LONDON –
The British Foreign Office said on Sunday that Russia was using a troll factory to spread disinformation about the war in Ukraine on social media and to target politicians in a number of countries, including Britain and South Africa.
The UK cited a UK-funded expert study, which it did not publish. It says the poll reveals how the Kremlin’s disinformation campaign was designed to manipulate international public opinion about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, boost support for it and attract new supporters.
Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special operation” to disarm Ukraine and protect it from the Nazis. Ukraine and the West say the fascist accusation is baseless and the war is an unprovoked act of aggression.
Russia says the Western media has provided too much of a partial account of the war, which largely ignores Moscow’s fears about NATO enlargement, and what it says is the persecution of Russian-speakers in Ukraine, something Kyiv has denied.
“We cannot allow the Kremlin and its shady troll farms to invade our online spaces with their lies about Putin’s illegal war,” Foreign Minister Liz Truss said in a statement.
“The UK government has warned international partners and will continue to work closely with allies and media platforms to undermine Russian information operations.
Moscow has denied previous Western accusations of disinformation campaigns, such as Washington’s accusation that Russia tried to interfere in the 2016 US presidential election.
Britain said the survey showed the troll factory used the Telegram to recruit and coordinate new supporters, who then targeted Kremlin critics’ social media profiles, sending them spam with comments in favor of President Vladimir Putin and his war.
Their targets include senior British ministers and other world leaders, Britain said, adding that traces of the operation had been found on eight social media platforms, including Telegram, Twitter, Facebook and TikTok.
(Report by Kylie McClellan; edited by Francis Carey)
Add Comment