Language:

See all Disinfo Cases - Detail

Disinfo: The British Parliament’s “Russia Report” is not based on any investigation and provides no evidence

Summary

The British Parliament Intelligence and Security Committee’s “Russia Report” is not based on any investigation and provides no evidence.  The report is based only on the need to ride the wave of Russophobia fuelled by US Democrats.

Disproof

This is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative attempting to depict accusations of Russian meddling in Western democratic processes as factually unfounded and driven by “Russophobia”.  The article repeats the disinformation message often spread by pro-Kremlin outlets claiming  that Russia never tried to influence British electoral processes, such as the 2016 Brexit referendum or  the British 2017 and 2019 elections.

The British Parliament Intelligence and Security Committee’s (ISC) Russia Report describes and assesses the threats posed by Russia to the UK, and in particular to the UK’s democratic processes, as well as the actions that the UK intelligence community is taking to counter these threats.  The report covers three aspects of the Russian threat to the UK: 1) hostile cyber-operations against the UK; 2)   disinformation and political influence operations targeted on the UK; 3) Connections of Russsian oligarchs with sectors of the British establishment and the financing  of  UK political parties, charities, academic and cultural institutions by such oligarchs.

The report is not  motivated by “Russophobia” induced by US democrats , as the article claims, but expresses a genuine and evidence-based concern of many UK officials  about the threats posed by Russian hostile influence operations targeted on the UK.  Moreover, it is not true – as the article claims – that the report is not based on any investigation and that it provides no evidence.  The report is based on considerable written and oral evidence from UK government and intelligence community sources.  It also quotes open source investigations of Russian operations aimed at influencing UK electoral processes, including the 2016 EU referendum.

For further background on Russian interference in various electoral processes in Europe read here.

Read our article on Russian election meddling in EU countries and in the US here. For more information on Russia's interference in Western democratic processes, see the EUvsDisinfo Elections page.

Read a previous case claiming that Russia has not interfered in British elections nor in the elections of any country.

Go to search

publication/media

Sputnik Italia
  • Reported in: Issue 207
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 22/07/2020
  • Language/target audience: Italian
  • Country: UK, Russia
  • Keywords: election meddling, Brexit, Democratic Party (US), Russophobia

Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

see more

Kyiv deliberately creates barriers for residents of the ‘LDNR’ to visit Ukraine

The Ukrainian leadership deliberately creates obstacles for residents of the ‘LDNR’ to visit Ukrainian territory, preventing the population from receiving pensions, visiting relatives and friends. The new Ukrainian border crossing rules are inhumane and significantly oppress the rights of Donbas citizens.

August 04, 2020
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the war in Ukraine.

This concerns the new rules for crossing the demarcation line at entry-exit checkpoints with the temporarily occupied territories of Donbas. In connection with the coronavirus pandemic, the order of crossing the demarcation line has not significantly changed since August 1. In accordance with the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 641, during this period of quarantine, foreigners and stateless persons without an insurance policy are prohibited to cross the demarcation line at entry-exit checkpoints. The policy must be issued by an insurance company registered in Ukraine or by a foreign insurance company with a representative office in Ukraine. This policy must cover the costs associated with the treatment of COVID-19 to be valid during the period of stay in Ukraine.

Social distancing is globalism’s latest attempt to destroy the family

Social distancing – and in general the politics of hatred, fear and loneliness imposed by governments in the coronavirus-era – is globalism’s latest attempt to destroy intermediate social structures – such as the family and interpersonal relationships – making people increasingly lonely, disoriented, fearful, prey to their own emotions and therefore easily controlled and manipulated.

August 03, 2020
Disproof

Conspiracy theory. No evidence is provided to support the article’s claims.

The article repeats a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative that seeks to discredit liberal democracies claiming that the latter are in reality totalitarian systems ruled by “globalist elites” and “shadow governments” that control and manipulate the masses by keeping people lonely and isolated from each other and by destroying the family.

Western governments impose censorship and silence dissidents

The real goal of the “fight against fake news” conducted by Western governments is to eliminate freedom of information and freedom of thought, impose censorship, silence non-mainstream and dissident thinkers and bloggers by taking down their websites, social media accounts, and blogs, and introduce a kind of Orwellian thoughtcrime.

Moreover, such governments have exploited the COVID-19 pandemic to set up, under the guise of “fake news task forces”, an Orwellian-type Ministry of Truth tasked with deciding what is true and what is false, silencing and repressing dissidents, and censoring alternative information that is unwelcome to the powerful.

Yet it is precisely mainstream media that spreads enormous amounts of false information and resorts to sophisticated forms of manipulation that are comparable to war propaganda.

August 03, 2020
Disproof

Conspiracy theory. No evidence is provided to support the article’s claims.

The article repeats a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative claiming that the effort to fight fake news is really aimed at censoring information that is unwelcome to Western governments and at silencing critics of dominant Western narratives.