Russia is trying to present its own propaganda as part of the international fight against disinformation. Another platform for this was the “Dialogue About Fakes 4.0” forum, held in Moscow with the participation of Russian officials and state media.
This is reported by the Centre for Countering Disinformation.
According to the CCD, the forum is funded from Russia’s state budget. One of its participants was Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who used the event to promote Russian narratives, including denying Russia’s responsibility for war crimes in Bucha and levelling accusations against Western countries.
The event also actively involved the so-called “Global Fact-Checking Network” (GFCN). The CCD claims that this structure was created with the Kremlin’s support and is used to spread distorted information.
The Centre notes that the participation in the forum of representatives of the Russian presidential administration, heads of state media outlets, and its budget funding point to the systematic nature of such efforts.
In the CCD’s assessment, Moscow is trying to create the appearance for foreign audiences of an international fight against disinformation, while at the same time promoting its own information narratives.
“The Kremlin is turning pseudo fact-checking into yet another instrument of hybrid warfare,” the Centre said.
The CCD believes that, under the guise of a discussion about digital security, Russia is trying to promote its own approaches to controlling information and to use rhetoric about “protecting the truth” to justify its actions.