This Week in Russia-Hacking-America: Syria, Novichok & Boris Johnson
There is a growing force of what are becoming known as “Digital Sherlocks” working with the NATO cyberwarfare division, tracking the Russian attacks on Western Democracies.
Here’s what they are up to this Monday:
1. The Russians are pushing a line that the Israelis tried to attack bases in Syria, but were beaten & humiliated by the amazing brave Russian air defences. This is being pushed by RT, and is meant to boost the image of Russian military.
2. Pushing the #walkaway meme, to try to convince nervous democrats that actually opposing Trump will result in turning off those mythical “swing” voters.
3. Memejacking the #mondaymotivation hashtag to try to insert Russian propaganda and disinformation into what seem to be tame conversations.
4. All over the resignation of Boris Johnson, and pushing divisive memes around Brexit, to sow more dissension, and weaken the NATO alliance.
5. More disinformation about the use of the Novichok nerve agent to poison Sergei Skripal - and the associated poisoning of more innocent Brits this past weekend. Blamed, of course, on a “false flag” campaign of self-poisoning by the Queen of England to something something IT’S ALL FAKE!
Laugh if you dare, but I guarantee you that by the end of the week, Trump will be mindlessly repeating whatever the Russians and Putin are promoting because treason.
More from the DFRLab, and BTW, please give those guys some help because Jesus Jumping Jacks, they can use it:
On YouTube, out of 12 most-watched videos on the Skripal case from the past month, nine spread pro-Kremlin narratives and five came directly from RT.
The second most-watched video was published by RT and featured Yulia Skripal’s first media appearance since the poisoning. It is important to note that this particular video was not overly biased, nor misinforming. The second most popular RT video, however, was not as objective. It was a German translation of a clip from RT’s English language service, in which the anchor suggested that a BBC documentary on the Skripal case points to several inconsistencies. It went on to suggest the Skripals could have overdosed on opioids, which is a popular “theory” among Kremlin-funded media outlets.
Three out of four videos that came from non-RT channels, were all published by talkRADIO, a British radio station that frequently hosts George Galloway, an RT contributor and op-ed writer. This shows how RT’s mouthpieces can launder pro-Kremlin narratives into the British mainstream media. Among the theories peddled by Galloway were suggestions that the British government used the royal wedding to cover Skripal’s hospital release.