Disinformation Review
The flagship product of the EU vs Disinformation campaign, the Disinformation Review, was launched in November 2015. The Review brings you the latest news articles carrying key examples of how pro-Kremlin disinformation finds its way into the international information space, as well as news and analysis on the topic. The Review focuses on key messages carried in the media, which have been identified as providing a partial, distorted or false view or interpretation and spreading key pro-Kremlin messaging. It does not necessarily imply however that the outlet concerned is linked to the Kremlin or pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. The Review analyses messages, not the messenger. If the message is a) false, which is determined by the facts and b) originating and/or in line with usual pro-Kremlin disinformation messaging, it is included in the product. Read more about the terminology of the Disinformation Review here. The Review is a compilation of cases from the East Stratcom Task Force’s wide network of contributors and therefore cannot be considered an official EU position.
In the first two and a half years of its existence, the EU vs Disinformation campaign has issued more than 102 Disinformation Review newsletters containing more than 3,800 cases of disinformation messages in 18 different languages. The product is regularly used and quoted by various governments, ministries, state agencies, secret services, researchers, think tanks and journalists across Europe and beyond.
The Disinformation Review is regularly posted on this website, delivered to subscribers’ mailboxes and published on the campaign’s Twitter and Facebook accounts. You can subscribe to the newsletter in English here and in Russian here.
Back to basics
After a summer break from reporting on disinformation we are now back in business, and so are many of the regular disinformation mouthpieces.
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Exploiting commemorations
This week we commemorated again the tragic loss of 298 lives on the 17th of July 2014, when Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine. As the subject of one of the most extensive and persistent of all pro-Kremlin disinformation campaigns, the...
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Interpreting fascism
If you look up fascism [fash-iz-uh m] in a dictionary, you will find “a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism”.
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Imminent threat of civil war – in Sweden!
Sweden made it back to the disinformation headlines this week. We learned that there is apparently an imminent threat of civil war in this country that enjoys one of the world’s highest living standards. Last week in Sweden, so we were told in disinformation outlets, the chief of the National police called for international help since the country is torn to pieces by Muslim immigrants. In reality, he called for increased cooperation between state agencies in vulnerable areas.
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A return to medieval times?
This week, pro-Kremlin disinformation time-travelled to medieval times, suggesting that the West and/or NATO planned to reduce Russia after the fall of the USSR to the size of the historical Grand Duchy of Moscow. For those who can't quite recall the borders of that...
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Nuclear bombs over Lithuania?
If a tree falls in the forest and there’s nobody around to hear, does it make a sound? It is a question that philosophers have been pondering for centuries. What about a nuclear bomb that falls over a Lithuanian village, and no one notices – did it happen? Well,...
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The world in black and white
In fairy tales, things have to be black and white and easy to understand. The villain is always cruel, horrible and insidious; the hero is pure, fair, and honest. A look at the pro-Kremlin disinformation campaign shows us a similar picture. Once again this week, we...
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MH17 disinformation: back in the headlines
This week, one of the most infamous of disinformation stories in the pro-Kremlin echo-chamber made it back to the headlines: the tragedy of flight MH17. As we have shown before, some key disinformation narratives often come back after a time in the shadows. And, as we...
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The circle is square!
There is one method of disinformation that only a few dare to use: the dissemination of “facts” which are completely and clearly contrary to the truth. But it is quite a common technique of pro-Kremlin disinformation. “Russia threatened to use nukes? US commission...
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Twisting the WWII narrative
This last week there were many events across Europe to mark the end of World War II. In pro-Kremlin outlets, significant time was spent on twisting the narrative. Several TV shows on state TV in Russia focused on the theme. One, with the headline “For whom is the 9th...
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