DIGITAL LIFE

Maldita.es: Russian network mimics fact-checking platforms to spread disinformation online

The Spanish platform Maldita concluded that the global fact-checking network GFCN is a Russian initiative that aims to imitate other international fact-checking networks, but with supposed experts who share disinformation.

"The so-called Global Fact-Checking Network (GFCN) is a Russian initiative that imitates – in form, not in substance – existing fact-checking networks such as the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) and the European Fact-Checking Standards Network (EFCSN)," the research says.

According to the platform, the objective of this network "is to bring together fact-checking journalists who share their views and values", something that comes into "direct conflict with the methodology of independent fact-checkers".

Among the promoters of this network are the Russian news agency TASS, dependent on the Kremlin, and ANO Dialog, a non-profit organization founded in 2019 by the Moscow Department of Information and Technology.

The news agency was unanimously suspended by the European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA) for “failing to provide impartial news”, while ANO Dialog, although it identifies itself as an independent organisation, is under sanctions by the European Union and the United States for carrying out foreign interference and disinformation campaigns, identified by the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO).

The network currently includes around 10 alleged fact-checking experts, such as Sonja van den Ende who spread Russian disinformation campaigns or Juan Antonio Aguilar who runs the pro-Kremlin website Geoestrategia.eu.

The investigation also concludes that the Russian network does not follow the principles established by the IFCN and EFCSN, such as editorial and political independence or financial and organizational transparency.

mundophone