DISINFO: There is a Western pressure campaign against Russian media
DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS
  • Outlet: mundo.sputniknews.com (archived)*
  • Date of publication: February 06, 2020
  • Outlet language(s): Spanish
  • Reported in: Issue 184
  • Countries / regions discussed: France, US, Russia
Tags:
Russia Today (RT) Emmanuel Macron Mainstream media Anti-Russian Freedom of speech Media Sputnik RT

DISINFO: There is a Western pressure campaign against Russian media

SUMMARY

Western countries are carrying out a pressure campaign against Russian media. US Congressmen and French president Emmanuel Macron accused RT and Sputnik, without evidence, of interfering in the elections of their countries.

RESPONSE

There is plenty of evidence of Russia’s interference in both the elections in the US in 2016 and France in 2017 through, amongst other means, RT and Sputnik. This is part of a recurrent pro-Kremlin narrative to portray Russia as an innocent power falsely accused of interfering on other countries’ affairs, and Western defensive actions as anti-Russian in nature. You can see other examples of disinformation on this topic in our database, such as the alleged persecution of Sputnik in totalitarian Estonia due to its truthful reporting and fear of its influence; the allegedly brave efforts of Sputnik against intolerance in Lithuania; the supposed violations of the rights of Russian journalists in the US and the EU; the claims that French media are not free, or the stories on how nice is to be a journalist in Russia, unlike in Europe, because Russia is the global champion of free speech. RT and Sputnik's purpose is not to inform the public but to produce narratives serving the Kremlin’s purposes, regularly resorting to disinformation. In a resolution on November 23rd 2016, the European Parliament identified both RT and Sputnik as tools and instruments of the Kremlin’s anti-EU campaign.

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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.

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