Coronavirus: US accuses Russia of online disinformation

Spread theories include the idea that the virus was created by the United States to "wage an economic war on China" (illustration image) REUTERS / Aly Song / File Photo

Text by: RFI Follow

US officials estimate that thousands of Russian-linked accounts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are spreading anti-American misinformation about the new coronavirus that has appeared in China. Moscow has denied.

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The campaign to disinform and spread conspiracy theories started a month ago, at a time when the death toll in China was three and the epidemic was only 200 cases in Wuhan, according to the reports. American officials.

"The goal of Russia is to sow discord and undermine from within the US institutions and alliances, including through underground campaigns and pernicious," said Philip Reeker, Deputy Secretary of State responsible for Europe and Eurasia.

" By spreading disinformation about the coronavirus, malicious Russian actors are once again choosing to threaten public safety at the expense of the overall response " to the epidemic, he added.

Moscow denies

Russia has denied carrying out a disinformation campaign on the coronavirus. " This is a deliberately false story ," said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, quoted by the TASS public agency.

US diplomats responsible for combating Russian disinformation say that accounts in the names of fictitious people reproduce Russian lines of attack, not only in English but also in French, Spanish, Italian and German.

Spread theories include the idea that the virus was created by the United States to " wage an economic war on China ", that it is a biological weapon invented by the CIA, or that it is part of a Western strategy of “ anti-China messages ”.

I don't think it was a plot led by Putin himself from the cellars of the Kremlin. I believe much more that there is a phenomenon of conspiracy theories as we find in your country. Plus the fact that Russian social networks amplify them enormously.

François-Bernard Huyghe

(with AFP)

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  • United States
  • China
  • Russia
  • coronavirus
  • Social media
  • Internet

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