The Russia connectionSeven commandments of fake news: Exposing the Kremlin’s methods

A 3-series multimedia project by the New York Times reveals how current Kremlin disinformation campaigns stem from a long tradition of weaponizing information. Titled Operation Infektion, the series tells the story of a “political virus,” invented decades ago by the KGB to “slowly and methodically destroy its enemies from the inside,” and which the Kremlin continues to deliberately spread to this day.

EU vs Disinfo takes a closer look at each of the episodes and encourages you to watch them yourselves.

A child-trafficking ring run from a pizza-parlor basement by the U.S. presidential candidate and her team – who would believe this stuff? In the midst of the U.S. presidential campaign in 2016, quite a few people did. And some even believed it enough to bring a fire-arm and start shooting inside the said pizza parlor, in a misguided attempt to save child slaves allegedly held there.

In the second episode of the Operation Infektion series, the New York Times demonstrates how even the most outrageous lie can be turned into a successful fake news story. All you would have to do is follow the Seven Commandments of Fake News – a step-by-step guide straight from the Kremlin’s recipe book, on how to cook up the perfect media storm:

·  First Commandment:  look for cracks in target societies.

·  Second Commandment: create a big lie – something so outrageous, no one will believe it is made up.

·  Third Commandment: wrap that lie around a kernel of truth – disinformation is most successful when it has a small bit of truth in it.

·  Fourth Commandment: conceal your hand – make it seem that the story came from somewhere else.