Very important
Why is it important to counter Russian propaganda and fakes?
How it can affect your life and the situation in your country
Deadlines
Russian propaganda is the information policy of the Kremlin, which is formed by the top leadership of the aggressor state in order to influence domestic and foreign audiences. The purpose of propaganda within Russia is to intimidate its own population and at the same time to convince that all the actions of state leaders are aimed at the benefit of their people. Example: "You should go kill Ukrainians, because Russia cannot allow the spread of a new form of Nazism and the dangerous influence of the West on our culture."
Russian fakes is the information that is presented as fact, but with distorted details or frankly made up. The goal is to influence a certain audience by creating the illusion of the desired (customer of fakes) reality. Example: "The USA and the EU have decided to negotiate with Putin." At the same time, the words of marginal politicians or experts are cited as confirmation, not of US and EU officials.
Why is it dangerous?
The fact is that any information, political or expert statements emanating from Russia or its satellites primarily protects the interests of the Kremlin. In Russia (under the leadership of Putin), there is no freedom of speech, no freedom of expression of the will of the people, no opposition and no independent media. Do you think that in such a situation it is possible to trust the information broadcast by Russia and its satellites? Any reasonable person will say: "No". This is what happens in most democratic countries, but many people still believe that Russia should be reckoned with, it should be respected, and economic and cultural ties should be developed with it. Despite the huge number of bloody and catastrophic conflicts initiated by the aggressor state. It's time to remove the veil from your eyes. An aggressor will always be an aggressor.
Therefore, at this very moment, the special forces of the Kremlin are preparing and distributing new fakes in order to influence you, the leaders of your states, and public figures. To achieve their imperial interests: weakening competitors, opponents, appointing loyal people to leadership positions, capturing entire business industries and clusters, forming the necessary public opinion. Russia (now allied with China) independently decides in which world we should live with you. And she is not interested in our opinion. Even international norms, agreements and institutions are not the truth for the Kremlin's cleaners.
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True reality
The political leadership of Russia long ago chose a course to restore the "great" Russian empire. This is confirmed by the words and state acts of the aggressor country itself (Google for help).
Any empire cannot coexist with democratic states, because it considers them a threat to its regime. The very form of democracy and its possible spread to its own "zones of influence" is a direct threat to Russia. This is what happened to Ukraine, which, against the will of the Kremlin, chose a course for EU rapprochement and the establishment of real democracy in the country. You know what happened next. And before that there was Georgia. And even earlier - Moldova. Until now, Georgia remains "under the curatorship" of the Kremlin. It didn't work out that way with Ukraine. But the leaders of the Kremlin are ready to unleash bloody wars and special operations in order to take whole nations and states under their personal "guardianship".
If we look deeper into history, immediately after the end of the Second World War, the Soviet Union (that is, the leaders of the Kremlin) illegally (against the will of the peoples of these countries) established their regimes in Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, part of Germany and in some European countries. They covered themselves, as always, with good intentions. Only with the collapse of the USSR, these countries were able to get rid of Soviet "curatorship".
It is also worth mentioning Russia's support of the criminal regime in Syria and Belarus, as well as special operations in African and Latin American countries. Today, there is not a single continent that is not of interest to Russia.
What is wrong with the people of Russia and ordinary people?
The fact is that the people of Russia voluntarily renounced democracy and the rule of law. Most Russians are very close to the "strategy of restoring the empire", the strategy of dominating the rest of the world. They sincerely rejoice at the capture of foreign territories and any victories over "harmful democracy". Although the standard of living of ordinary Russians is somewhere at the level of the countries of central Africa. And the level of freedom and rule of law is at the level of North Korea. They have voluntarily lived in such conditions for over 20 years, watching and hearing Kremlin propaganda every day 24/7. Do you think that this people can have pure and bright thoughts that differ from the Kremlin's policy?
As a confirmation of this, you can see how "agents of Russian intelligence" are exposed almost every day in various countries of Europe, Asia and America. Every adult with a Russian passport outside his country fulfills a certain role. Someone just uses their voice to spread propaganda and fakes, someone collects important or secret information, someone bribes local leaders, and someone helps arrange special economic operations to circumvent sanctions.
The biggest fakes
Very important
TikTok is suspected of criminally ignoring fake accounts before the Romanian elections
The social network's CEO is being summoned to the European Parliament to explain the role of the platform in the Romanian presidential election. A Politico article quoting the head of the liberal group Renew Europe, Valerie Haier, states that TikTok's management must prove the platform's transparency and compliance with the Digital Services Act.
According to Keita Kili, coordinator of the Bulgarian-Romanian Digital Media Observatory, the platform had a ‘significant impact’ during the first round of elections, as TikTok's rule banning paid political advertising was ‘largely ineffective’.
It is worth noting that the far-right and pro-russian candidate Kelin Georgescu won the first round of the election. He had no party support and was not among the favourites in opinion polls.