A network of fake news sites has been flooding Europe with disinformation and propaganda against Ukraine for months. Reports uncovered websites that mimicked media outlets like Bild and Spiegel. But it doesn’t stop there. Research by CORRECTIV.Faktencheck shows that the Russian campaign also entails forged government documents.
In March the EU banned Russian broadcasters. Among them RT, formerly known as Russia Today. Since then, its German version RT DE has been advertising digital loopholes to work around its suspension. Above all: mirror pages, dozens of them. Why have the responsible German authorities not managed to shut them down?
They stir up hatred against migration or spread misinformation: Media outlets from eleven European countries are cooperating to increase their influence. They are close to parties like the FPÖ, the AfD or Fratelli d’Italia. At the heart of it all: the website “Unser Mitteleuropa” (Our Central Europe) and a dead Austrian man with contacts to the right-wing extremist scene.
This report details the knowledge that CORRECTIV.Faktencheck has gained over five years of monitoring mis- and disinformation during elections. It highlights the 2021 federal elections in Germany and the key learnings that can be drawn from it. This includes the different tasks within the team, monitored platforms, tools, and thoughts behind the chosen approach.
The Ukrainian parliament dismissed Human Rights Chief Lyudmila Denisova amid claims that she spoke unethically about rape and sexual violence committed by Russian soldiers against Ukrainian civilians. Some German-language websites accuse her of inventing cases all together. What truth is there to these accusations?
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, German social media has been flooded with misinformation and images shared out of context.
Did Uğur Şahin, CEO of BioNTech, threaten to suspend all political donations?
Half-empty beer bottles, rubbish on the floor, graffiti... but who vandalised this train?
Last week, Twitter users claimed their accounts were being closed due to Russian sanctions - what was really going on?
This week, misinformation spread online about an East German flag at the Winter Olympics.
This week, misinformation spread online claiming to show two million people in the streets
Online misinformation targeted Green co-leader Omid Nouripour
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