Russian disinformation is spreading fast and wide on the internet even though major Russian news organizations remain banned in some countries.
A new report finds the Russian government has been able to get around the bans by finding new places online to publish its desired messaging.
The report was based on information collected by NewsGuard, a New York-based company that studies and follows online disinformation activity.
Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in February, the European Union (EU) moved to block two of Russia’s top state-controlled media companies, RT and Sputnik. RT is an international television network and Sputnik is a news agency.
In addition, Google announced at the start of the war that it was blocking the YouTube channels in Europe for RT and Sputnik. And Meta also took action to block the two Russian media companies from its Facebook and Instagram services across the EU.
But now, NewsGuard says Russia has found ways to keep publishing the same kind of disinformation on a number of other websites.
The group said in its report it had identified 250 websites that are actively spreading Russian disinformation about the war. Many new sites were added in recent months, NewsGuard reports.
Among the claims appearing on the websites was an accusation that Ukraine's army had staged some deadly Russian attacks in an effort to increase international support. Another report claimed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was faking public appearances. And...
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