Thursday

28th Mar 2024

China's echo of Kremlin disinfo over Ukraine raises EU concerns

  • The bombarding of the hospital in Mariupol, for example, was blamed on Ukrainian troops in dozens of posts by Russian official social media accounts (Photo: Ukrainian foreign ministry)
Listen to article

Russian disinformation and propaganda narratives over the war continue to spread in a bid to distort Moscow's military intervention and atrocities in Ukraine.

But China's endorsement of the Kremlin narrative raises a new challenge for the West.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

After a month of brutal fighting, new disinformation trends on the Russia-Ukraine conflict have emerged — especially given the all-encompassing astronomical level of censorship enforced by Moscow in the country.

More and more Russian channels are migrating to the encrypted messaging app Telegram because bigger social media platforms are getting better at detecting and shutting down disinformation accounts, EU senior officials told reporters on Tuesday (29 March).

This trend has intensified since a Russian court banned Facebook and Instagram for carrying out "extremist activities" last week.

But disinfo narratives have also been carried out directly by official accounts of the Russian ministry of foreign affairs, and embassies across the world, which EU officials say are now "playing the role of Russian-state media."

Disinformation refers to the spread of false or misleading information deliberately, while misinformation is unwittingly shared.

The bombarding of the hospital in Mariupol in early March, for example, was blamed on Ukrainian troops in dozens of posts by Russian official social media accounts.

But EU officials said they have recently identified "more and more [disinformation] narratives focusing on alleged atrocities committed by the Ukrainian side" — seen as an attempt to "hide" what is happening on the ground.

Nevertheless, China's endorsement of Russian disinformation has raised fresh concerns for the West.

Chinese officials have criticised "Western approaches" regarding sanctions and amplified Russian claims that Ukraine is developing biological weapons with US support, EU officials said.

But the EU is now scrambling to make sure Beijing will not support Moscow's aggression in Ukraine with high-level talks scheduled for this Friday at the EU-China summit.

Meanwhile, civil society organisations also blame the current conflict on Russian propaganda, dating back to before it seized Crimea in 2014.

"These include baseless claims about Kyiv being overrun by 'Nazis' and existential threats to ethnic Russians … [which] have played a crucial role in escalating tensions in Ukraine and fanning the flames of the conflict since it started in 2014," Frederike Kaltheuner, a campaigner at Human Rights Watch, told EUobserver.

In a separate report, the EU-funded Social Observatory for Disinformation and Social Media Analysis project warned that disinformation about Ukrainian refugees is spreading, from the countries of first arrivals to central and western Europe.

The observatory said refugees fleeing Ukraine are portrayed on social media as dangerous fascists, who are allegedly receiving better treatment than nationals.

Ukraine has denounced a large-scale disinformation campaign since the war started.

The Security Service of Ukraine said on Monday that it had eliminated five bot farms, using over 100,000 fake accounts to spread disinformation about the invasion and frontline response.

Russian fake news "tried to inspire panic among Ukrainian citizens and destabilise the social and political situation in various regions," it said in a statement.

Column

Beware a ceasefire in Ukraine

My organisation Democracy Reporting International has tracked the negotiation positions and it is clear that president Volodomyr Zelensky has opened wide space for compromise on all the contentious questions, except the two absurd Russian demands of "denazification" and demilitarisation.

Opinion

When did Ukraine really gain 'independence' — 1991 or 2013?

In November 2013, Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych chose not to sign an EU Association Agreement, favouring a closer relationship with Russia. By February 2014, Yanukovych was ordering Ukrainian Special Forces to fire on protestors, killing over 100 peaceful activists.

Opinion

Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Rather than assuming a pro-European Labour government in London will automatically open doors in Brussels, the Labour party needs to consider what it may be able to offer to incentivise EU leaders to factor the UK into their defence thinking.

Latest News

  1. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  2. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  3. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  4. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  5. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult
  6. EU unveils plan to create a European cross-border degree
  7. How migrants risk becoming drug addicts along Balkan route
  8. 2024: A Space Odyssey — why the galaxy needs regulating

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  2. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  3. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  5. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  6. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us