WASHINGTON. Russia Today, the Russian global network, does not only act as a state-controlled television, but is an operational arm of Moscow’s intelligence – with active cyber units inside – and promotes covert operations to influence elections, incite violence and spread fake news and Russian propaganda not only in the United States but in many other countries.
The Russian Media Blacklist
Speaking to reporters in the State Department press room on Friday, Antony Blinken broadened the front in the confrontation between Washington and Moscow. In March, the secretary of state had outlined a series of steps that the Administration should take to defend the stability of democracy and the national social fabric, and in the last two weeks the US has blacklisted the Russian media system – in particular Rossiya Segodnya and its subsidiaries including the former Russia Today, now RT, and Sputnik.
Ten days ago, the Departments of State, Justice, and the Treasury indicted two RT employees on charges of diverting $9.7 million to Tenet Media, a video-streaming platform in Tennessee.hoping to fuel Kremlin propaganda and undermine the U.S. democratic process. Blinken went further on Friday, pointing the finger at the chain of command that originates in the Kremlin. The secretary of state has moved in unison with Canadian and British authorities and this week met with other leaders to raise the issue and call for maximum attention to “counter disinformation, expose those responsible and sanction those who weaponize information to threaten our democracies.”
The examples
Washington has imposed sanctions on three entities and two individuals for their involvement in these operations. The State Department has provided a number of examples of how RT operates. In Germany, for example, RT clandestinely operates the English-language platform Red. According to the daily newspaper Tagesspiel, Red is also behind some protests that have erupted in Germany. Behind Africa Stream, a platform that spreads news only on social media channels, is RT, which carries Kremlin propaganda. In Argentina, the Russians are trying to hijack government policy and create friction with neighboring countries. The most striking case so far concerns Moldova where Russian activism has targeted the elections next October.
The Secretary of State has instructed the US diplomatic network to report anomalies in the countries of competence and our country is obviously not excluded, even if the State Department has not issued any alerts so far.
How Russian disinformation moves
Russian tentacles move on various levels, with simple tools – from organizing fundraisers – to more complex schemes such as hiring journalists, podcasters, local broadcasters to conduct clandestine operations. Central is the role of the “cyber units”, embedded in the ranks of RT and capable of producing and conveying fake information on social media and then bouncing it around the global media galaxy. Or in specific targets.
One of the prime targets is the conflict in Ukraine. The State Department has turned the spotlight on crowdfunding, behind these RT initiatives lies Russian intelligence. Money is being collected to buy weapons, equipment, ammunition, drones, and visors for Russian soldiers. The person in charge of this operation is Anton Anisimov, deputy director and head of the international division of Sputnik. Going backwards, the team led by James Rubin, the special envoy and coordinator of the Global Engagement Center, found that all military equipment is purchased in small parts to avoid controls. Some of these tools come from China, and there are reconnaissance drones. “Today we do not know whether the Chinese authorities are aware of this market,” Rubin said.
«We often wonder why the countries of the Global South and parts of Latin America or Asia do not support the Ukrainian cause. Well one of the reasons,” Rubin explained, “is precisely because RT’s lies and disinformation and propaganda reaches millions if not billions of people.”
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