Russia is using web misinformation to discredit Western vaccines

Kremlin intelligence agencies are engaged in a massive online disinformation campaign to undermine the confidence of Sputnik's competitors, reports the Wall Street Journal. The goal is to sell Russian serum, increasing international influence

(Photo by Jakub Porzycki / NurPhoto via Getty Images) Russian intelligence has organized an online campaign to undermine trust in vaccines developed by Western pharmaceutical companies, so that the Sputnik-V vaccine benefits reputationally. By disseminating articles and online publications that in recent months have questioned the development methods or the very safety of Western vaccines, the Kremlin intelligence agencies would be trying to downplay rival solutions by carefully selecting the unverified information that puts them at a disadvantage. light and providing it with a sounding board on the net.

As reported by the Wall Street Journal, an official from the US State Department's Global Engagement Center (GEC), a body that monitors foreign disinformation actions, explained that the GEC managed to identify four websites and a series of accounts on the main social networks that would have been exploited as a cover by Russian intelligence to discredit the other sera.

According to the official, all four sites are directly linked to the main Russian intelligence agencies, the FSB security service and the foreign intelligence of the SVR. Through the dissemination of false and unverified news, the four websites - which were masquerading as vaccine outlets - repeatedly questioned the efficacy of Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines, claiming that their approval processes were accelerated to the detriment of their safety (although, to be picky, the most accelerated process of all was the Russian one for Sputnik).

Russia, for its part, has denied any kind of accusation, although this is not the first time that the Kremlin has been accused of manipulating information through massive campaigns of this kind. The goal of this campaign, according to the Journal, would be to consolidate Russian influence on the international scenario: to increase sales of the Sputnik-V vaccine and, consequently, to establish new collaborative relationships with countries that will be interested in purchasing the product. russian.


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Topics

Fake news Internet Russia Vaccines Coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V vaccine globalData.fldTopic = "Fake news, Internet, Russia, Vaccines, Coronavirus Vaccine, Sputnik V Vaccine "

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