The EU takes what they lable as fake news and propaganda very serious, so they say. In order to secure that the news is not fake, the European Union, some individual states, and some companies and NGO's, take actions, as such there are special offices that analyze the news and decide what should go on the list of fake news websites, who should be labled as a pro-kremlin troll, a pro-russian troll, a disinfor artist etc. Could we call these institutions Fake News Overlords? Certainly, there are such Fake News Overlords outside the EU, but for now I was thinking mainly to focus on the EU, or countries very close to the EU sphere of power, even though connections may lead us elsewhere. We will see :)
My hope is that we can collect and share knowledge about the work of the Fake News Overlords, their possible agenda, and overall learn something useful. It may be of particular importance now. The following was published by Danish Radio (Danmarks Radio) a state owned broadcaster of radio, tv and web news:
Without going into a discussion of the above claims, this initiative to control news more, did not come out of nowhere. Below are some posts that formed the background, for the creation or boosting the Fake News Overlords
My hope is that we can collect and share knowledge about the work of the Fake News Overlords, their possible agenda, and overall learn something useful. It may be of particular importance now. The following was published by Danish Radio (Danmarks Radio) a state owned broadcaster of radio, tv and web news:
http://www.dr.dk/nyheder/udland/eu-tager-kampen-op-mod-rusland-vil-udrydde-falske-nyheder said:The EU is taking the fight against Russia: Will eradicate false news
Russian interference may come to create further instability in Europe - and this is precisely the aim, says DR's EUROPEAN correspondent.
[picture]
During the us elections false news and misinformation were spread through social media - now the EU is trying to avoid the same thing happening during the upcoming European elections in the Netherlands, France and Germany. (Photo: Rick Wilking © Scanpix)
[...]
- So they have an interest in that, for example, Marine le Pen gets elected in France, because she has promised a referendum on EU membership within the first six months of her possible presidency. It would create great havoc in the EU cooperation.
[...]
Both in Germany and the Czech republic have introduced working groups to combat the false news.
In France, launches the French newspaper Le Monde 1. February a database that will make it easier for their readers to track whether a news item is false. The database contains 600 websites, which are known to spread the false news.
[...]
Also Facebook have after the US elections, set up an expert group, which will have the task to check the news that is being reported as being fake, just like the british media, the BBC has set up an editorial group to intercept and identify the false news.
Without going into a discussion of the above claims, this initiative to control news more, did not come out of nowhere. Below are some posts that formed the background, for the creation or boosting the Fake News Overlords
January 14, 2017:thorbiorn said:Without making this long, there were two articles in arbejderen.dk Arbejderen.dk]One explains how a Danish FM Martin Lidegaard in the beginning of 2015 moved actively to get the EU to counter "the massive Russian propaganda" including organizing a conference in Copenhagen to achieve this goal, and succeeded. The EU has an office with 11 people called the "East StratCom Task Force", which are to do surveillance of medias in the EU and outside. East StratCom Task Force works with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and so far it has collected 2500 articles with alledgedly "pro Kreml disinformation'".
To give you an example of "pro Kreml disinformation" I found this in their newsletter from September 20, 2016:
The news letter is called "Disinformation Review", another is called Disinformation Digest so there must be some truth in what they are saying ;)http://us11.campaign-archive1.com/?u=cd23226ada1699a77000eb60b&id=6faf648066 said:Conspiracy theories on US terror
This week, Russian TV shows were active in reviving an old conspiracy theory. Fifteen years after the devastating 9/11 terrorist attacks, guests as well as hosts of Russian TV shows "Vremya pokazhet" and "Mesto vstrechi" stated that it was in fact the US itself that was behind the attack, with some claiming that Israel and Saudi Arabia were also involved in it (http://bit.ly/2cmst0s, http://bit.ly/2cvQFuZ). On the show "Voskresnyi vecher" it was claimed that Bin Laden and Al Qaeda never took responsibility for the attacks (http://bit.ly/2cmst0s). Of course, Bin Laden officially claimed responsibility in 2004 (http://bit.ly/2cfHs98).
The official 9/11 Commission report can be found here.
It turns out that Martin Lidegaard is a member of the European Council of Foreign Relations http://www.ecfr.eu/council/members They explain about themselves:http://www.ecfr.eu/about said:About the European Council on Foreign Relations
ECFR is an award-winning international think-tank that aims to conduct cutting-edge independent research; provide a safe meeting space for policy-makers, activists and intellectuals to share ideas; offer a media platform to get Europeans talking about their role in the world. It was established in 2007 by a council of fifty founding members, chaired by Martti Ahtisaari, Joschka Fischer, and Mabel van Oranje, with initial funding from George Soros’s Open Society Foundations, the Communitas Foundation, Sigrid Rausing, Unicredit and Fride.
Inspired by the role American think-tanks played in helping the US move from isolationism to global leadership, ECFR’s founders set about creating a pan-European institution that could combine establishment credibility with intellectual insurgency. Today, it has over 50 staff from more than 20 countries, and receives funding from a wide range of charitable foundations, national governments, companies and private individuals.
It is useful to see how this is all connected.
thorbiorn said:The EU has an organ called European Union External Action https://eeas.europa.eu One of their activites is the East Stratcom Fask Force
Actually I already wrote some background on this organisation: http://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,39733.msg676782.html#msg676782 anyhow the organisation has now made some headlines in DK, since a Danish woman Iben Thranholm has been called out by the new foreign minister as spreader of Russian disinformation. One paper that has carried some of her articles also cover this story,https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage/2116/-questions-and-answers-about-the-east-stratcom-task-force_en said:Why was the East StratCom Task Force created?
The task force has been set up following the European Council in March 2015, which tasked the High Representative to submit, in cooperation with EU institutions and Member States, an action plan on strategic communication in order to address Russia's ongoing disinformation campaigns
[...]
What is the disinformation/myth-busting network? How can I join?
The network is comprised of more than 400 experts, journalists, officials, NGOs and Think Tanks in over 30 countries reporting disinformation articles to the task force. To join the network, please contact the team mail box of the task force.
What is the Disinformation Review? Does it represent official EU positions?
The Disinformation Review is intended to raise awareness of disinformation. It is a compilation of reports received from members of the myth-busting network. It can provide valuable data for analysts, journalists and officials dealing with this issue. However, since the data mentioned in the Disinformation Review comes from the myth-busting network, it cannot be considered an official EU position.That the one called out is a theologian, and a proclaimed Christian (Catholic), was not what I would expect as a first for DK. What I think this case will result in, is more power to the people that question the EU, their authority and how they administer the money and power which is given to them.STEEN A. JØRGENSSEN in http://jyllands-posten.dk/politik/ECE9287669/udenrigsminister-blaastempler-eutaskforce-anklager-dansk-debattoer-for-at-sprede-russisk-propaganda/ said:[...]
The Danish debater, and theologian Iben Thranholm have come in controversial company, after one of her op-ed has been stamped by the EU task force East Stratcom as pro-Russian misinformation. In the post criticized she, among other things, the EU of betraying christianity by granting asylum to refugees.
The task force's conclusion is shared by the Danish government, informed the minister for foreign affairs Anders Samuelsen (LA) during Wednesday's question time in Parliament.
[...]
Samuelsen replied in the affirmative on Marie Krarups questions:
"If the author is referring to the post from contributor Iben Thranholm, which was published by Russia Insider in October 2015, I agree with the task force's assessment that it constitutes a typical example of the Kremlin's narrative about the West's moral collapse," he said and referred thus to East Stratcoms justification to stamp this post as pro-Russian
[...]
Basically, what the Danish FM is saying is that if we write something that can be interpreted by the policies of the East Stratcom task force, as coinciding with an opinion prevalent in Russian society and its leading figures, then we should be prepared to be labled by the EU task foce, supported by the Danish Government. What will this lead to?
I wonder if there are stories from Norway and Sweden of similar cases?
Edit: If you want to read what the Task Force publishes as examples of disinformation try https://euvsdisinfo.eu Analysis of the content of the newletter could be a subject for many posts, but does not belong in this thread.
thorbiorn said:Update on the case I mentioned in the previous post, I found a text in Russian and a video on this page:
In the video, there is a dubbed translation (from Danish to Russian) of the question and answer session in the parliament. Can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/embed/eFlAY6421p4https://russian.rt.com/world/article/350381-kremlyovskaya-propaganda-datskuyа-zhurnalistkа said:Danish journalist Eben Trenholm accused of spreading Pro-Kremlin propaganda for a skeptical position regarding the EU's migration policy. In an interview with RT, she said that in Europe there is "a new political tool": the man credited with the relationship with Russia, thus discrediting, and after all his statements can be called the propaganda of the Kremlin.
Or in English:
So much for the background. To be continued.thorbiorn said:Did not expect I would answer the question in the affirmative but in a Norwegian paper Aftonbladet.no I found:thorbiorn said:[...]
I wonder if there are stories from Norway and Sweden of similar cases?
Edit: If you want to read what the Task Force publishes as examples of disinformation try https://euvsdisinfo.eu Analysis of the content of the newletter could be a subject for many posts, but does not belong in this thread.
Lets see what comes out of this, will it be more control, self censorship, more political correctness, less debate?http://www.aftenposten.no/kultur/Svenske-medier-beskyldes-for-a-spre-russisk-propaganda--En-grotesk-anklage_-sier-kulturredaktor-612769b.html said:Swedish media accused of spreading Russian propaganda. - A grotesque accusation, says cultural editor
THEA STORØY Elnan
UPDATED: 14.JAN.2017 5:48 p.m.
ISSUED: 12.JAN.2017 9:00 p.m.
Sharp media debate in Sweden about fake news, Russian influence and freedom of expression.
A new report from the Swedish Institute of International Affairs, published in the Journal of Strategic Studies, has created cultural debate in Sweden.
The report documents how Russia's attempt to influence Sweden in various ways through false news, disinformation, forgeries and military threats have increased since the conflict on the Crimean peninsula in 2014.
Russia's influence has been a much discussed topic in the media in the past, particularly in connection with US presidential elections. Last week they released US intelligence services NSA and CIA, as well as the federal agency FBI report that Russian President Vladimir Putin gave the order to influence the presidential election of Donald Trump's advantage. The methods they used were including hacking and the spread of Hillary Clinton's emails.
Both Aftonbladet and the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter accused in the Swedish report for spreading Russian disinformation.
Among the examples of Russia's entry into the Swedish news as cited in the report, the articles in Aftonbladet culture section. Scientists believe several of the section's publications have a "narrative that is the Kremlin-friendly."
- This is grotesque accusations and clearly an attack on press freedom, says Åsa Linderborg, cultural editor of the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet.
A Russia-friendly narrative
The report says that Aftonbladet culture section in 2014 published more than 30 articles about fascism in Ukraine and criticism of the EU and NATO. For example, the fascists were the driving force in Ukrainian politics and that the referendum on Crimea reflected "people's will", which is to belong to Russia.
At least three contributors in aftonbladet's kulturseksjon be accused of being active in social media groups that the Kremlin-friendly. A journalist in the newsroom, a political refugee from Moscow, accused also of being a Russian agent.
-I have no word to express how serious this is [picture of Åsa Linderborg]
Linderborg does not agree with the accusations and think they are scary.
- It is clear we have written much about Ukraine, Putin and NATO. Why would we not do it when it's out of journalistic interest? I miss however hard facts and empirical evidence of what researchers believe to find. The report claims that if, for example, is against a Swedish NATO membership, so it's the same as being Putin-friendly, says Linderborg.
She thinks it's serious that state-funded researchers are attacking journalists to standards that do not fit "in their standard of what is right and wrong Russia-criticism."
- There is a serious attack on press freedom to hang out reporters to be Putin agents without special coating, just because they write things about fascism resurgence in Ukraine. I have no words for how serious this is, and it should be a matter for the whole media-Sweden, not only us, says Linderborg.
Must beware of conspiracies
The report has been discussed in many Swedish media since it was published on 5 January. Director of the Institute of International Affairs, Mats Karlsson, took yesterday distance of the report and underlined in an article published in Aftonbladet that the report was not released by the department, but the researchers' own initiative. This is referred to in the Swedish media that sensational, and the debate continues in Sweden.
Julie Wilhelmsen, senior scientist at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), believes that among journalists is much talk about the existence of Russian disinformation also in Norway, but she has not yet seen evidence that it actually exists in the Norwegian press.
- Russia's driver propaganda and news channels that are extremely unidirectional, we know. The spread of so-called false news into the Norwegian public sphere, however, I have not seen examples, but I read the not everything written, says Wilhelmsen. [picture of Julie Wilhelmsen]
She warns media against speculating too much about this.
- There are many conspiracy theories that are out walking. This I am used to from Russian politics, but I am amazed at how conspiracy similar reasoning gets a foothold in the public debate in our western countries. Russia is capable of much. They engaged in disinformation, which all major states do. However, I have no hard evidence that this is such a widespread phenomenon in Norway as it is often given the impression, says Wilhelmsen.
She points out that we must ask ourselves what is disinformation and not.
- For example, I believe that it should be discussed on sanctions against Russia are an effective policy tool; is the opinion disinformation planted by the Russians or it is my honest opinion? There is an important distinction.
Lacking resources to scrutiny
Åsa Linderborg believes the Swedish debate in the wake of the report shows that the climate of the debate in Sweden has become narrower to navigate.
- Democracy requires that all opinions should be possible. This has become more difficult in Sweden in recent years because everything should follow a standard for what is called "correct" opinions. This debate is the latest example, says Linderborg.
She refers to the media industry's major savings in recent months, fewer journalists and less time for factual check as deterrents to take false news at the roots.
- We throw ourselves over reports and matters indiscriminately, and we publish to be first and to get the most clicks. We do not have the same resources to investigate cases before. They engaged in disinformation is mightier and more than journalists. But we must continue to be critical, says Linderborg.
- Evaluating our best defense
It has not yet succeeded Aftenposten to get in touch with the researchers behind the report. Aftonbladet says one of the researchers, Martin Kragh, that the current information flow higher demands to the authorities, politicians and the media's level of knowledge.
- This is not only a Russian phenomenon, but a phenomenon in the world politics, says Kragh to Aftonbladet, mentioning IS as an example.
In addition, says Kragh to Aftonbladet that the fear of disinformation can help to sharpen our source criticism, and so work to our advantage.
