Unmasking the EU: Kremlin-controlled media accuses West of deliberately discrediting Sputnik V vaccine

With the introduction of coronavirus vaccination in many countries in December, the Kremlin-backed media has increased accusations that mandatory vaccination violates human rights and that the West is deliberately seeking to compromise Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine.

From December 1 to December 31, Debunk EU analysts examined 524 articles with false / false information in English, Russian, Lithuanian, Latvian, Estonian and Polish from 73 sources. This content had a potential of 434.9 million. Contact the audience, write the press release.

According to the study, the largest influx of misinformation was caused by two groups of articles. The first focused on a warning from the Russian Defense Ministry about a false communication campaign allegedly carried out by foreign countries against the Russian vaccine against COVID-19. A day later, a new wave emerged following the news that toothpaste and rinse liquid were 99.9 percent. effectiveness in the fight against coronavirus. Most of the articles based on these publications were written in Russian.

According to Laima Venclauskienė, chief analyst at Debunk EU, the study found that the second wave of the pandemic and the introduction of stricter restrictions led to more active reporting of countries’ failure to fight COVID-19. “However, with the launch of mass vaccination of the world’s population, narratives related to vaccination, such as vaccines have not been adequately tested and West seeks to discredit Russian and Chinese vaccines“Said the analyst.”

The last message reached 93.4 million during the IP. contact audience. The biggest wave of articles was caused by the aforementioned December 11 issue of the Russian Defense Ministry. A statement was issued on the alleged desire of western states to prevent the success of Sputnik V. The ministry report continued to be broadcast through major Russian news channels, alleging “false witness statements” about the “vaccine threat. Russian “and” spreading lies about the Russian army’s refusal to vaccinate. “

The story of the foreign campaign was supplemented by the opinion of Igor Korotchenko, an expert often quoted in the Kremlin-backed press. He confirmed the links between the West’s attempt to discredit Sputnik V and the actions of NATO members to limit Russia’s power. “This is one of the examples in which the opinion of an expert is used to confirm false statements, in this case, about the sabotage organized by Western countries, the participation of NATO in the alleged campaign,” noted L. Venclauskienė .

This story was broadcast in various languages ​​through Sputnik portals. Admittedly, the statement was unmasked by the EUvsDisinfo initiative, the statement by the ministry was just part of a disinformation campaign aimed at promoting the Russian vaccine and discrediting Westerners. These steps were taken when Sputnik V was criticized for insufficient evidence.

The Kremlin-controlled media have been using the narrative for some time countries do not fight COVID-19. According to L. Venclauskienė, by repeating false / misleading statements, an attempt is made to claim that the Baltic states had privileges in the Soviet Union, and it was the legacy of the Soviet system that allowed Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to survive after their collapse.

“For example, one of the articles claims that the Baltic countries have so successfully coped with the first wave of the virus simply because their current health care systems are still based on Soviet legacy. It is true that similar articles never write about the corruption that was widespread at that time, the lack of hygiene and the necessary equipment in hospitals and the inefficiency of the system in general, ”said the analyst.

Another popular narrative was seen in December: COVID-19 restrictions violate human rights. The articles that spread this message reached a potential of 79.2 million. contact audience. According to L. Venclauskienė, this was influenced by the fact that these publications were mainly distributed in English via the RT portal, which has a very wide audience. “In this case, the Kremlin’s propaganda tactics were used to undermine Western democracies and their values, saying that ‘equality’ and ‘freedom of speech’ only exist on paper.”

With the increasing approval of vaccines, the issue of vaccine reliability has also been actively exploited to spread misinformation about COVID-19. One of the main messages during the study period was that The vaccines are said to be developed without strict testing requirements.. A Debunk EU article states that COVID-19 vaccines cause infertility, that the coronavirus is an artificial disease, a biological weapon developed by American scientists, and that the World Bank has predicted a pandemic period until 2025.

“All of these accusations have been unmasked by various investigative organizations. However, the very fact that these articles are spreading shows that conspiracy theories are deeply ingrained in some parts of society. This can be explained by the fact that that believing in these theories gives a sense of community, especially now, when countries introduce universal quarantine and encourage them to keep their distance, ”said L. Venclauskienė.

Another vaccine-related message observed during the study period was the government will force people to get vaccinated against their will. According to the study, 16 million. the narrative that reached a potential audience was more widely disseminated in Poland. “The articles indicate that the government of the country looks for ways to force people to get vaccinated, removing from public life those who do not want to, reducing their career prospects, preventing them from traveling, etc.

There are experts who believe that skepticism about vaccines in the former Eastern bloc countries may have been caused by the legacy of the communist regime. People do not want to be vaccinated, because that is the order of the authorities, which recalls the times of previous regimes, analyst.

According to her, to excite readers, these articles do not avoid poignant concepts, such as the exclusion of vaccination in society compared to apartheid, the use of links to Nazi Germany, that vaccination passports will become proof of membership of the “Aryan race”.

In December, false / misleading information about COVID-19 was more actively disseminated in the Baltic countries by the Kremlin-controlled press, both openly linked to the Russian media (Sputnik and Baltnews in all three countries) and indirectly (eg. . Ekspertai.eu).

The misinformation about the COVID-19 study was made by a group of Debunk EU analysts – boss. analyst in Lithuania L.Venclauskienė, boss. Estonian analyst Enel Ehrenhaft, boss. Latvian analyst Kristine Skujina-Troksa and head. analyst in Poland Magdalena Wilczyńska.

Data for the organization’s investigation is collected using the Debunk EU platform, as well as CrowdTangle (a Facebook-owned tool that tracks public content interactions of Facebook pages and groups, verified profiles, Instagram accounts, and Reddit pages). “). The Truly Media platform, designed to help journalists verify digital content, and TruthNest, Twitter’s data analytics platform, were also used.

Debunk EU is an initiative that brings together the public, the media, and the state to combat fake news that confuses and undermines trust in the country. The initiative has received attention and funding from Google, the world’s largest search engine, as well as media giants such as The Financial Times and Deutsche Welle. The organization has presented its activities in 17 countries, including the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Serbia.