Sites disseminating pro-Russian propaganda on the Internet have multiplied since the start of the war in Ukraine, despite the blocking decreed by the European Commission of Russian media favorable to the Kremlin, such as RT or Sputnik, reveals an investigation by the New York institute NewsGuardTuesday, August 9.
The number of sites disseminating disinformation in the context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has increased sharply in six months, from 116 sites identified in March to 250. “Over the past four months, NewsGuard analysts have identified seventy-eight new sites publishing Russia-Ukraine disinformation and thirty-two new myths about the war [sur un total de cinquante-quatre]. » Among the myths and false information identified: Russia is not responsible for the Boutcha massacre or the attack on the Kramatorsk station, the United States is running laboratories to develop biological weapons on Ukrainian soil, Ukrainian refugees are said to have committed crimes in Germany or Poland…
To identify these propaganda sites, NewsGuard relied in particular on a study by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue from July 2022which shows how, despite the ban on RT, the content produced by this Kremlin-friendly media still manages to find an audience through devious means.
“Sleeping Sites”
Some of these sites present themselves as offshoots of independent think tanks or the media. Half publish content in English, but also in French, German or Italian. A number are what NewsGuard co-director Gordon Crovitz describes to the Associated Press (AP) as “dormant sites” : they already existed before the start of the war in Ukraine and broadcast generic content unrelated to the conflict, before suddenly devoting themselves exclusively to it, adopting a pro-Russian point of view.
The number of propaganda sites spotted by NewsGuard “greatly exceeds the handful of sites identified and sanctioned by digital platforms, such as Google, Facebook, Twitter or TikTok, at the start of the invasion”regrets the organization, which requires more firmness on their part and more information for users.
NewsGuard also notes that many of the sites discovered continue to earn revenue from advertising, including through software provided by Google. A windfall that “goes against the European Commission’s code of practice for combating disinformation, which was updated in June”she judges.
The first version of this code of conduct was established in 2018 and the main Internet giants – Meta, Google, Twitter or TikTok – are signatories. In particular, it urges players involved in advertising placement, such as Google, to avoid showing their ads near conspiratorial content, to verify the sites on which they are displayed and to provide users with tools to identify and react to false information. or misleading.
The Digital Services Act (DSA), definitively passed by the European Parliament on July 5 and whose entry into force is expected in 2024, also provides for fines of up to 6% of their worldwide turnover for companies that deviate from their obligation to reduce risks in terms of disinformation.