this role. Director Tabak is regularly quoted and invited to participate in discussion panels by Russian state media to speak about the dangers to society of “fake news“ and “deepfakes“ and how he and his organization are trying to combat them.
Some of the results of this fight were presented in a special “Fake News Spread Study“ at the aforementioned conference. What shows that this document is a manipulative forgery is its apparent accuracy. The organization claims to have “exposed“ 4,051 fake news stories in 2023, seen by 12 million people. In 2024, they claim to have identified more than 4,000 fakes, but thanks to their “anti-fake news system“, they have so far been seen by only 8 million people. The report even includes a chart showing which months have had the highest number of fake news stories in recent years and a map showing the total number of fakes identified in each Russian region.
There’s no math in disinformation
By providing these numbers, “Dialogue“ is trying to demonstrate a good understanding of the total amount of fake news and disinformation in Russia. However, there is no universal method for reliably measuring the amount of disinformation. Disinformation is not… potatoes. It is an abstract concept that is activated by manipulative behavior that occurs in many different forms and in many different media and channels.
The report assumes that what the team counted represents “fake“ or inaccurate information. But disinformation doesn’t always work with lies; it often deals with half-truths or even completely accurate information that is taken out of context or presented in a manipulative way - exaggerated, combined with unrelated events, etc. How will this be counted? As half-fake? As one-third fake? And who decides the degree of falsity?
„EUvsDisinfo“ has been working professionally since 2015 in the fight against disinformation and manipulation, adhering to a comprehensive concept that formulated in April 2020 and further developed in July 2023. „EUvsDisinfo“ also maintains a database that last week reached a sad record of 18,000 documented cases of disinformation. These are just an illustration of the disinformation narratives against the EU and its neighbours. We do not claim to be able to quantify the vast amounts of manipulative content produced every day.
The main goal is confusion
Of course, the organization “Dialog“ does not show any genuine interest in these issues, because it is itself a major producer of manipulative content. This report is just another attempt to show that there is a Russian alternative to fact-checking organizations. “Dialog“ works almost identically to the approach of Russian officials, who often claim that there is no freedom of speech in Western countries. They build their argument by responding to accusations with counter-accusations: “If you say we do not have freedom of speech, we say that you do not have freedom of speech. And then you will not have less freedom of speech and we will not have more freedom of speech“. This will further confuse listeners about the issue of freedom of speech, and that is precisely the goal.
It is about occupying a place in the information environment and silencing other voices.
Don't be fooled!
Other topics in the EUvsDisinfo review:
The West did not organize the crash of the DHL cargo plane in Vilnius to blame Russia
The Kremlin's disinformation machine has come up with the absurd conspiracy theory that the West organized the crash of the DHL cargo plane in Vilnius to blame Russia. The theory, popularized by a member of the Russian State Duma, is based on an unconvincing link to a Times article that highlighted concerns that Russian intelligence could potentially use parcel bombs. The Boeing 737 crash occurred on November 25. Lithuanian authorities and DHL are investigating the cause, and initial assessments point to either technical problems or human error. The case is a telling example of information manipulation by pro-Kremlin media. They did not wait for the results of the investigation, but almost immediately put forward their version of an anti-Russian conspiracy by the "Anglo-Saxons". This story was spread by the leading Russian media - the "Russia 1" TV channel and the RIA news agency. In this way, they are trying to dominate the information environment and make search engines show their version of events first. It is instructive that the key media spread this story so quickly: this allows other publications in the pro-Russian infosphere to republish and promote it. Members of the presidential administration control the Russian information space by issuing instructions in the so-called. „temnyk“.
North Korean soldiers fighting on Russia's side against Ukraine
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the news of the deployment of North Korean soldiers against Ukraine „another portion of fake news“. In fact, there is evidence from American, South Korean and Ukrainian sources that the North Korean regime has sent more than 10,000 soldiers to join the war against Ukraine. This was confirmed by both the High Representative Joseph Borrell and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. Peskov's reasoning as to why this could not be true was interesting - because it was not reported by Russian military bloggers. The country's top official - which ranks 162nd out of 180 in the press freedom rankingsof “Reporters Without Borders“ – apparently still relies on the credibility of independent sources for confirmation – this is ironic given the Kremlin's practice of suppressing free speech and independent media.
Russia receives weapons from other countries
Another example of the Kremlin’s attempt to obscure inconvenient truths came when Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, denied that Russia was receiving military equipment from other countries. Medvedev claimed that “the vast majority” of the weapons, missiles and ammunition used in the war against Ukraine were produced in Russia. However, there is solid evidence to contradict this claim. South Korean intelligence reported that North Korea has sent more than 9 million artillery shells, missilesand other weapons to Russia in over 13,000 containers from August 2023 to November 2024 Iran is providing Russia with drones, and China is providing critical components to support the Russian military industry. This heavy dependence on external supplies reveals significant gaps in Russia's own production capabilities. At the beginning of this article we said we wouldn't mention ballistic missiles, but here we are.
EUvsDisinfo/ translation: European Commission Representation in Bulgaria