Disinfo: Russian media is more independent than its American counterpart

Summary

It has been the practice in the White House to invite representatives of the US media, and to give them some “advice” about what to focus on and what to neglect. In Moscow there is no such tradition, and any journalist or analyst has the right to write whatever they want.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin narrative on Western media not being independent and biased while Russia protects freedom of speech and the press. Contrary to the claim, the Kremlin organises regular briefings with the leading media outlets to hand out instructions on how to write and about what.

According to the 2020 World Press Freedom Index, Russia is in 149th place out of 180 countries. On the other hand, the US according to the same index, ranks in 45th place.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), 83 journalists and media representatives have been killed in Russia since 1993. Out of them, 38 have been murdered directly for being engaged in investigative journalism related to corruption, politics, and human rights violations. According to the report, the murders can be traced to the Government.

According to Reporters Without Borders, pressure on the independent media, blocking websites, and draconian laws became even more severe in the last years. Leading independent news outlets either ended up in the governmental control or were shut down under suspicious circumstances.

See similar cases that journalism is free in Russia, that unlike the West, Russia is the most liberal country where everyone has the opportunity to speak, and that there is no restriction of foreign media in Russia.

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arabic.rt.com (Archived)
ar.shafaqna.com (Archived)
Khabar Masr (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 198
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 17/05/2020
  • Outlet language(s) Arabic
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: US, Russia
  • Keywords: Freedom of speech, Media
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Disinfo: Ukrainian soldiers raped an American photojournalist in the Donbas

Soldiers of the National Guard in Donbas raped an American photojournalist, reports LPR. “The patrols managed to knock the American correspondent unconscious and carried out violent acts of a sexual nature” the report said.

May 16, 2020
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation about the war in Ukraine, and the Ukrainian army. American photographer Jen Tuero Blatti who was mentioned in the statement denies this information:

"There is widespread news being published / I believe out of Ukraine’s occupied territories - that I was raped by Ukrainian soldiers yesterday - and who knows what else these articles say because I can’t read them. Apparently the source of the information is the LNR police - self-proclaimed “Luhansk People’s Republic” police. This information is absolute NONSENSE and in the words of the U.S. President - “FAKE NEWS.” And moreover, all the Ukrainian soldiers and volunteers I have worked with are stellar human beings"

Disinfo: The bureaucracy leads to the collapse of the EU

The coronavirus pandemic has pretty much hit European solidarity. And this is not only because of quarantine, which has closed transparent borders. Confronting the faceless (and even completely American) bureaucracy of the EU with the whole diversity of European countries and peoples is a very old topic. While the EU grew and developed, complications could be tolerated. But a weakening reveals many disorders. People who are worth listening to are already talking about the collapse of the EU.

May 16, 2020
Disproof

A recurring pro-Kremlin narrative that is consistent with the disinformation message that the Schengen zone has collapsed and more broadly, with the disinformation narrative that the EU is collapsing as a result of the coronavirus crisis. In the current exceptional situation, many EU Member States introduced temporary border controls to slow the spread of coronavirus, which adhere to the Schengen border code, but the EU Commission is ensuring that EU-wide supply chains continue to operate and that the flow of goods and key services continues around the clock. The introduction of ‘green lanes’ will allow all freight vehicles to cross internal Schengen borders within 15 minutes. Furthermore, to cushion the blow to people’s livelihoods and the economy, the European Commission has adopted a comprehensive economic response to the outbreak, applied the full flexibility of the EU fiscal rules, has revised its State Aid rules and proposed to set up a €37 billion Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative to provide liquidity to small businesses and the health care sector. Regarding the current coronavirus crisis, European leaders said they would spend hundreds of billions of euros to prevent the coronavirus outbreak from provoking a deep recession or financial crisis. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said that the European Union would allocate up to €100 billion ($109.62 billion) to the hardest-hit countries, starting with Italy, to help cover the cost of lost wages and to preserve jobs. The EU has also created the first-ever stockpile of medical equipment, while German hospitals took in Italian patients and masks were sent to Italian doctors from France, Czechia, Austria and much more. Read more about the EU's response here and here. For similar cases, see here, here, and here.

Disinfo: US instigates wars and revolutions to flood Europe with refugees

The United States enters a country and starts bombing it: completely overturns the anthill, creates civil tension, wars, partisan wars, hatred, a huge number of deaths, and in the end, Europeans must accept these refugees. It turns out that this is a definite cynical tool. And now, once again, in the wake of the crisis, it will be possible to start a war somewhere, and from there, NATO will go to Europe… It can all be like a strategy, why not. After stirring up social tension in five different places, in different countries, making revolutions, making Maidans, a million refugees will fall upon Europe.

May 16, 2020
Disproof

One of many pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives: alleging that the US is behind the so-called colour revolutions around the world; blaming Western governments for deliberately provoking massive migration flows to Europe; undermining Ukraine's statehood and claiming that the Euromaidan protests were organised by foreign forces. Previous pro-Kremlin disinformation claim that Obama and Soros were jointly provoking colour revolutions; that Belarus is to become a colony of the West; that gender theories and identity policies are used by the US to bring down disobeying governments and that Ukraine is enslaved to Europe after Maidan.