The Russia connectionWeapons of mass distraction

The U.S. Department of State’s Global Engagement Center has come out with a new and sobering report about the reach, scope, and effectiveness of Russia’s disinformation campaigns to undermine and weaken Western societies. Russia’s broad campaign includes supporting pro-Russian political candidates and parties; deepening political, social, and cultural divisions within Western societies; and helping spread crackpot conspiracy theories, such as those advanced by the anti-vaccine movement, in order to undermine the acceptance of scientific procedures and facts.

“The messages conveyed through disinformation range from biased half-truths to conspiracy theories to outright lies. The intent is to manipulate popular opinion to sway policy or inhibit action by creating division and blurring the truth among the target population,” write the authors of the report.

Here is the introduction to the report:

On July 12, 2014, viewers of Russia’s main state-run television station, Channel One, were shown a horrific story. Five months prior, the Russian military had pushed its way into neighboring Ukraine, and Channel One had been covering the political and military action on the ground. The July 12 story, however, was particularly dramatic. That day, Channel One reporters interviewed a woman at a refugee camp near the Russian border, who claimed to witness a squad of Ukrainian soldiers nail a three-year-old boy to a post in her town square. The soldiers had tortured the boy to death over a period of hours, before tying his mother to the back of a tank and dragging her through the square.(1)

Channel One never questioned the woman’s story. But at least one independent Russian journalist found the tale so unbelievable that he visited the alleged site to investigate. Finding no evidence that this atrocity had ever occurred, he interviewed one resident in the town square, the supposed site of the crime. “This,” the resident said, “is the first I’m hearing of it.”

So where did the story come from? Within a few days, the journalist and others traced the story back to a political scientist with ties to the Kremlin. Days before the shocking Channel One report, this man had posted a similar tale on Facebook, with nearly identical details. By the time the Kremlin connection was uncovered, however, the damage was done: not only had the Channel One report run on television, but the viral story was now reaching a much broader audience on social media.