Sites spreading pro-Russian propaganda online have multiplied since the start of the war in Ukraine, despite the European Commission blocking pro-Kremlin Russian media such as RT and Sputnik, an investigation by the New York Institute shows NewsGuard, Tuesday August 9 .
The number of websites spreading disinformation related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine has risen sharply in six months, from 116 identified websites in March to 250. “Over the past four months, NewsGuard analysts have identified 78 new websites , which will publish disinformation about Russia and Ukraine and 32 new myths about the war [sur un total de cinquante-quatre]. Among the identified myths and false information: Russia is not responsible for the Boutcha massacre or the attack on Kramatorsk station, the United States operates biological weapons development laboratories on Ukrainian soil, Ukrainian refugees would have committed crimes in Germany or Poland…
In particular, to identify these propaganda sites, NewsGuard relied on a July 2022 study by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, showing how, despite the RT ban, the content produced by these pro-Kremlin media outlets still finds an audience through underhanded means.
Also read: Pro-Russian influencers in battle formation
“sleeping places”
Some of these sites present themselves as offshoots of independent think tanks or the media. Half publish content in English, but also in French, German or Italian. A number of these are described by NewsGuard co-director Gordon Crovitz to the Associated Press (AP) as “dormant sites”: they existed before the war in Ukraine began and contained generic content unrelated to the conflict before they suddenly shut down devoted exclusively to this , taking a pro-Russian stance.
The number of propaganda sites discovered by NewsGuard “far exceeds the handful of sites identified and sanctioned by digital platforms such as Google, Facebook, Twitter or TikTok at the start of the invasion”, the organization regrets, which calls for more determination and more information for the part User.
NewsGuard also notes that many of the websites detected continue to generate revenue from advertising, including through software provided by Google. A stroke of luck that “violates the European Commission’s code of conduct on combating disinformation, which was updated in June,” she says.
Also read: Online disinformation: EU adopts new code of conduct for platforms and social networks
The first version of this code of conduct was created in 2018 and the main internet giants – Meta, Google, Twitter or TikTok – are signatories. In particular, actors involved in the placement of advertisements, such as Google, are urged to avoid showing their ads near conspiratorial content, to review the websites that display them and to provide tools to users that enable them to identify and respond to false or misleading information.
Also, the Digital Services Act (DSA), which was finally passed by the European Parliament on July 5 and is expected to come into force in 2024, provides for fines of up to 6% of their global turnover for companies that deviate from their obligation to reduce risk in things disinformation.