The pro-opposition Syria Campaign has published a 46-page report setting out the Russian disinformation strategy and operations, part of its intervention from September 2015 to prop up the Assad regime and break the Syrian opposition through air and ground attacks, destruction of infrastructure, and demoralization — as well as death and injuries — of civilians.
The report focuses on two case studies. There are the attacks on the White Helmets, the civil defense organization targeted by Russia and pro-Assad activists with falsehoods, distortions, and exaggerations in an effort to destroy the legitimacy of the only rescue service for people in opposition territory.
That campaign is linked to the use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime, with the report taking apart the attempts of the Russian-backed network to divert blame from Damascus for the sarin attack on Khan Sheikhoun in April 2017 that killed at least 92 people and wounded hundreds.
See also Syria’s White Helmets, the Russia Propaganda Machine, and the “Agitprop” Activists
Some details from the report, based on analysis of more than 12.6 million tweets by almost 2.65 million accounts US-based social media intelligence firm Graphika:
*Bots and trolls linked to other Russian disinformation campaigns reached an estimated 56 million people on Twitter with posts related to the White Helmets during ten key news moments of 2016 and 2017
*The Russia/Syria Support Group of Twitter users is often linked to the Pro-Trump/Conservative Group, for example, through spread of a conspiracy theory on the April 2016 sarin attack from a “story and tweet from Alex Jones and Infowars”
*Of 12,352 accounts mapped by Graphika as being the “best connected and most influential”, more than 6,000 appear in at least one other Russian disinformation campaign, while 11 are on a public list of accounts known to be controlled by the most famous of Russian troll farms, the Internet Research Agency. Graphika estimates that the 11 are just 1% of the actual number of troll farm accounts involved.
*One of the originators of the disinformation of a “false flag” rebel attack on Khan Sheikhoun in April 2016, covering up the regime’s sarin assault, was pro-Assad site Al-Masdar. Its false narrative was picked up by InfoWars to include the White Helmets as conspirators in the staged attack. Beeley supported the campaign with a barrage of tweets about “war porn”. By the next day, #SyriaHoax was the top Twitter trend in the US. Backers of the conspiracy theory included US Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii and Virginia State Senator Richard Black. Russia’s Deputy Ambassador to the UN submitted a “briefing paper” by Beeley to the UN Security Council.
*Russia and activists such as Beeley have also relied upon anti-White Helmets allegations by the mysterious “Swedish Doctors For Human Rights”, unknown to both the Swedish Medical Association and Human Rights Watch.
*The disinformation is supported by both State platforms such as Russia’s RT and Sputnik and by US-based actvists such as Max Blumenthal of AlterNet.
Executive Summary
This report sets out fresh evidence of Russia’s campaign to mislead the public and undermine democratic institutions around the world. It reveals how the Russian government is conducting a major multi-pronged propaganda campaign to spread false information about Syria’s humanitarian workers in an effort to cover up its role in some of the most heinous war crimes of our time.
New research shows that bots and trolls linked to Russia have reached an estimated 56 million people with tweets attacking Syria’s search and rescue organisation, the Syria Civil Defence — also known as the White Helmets —
during ten key moments of 2016 and 2017.
Many of these smears are linked to efforts to promote false information about the sarin chemical attack of April 2017 in Khan Sheikhoun, which UN investigators concluded were carried out by Russia’s ally, the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad.
This report examines how a concerted disinformation campaign was able to dominate the reporting of one of the most important events of the Syria conflict. When nerve agent was dropped on a civilian area, Russia’s far-fetched claims were shared so widely, they became the number one trending topic on Twitter in the US.
The White Helmets have saved more than 100,000 lives over the past four years, prompting them to be twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and awarded accolades, such as the Right Livelihood Award and the Arab Hope Makers Award. They have provided crucial evidence to the United Nations (UN) Security Council on three occasions, as well as the US Congress and European, British, French, German, Dutch and Swedish Parliaments.
In parts of Syria where most media outlets cannot reach, their videos and photographs of aerial attacks have done more to reveal the reality of the conflict and humanitarian crisis than any other group. Their work has featured in more
than 78,000 media reports, including on the front pages of The New York Times, The Guardian, BBC, Le Monde, TIME and many other international outlets besides.
The White Helmets are being killed for daring to operate outside the control of the Syrian regime and showing the world what is happening in Syria. Two hundred and ten volunteers have been killed since 2013 at the time of writing. Their centres and teams of volunteers have been hit by missiles, barrel bombs and artillery bombardment 238 times in just over 18 months between June 2016 and December 2017.
As frontline humanitarians, they are protected by International Humanitarian Law. Although they work exclusively in areas outside of government control, they have saved lives from all sides of the conflict, including that of government soldiers. False accusations, abusive language and violent threats all chip away at the volunteers’ morale. However the vicious smearing of the White Helmets, especially false terrorism claims, are designed to undermine the evidence they collect and legitimise their killing.
Blogger Vanessa Beeley, at the heart of this Russian-backed disinformation campaign, has stated repeatedly in public that these humanitarians can be legally killed. “White Helmets are not getting it. We know they are terrorists. Makes them a legit target,” she said on Twitter.
Whilst most of the individuals involved in spreading the conspiracies are usually dismissed as cranks and extremists by the vast majority of policy makers and opinion formers, their reach online has inarguably been extraordinary. Twitter activity during news peaks such as the Aleppo offensive in 2016 and the Khan Sheikhoun chemical attack in 2017, shows that far right groups in the United States (the so-called “alt-right”) and Russian networks are reaching more people with manufactured stories than any other group.
“Alternative” news sites, rooted in fiction more than fact, have become more influential in these critical online discussions than reputable news sites. This has profound implications for how democratic states can publicly debate and respond to crises such as Syria, a conflict the UN has called “the biggest humanitarian and refugee crisis of our time”.
This Report Finds:
• Online smears have received the highest state backing from Russia. Official channels RT and news site Sputnik News have repeatedly hosted fringe bloggers at the heart of the disinformation campaign, such as Vanessa Beeley.
• Russia submitted a report by Beeley entitled “The White Helmets: fact or fiction” to the UN Security Council as evidence against the group.
• Some of Beeley’s followers are part of a cluster of users that tend to retweet the same critical content simultaneously — a solid indication of a coordinated disinformation campaign
• Fifty percent of the accounts analysed appear in at least one other Russian disinformation campaign, while 11 are on a public list of accounts known to be controlled by the most famous of Russian troll farms, the Internet Research Agency.
The international community has done little to stop the bombing of Syrian civilians since the government of Bashar al-Assad started its aerial campaign in earnest five years ago. Now governments around the world and social media companies are allowing Russia a free hand to target rescue workers and cast doubt on the evidence of war crimes they are collecting. This must be challenged and resisted.
Social media users, technology companies, traditional media organisations and governments can all help stop the campaign to smear humanitarian workers in Syria and cover up war crimes. The need could not be more urgent — this disinformation campaign has deadly consequences.
