Disinfo: Mark Zuckerberg introduced his own form of censorship against Sputnik, Xinhua and Press TV

Summary

We are the witnesses of a new war for the most important resources – dis(information), control over the Internet, rights for Internet censorship and access to the largest market in the world, where the Internet users are goods. This fight is taking place in the USA, where Trump signs a new Executive Order on Preventing Online Censorship, but also in Europe and all over the world. Mark Zuckerberg, whose Facebook empire is associated with a broadly understood globalist circle, introduces his own form of censorship against Russia’s Sputnik, Chinese Xinhua and Iranian Press TV.

Disproof

Pro-Kremlin conspiracy theory about social media (primarily, Facebook), advancing pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about “secret elites” and the West's alleged media censorship and societal control. This disinformation message is a reaction to recent policy changes by Facebook. On June 4, Facebook announced that it would label media outlets that are wholly or partially under the editorial control of their government. The labels are meant to bring greater transparency into these publishers because they combine the influence of a media organization with the strategic backing of a state. The labels have been applied to Russia's Sputnik, as well as other state-controlled media outlets, like Iran’s Press TV and China’s Xinhua News. The same article contained another disinformation claim alleging that the US is occupying Europe. See similar disinformation cases connected to Facebook - Google and Facebook manipulate information to destroy Russia; Facebook is a project of the Soros Foundation, financed by National Security Agency; Facebook is in the service of the US State Department.

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pl.sputniknews.com (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 201
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 10/06/2020
  • Outlet language(s) Polish
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: China, Iran, US, Russia
  • Keywords: Facebook, Censorship, Mark Zuckerberg, Freedom of speech, Sputnik
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Disinfo: Kyiv hid the primary data of the MH17 crash from the investigation

Kyiv hid the primary data of the MH17 crash from the investigation. Dutch prosecutor said that Ukraine has not provided primary data from radars concerning the Boeing crash in the sky over Donbas in 2014.

Jun 09, 2020
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the MH17 crash. There is no evidence that Kyiv hid the primary data about the crash of the Malaysian Boeing from the investigation. Dutch prosecutor Thijs Berger did not say that Kyiv was hiding evidence. According to him, the investigation was not able to obtain data because one of the radars was in the territory beyond the control of Kyiv and was turned off, and the second radar under the village of Artemivsk was damaged during the fighting. This was also confirmed by other Russian media. The special team known as the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) was established to conduct the criminal inquiry into the downing of flight MH17. The JIT comprises officials from the Dutch Public Prosecution Service and the Dutch police, along with police and criminal justice authorities from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine. After years of painstaking investigation, the JIT has concluded that flight MH17 was shot down on 17 July 2014 by a BUK-TELAR missile of the 9M38 series, from farmland in the vicinity of Pervomaiskiy (or: Pervomaiskyi). At that time, the area was controlled by Russian armed formations. The BUK-TELAR missile was brought in from the territory of the Russian Federation and subsequently, after being used to shoot down flight MH17, was taken back to the Russian Federation. The JIT concluded that the BUK-TELAR used to down MH17 originates from the 53rd Anti Aircraft Missile brigade, a unit of the Russian army from Kursk in the Russian Federation. On the basis of the JIT investigation, the Dutch Public Prosecution Service is prosecuting three Russians and one Ukrainian for shooting down MH17 and murdering all 298 persons on board: Igor Vsevolodovich Girkin, Sergey Nikolayevich Dubinskiy, Oleg Yuldashevich Pulatov, and Leonid Volodymyrovych Kharchenko. The first session of the court proceedings started on the 9th of March in the Hague. The European Union and NATO have called on the Russian Federation to accept its responsibility and to fully cooperate with all efforts to establish accountability. On the basis of the JIT’s conclusions, the Netherlands and Australia are convinced that Russia is responsible for the deployment of the BUK installation that was used to down MH17. The two governments are formally holding Russia accountable.

Disinfo: The US protests are orchestrated by the deep state since they cannot organize color revolutions in other countries

The American “deep state”, which Trump often talks about, is the world of American intelligence services and law enforcement agencies, and largely works against Trump. They know how to arrange such protests, especially since they are now almost unemployed due to the epidemic, and they cannot move around the world and organise colour revolutions in other countries. Yet they are able to do so, to a large extent, in their country. On the other hand, the security services themselves can control this process and its scope, and of course, crush it.

Jun 09, 2020
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about how US protests are orchestrated like the colour revolutions. The ongoing civil unrest across the United States erupted after the death of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer in Minneapolis. The responsible police officer has been charged with third-degree murder, and he and three other attending officers have been fired. It is a conspiracy theory to claim that the protests are "directed" by the so-called deep state, while implying that the recent protests in the US are orchestrated in the same way as colour revolutions around the world. This narrative portrays any spontaneous disorders and civil uprisings in other states, especially the former Soviet republics, as Western-funded "colour revolutions" See related examples of disinformation claims alleging that the US organizes colour revolutions around the world, and that it instigates wars and revolutions to flood Europe with refugees. See also similar cases that riots in the US take place according to the colour revolution manuals of US democrats and Obama.

Disinfo: The MH17 case is politically motivated

The results of the investigation of the Almaz-Antey firm are not taken into account by MH17 investigators. The firm showed in 2015 that 9M38M1 rockets cause damage to airplanes on impact that were not present on the Malaysian Boeing that was shot down over Eastern Ukraine.

Jun 09, 2020
Disproof

Recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative on the downing of flight MH17 over Ukraine, aiming to discredit the criminal trial and the Joint Investigation Team (JIT). The public hearing on the incident started on 9 March 2020 in the Netherlands. Both claims by Buk manufacturer Almaz-Antey were debunked back in 2015 by Bellingcat. The article fails to mention that the firm is the manufacturer of the Buk air defence system that downed MH17, according to the Joint Investigation Team (JIT). The JIT has concluded that flight MH17 was shot down on 17 July 2014 by a missile of the 9M38 series, launched by a BUK-TELAR, from farmland in the vicinity of Pervomaiskiy. At that time, the area was controlled by pro-Russian fighters. The BUK-TELAR was brought in from the territory of the Russian Federation and subsequently, after having shot down flight MH17, was taken back to the Russian Federation. For similar cases, see here and here. For our overview and analysis of disinformation narratives around the downing of MH17, click here.