Thursday 7th of November 2024

BBC vs RT "propaganda" in the global south....

Funding cuts to the BBC World Service have allowed Russian and Chinese media outlets to spread “unchallenged propaganda” across the Global South, the director-general of the British state media giant has complained.

The BBC World Service broadcasts in around 40 languages to an audience of 320 million people per week. Two years ago, the network cut more than 380 jobs and stopped radio broadcasts in ten languages, including Arabic and Persian.

In a speech in London on Monday afternoon, Davie is expected to argue that “when the World Service retreats, state-funded media operators move in to take advantage,”according to remarks shared with British media outlets in advance.

Russia and China are “expanding their global media activities – investing hard to grow their audiences in key markets in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America,” Davie will say, claiming that “across Africa in particular, Russian media is incredibly active in promoting its narratives, with social media influencers amplifying propaganda and so-called ‘activists’ live-streaming pro-Russia rallies.”

Kenya’s state broadcaster KBC has taken up Chinese output on TV and radio, as has Liberia’s state broadcaster LBS,” he will say. “Meanwhile, in Lebanon, Russian-backed media is now transmitting on the radio frequency previously occupied by BBC Arabic.”

“And this investment is seeing significant returns, not only in terms of the reach of Russian state broadcaster RT and China’s CGTN, but also in terms of trust.”

Davie will complain that “Russian-backed” journalists spread “unchallenged propaganda” in Lebanon on the day that thousands of Hezbollah’s communication devices simultaneously exploded in an apparent Israeli sabotage operation. “Had the BBC been able to retain our impartial radio output, these messages would have been much harder for local audiences to find,” he will claim.

Despite Davie’s claims of independence, the BBC is an almost entirely state-funded operation, financed by an annual license fee of £169.50 ($221) owed by every British household with a television or device capable of receiving broadcasts. The UK’s Office for National Statistics classifies the fee as a tax, and the BBC as part of the “central government sector” of the UK economy.

The British Foreign Office also pays £104 million ($135.5 million) of the World Service’s £334 million ($435.3 million) annual budget, and is the largest financial backer of the BBC’s ‘Media Action’ department. This department, which is also funded by the governments of the US, Canada, Norway, Sweden, the EU, the UN, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, claims that it spends this money fighting “disinformation, division and distrust” in two dozen developing countries.

Davie’s grievances echo those of the US State Department. After announcing a raft of sanctions on RT and its parent company last month, department official Jamie Rubin told reporters that “one of the reasons… why so much of the world has not been as fully supportive of Ukraine as you would think they would be… is because of the broad scope and reach of RT, where propaganda, disinformation and lies are spread to millions if not billions around the world.”

RT was banned from multiple social media platforms after the sanctions were announced. However, the network’s deputy editor-in-chief, Anna Belkina, stated afterwards that RT “isn’t going anywhere” and “will continue to find new ways to reach audiences – in every corner of the world.”

 

https://www.rt.com/news/605699-bbc-russia-china-propaganda/

 

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

 

blaming russia for their own Scheiße.....

Germany remains a central focus of Russian disinformation efforts, and Kremlin-backed campaigns continue to grow in scope and intensity.

That was the warning that senior security officials and lawmakers issued this week during a public session of the German parliament's committee responsible for overseeing the country's intelligence agencies.

"We have long recognized the threat to Germany from foreign influence and hybrid warfare, especially from Russia," said Konstantin von Notz, a Green Party lawmaker and the committee's chairman.

"However, we are now witnessing a new level of intensity, and this development is deeply worrying for all of us."

 Germany perceived 'as an enemy' by the Kremlin 

Heads of Germany's intelligence services echoed von Notz's sentiments.

As Germany has emerged as one of the staunchest supporters of Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, the Kremlin has increasingly perceived Germany "as an enemy" and treated it as one, said Bruno Kahl, president of Germany's foreign intelligence agency, the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND).

Kahl explained that Russian President Vladimir Putin has long waged a "hybrid war" against countries in the West to "create a new world order." To achieve this end, Putin is using Russia's secret service agencies "as the spearhead in the fight against the West, with a state mandate, with all the means at their disposal, without legal restrictions and, above all, without any conscience."

This has led to a "dramatic increase in the number and quality of cyberattacks by Russian state actors and their proxies," Kahl added.

At the same time, cyberattacks are just one method that Russia is using to assert its influence. 

Thomas Haldenwang, president of Germany's Federal domestic intelligence agency, warned of "influence operations" to spread pro-Russian disinformation: coordinated efforts to sway public opinion that blend cyber activities with the spread of disinformation.

He cited the example of one such campaign, dubbed "Doppelgänger," which was recently uncovered and involved cloned websites, fabricated articles, and misleading social media posts that mimicked established European media outlets to push pro-Russian narratives.

 Growing influence of pro-Russian voices

Researchers say the majority of pro-Kremlin disinformation campaigns targeting German audiences have one of three objectives, researchers say: weakening support for Ukraine, tarnishing NATO's image or amplifying pro-Russian voices across Germany.

"We see that this strategy is gradually achieving its goals, and the public debate in Germany is increasingly shifting in a direction that serves the Kremlin's interests," said Felix Kartte, a political analyst and senior fellow at Germany's Mercator Foundation.

"Two parties that represent pro-Kremlin positions, the AfD and the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, are now also getting significant attention in traditional media," he told DW. Both the far-right AfD (Alternative for Germany) party and the left-wing nationalist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) achieved record results in recent state elections.

https://www.dw.com/en/russian-disinformation-is-growing-in-germany/a-70506294

 

 

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.