British authorities will allocate £ 18 million (about $ 22.5 million) to fight fake news, as well as the development of independent media in the Balkans and in Eastern Europe. This is stated in an official press release posted on the website of the British Foreign Ministry.
“Today (July 7), British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt will announce a funding package worth £ 18 million over three years. The purpose of this measure is to counteract the spread of misinformation and fake news in Eastern Europe, as well as to strengthen the independent media in the Western Balkan countries, ”the report says.
It clarifies that the funds will be allocated through the Conflict Prevention, Stability and Security Facility (CSSF). The British Foreign Ministry believes that funding for this program will “support the freedom of speech and the independent opinion of the local population of the Western Balkans in order to stimulate the creation of balanced news content of an objective nature.”
At the same time, the authorities of the United Kingdom indicate that an episode with poisoning in 2018 of the former GRU employee Sergey Skrypal and his daughter Yulia, in which they accused Russia, prompted them to fight the fake news.
“Based on the experience gained from the Salisbury incident, the UK has become a world leader in the fight against disinformation. Recently, a new curriculum was launched in the country to train civil servants to identify and counter misinformation, which also interested other governments, ”explains the British Foreign Ministry.
Earlier, the authorities of the United Kingdom have repeatedly accused the Russian media of spreading "Kremlin propaganda" and "conspiracy theories", in particular, regarding the incident with the poisoning of Skripale.
Commenting on the announcement of the launch of the new British program, Vladimir Dzhabarov, First Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Federation Council, recalled that London had repeatedly interfered in the past with the internal policies of the Balkan states.
“The British are famous architects of Balkan politics. They, in fact, laid the foundation for all these conflicts in the region before the First and Second World Wars, and they are doing the same now. This is their tactic. The Serbs and representatives of other Balkan states talked about this to Russia, ”Jabarov said.
According to the senator, if the British side really struggles with disinformation, this will be beneficial. However, the speech seems to be about fighting exclusively with what prevents London from controlling the situation in the region, Jabarov noted.
This is not the first time that British authorities have allocated funds to support media activities in other countries. So, on July 2, it became known that Ukraine would receive £ 9 million ($ 11.4 million) to support independent media from London. In total, the British government plans to spend £ 100 million ($ 125 million) over the next five years "to fight disinformation and support independent media" in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
Financing against Russia
The deputy director of the Institute of History and Politics of the Moscow State Pedagogical University, political scientist Vladimir Shapovalov expressed the opinion that the UK would send funding not to fight fake news, but to “misinform the society of the Balkan countries” in the direction necessary for London.
- British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt
- Reuters
- © Rebecca Naden
According to the source RT, "in fact, the funds will be spent in the framework of the information war and information campaign against Moscow and other opponents of the United Kingdom."
“This is just a small part of the funds allocated by Britain, the United States and other Western countries to hold special events in the context of pressure on Russia and other countries, as well as to promote their picture of the world, which is carefully formed in London and Washington and is trying to impose on other nations”, - the expert noted.
In turn, the head of the Institute of Newest States, political analyst Alexei Martynov, in a conversation with RT, said that the British Foreign Ministry should start a fight with fake news from its own media.
“British politicians traditionally like to interfere where it is possible. Special services such as MI5 and MI6 are subordinate to the UK Foreign Ministry, so there is nothing surprising in this. The British will climb and destabilize the situation in any country where it is possible to do this, ”said Martynov.
Press Freedom Conference
British Foreign Office issued a message on the allocation of funds to fight fake news a few days before the start of the Global Conference on Press Freedom, which will be held in London under the auspices of the department.
The press release states that the event, scheduled for July 10–11, will be attended by delegations from more than 100 countries and international organizations, as well as over a thousand journalists, teachers and activists.
During the conference, the British Foreign Office must approve the former Chief Justice of the United Kingdom, Lord David Neuburger, as chairman of the expert legal committee on press freedom.
“The committee consists of leading world lawyers who will work with governments and other partners to counteract draconian laws that impede the free work of journalists,” the agency’s press release said.
It is worth noting that although the theme of the conference was media freedom, the organizers from the very beginning imposed restrictions on a number of journalists. So, RT was denied accreditation, as Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of the TV channel, reported on Twitter. The reason was the “lack of seats”.
We were denied accreditation to the 'global press freedom conference' held by the British Foreign Office.
C.T.D.
“We were denied accreditation to the“ global conference on press freedom, ”which is being held by the British Foreign Office. C.T.D. ", - she wrote.
It later became known that accreditation was also denied to a Sputnik journalist. The head of the Human Rights Council under the President of Russia, Mikhail Fedotov, called such a situation unacceptable, since London is obliged to comply with the Helsinki Act, which requires the parties to provide support to foreign correspondents.
Endless struggle
The leadership of Great Britain and the European Union repeatedly tried to accuse Russia of being involved in the disinformation campaigns that it allegedly conducted. So, in mid-June, the European Commission published a report stating that Moscow, with the help of fakes, intended to influence the results of elections to the European Parliament.
In addition, European experts recalled the referendum on the British withdrawal from the EU, the outcome of which, in their opinion, was influenced by the “Moscow disinformation”.
“The problem of misinformation has acquired global significance during the referendum on the British withdrawal from the EU and the presidential elections in the US in 2016,” the report said.
- globallookpress.com
- © Simon Belcher
EU Commissioner for Security Julian King, commenting on this document, said that the European authorities have "messages" about the interference from Russia. At the same time, he avoided using the word “evidence”.
“We have enough reports of cases of misinformation, both from bots and fake accounts, from a number of EU member states: Poland, Spain, Latvia, France, the United Kingdom, and so on,” The Telegraph newspaper quotes King.
Moreover, media regulators in the UK, France and other European countries have repeatedly hindered the activities of RT, noting that the Russian channel is not “free” media in their understanding.
"Prikormlivanie" journalists
Political analyst Alexei Martynov believes that at the expense of funds allocated to fight disinformation, the British authorities will “lure” journalists, since it is possible to fight fake news only by generating other fakes.
“In order for media workers to create fake messages, you need to outbid professionals,” the expert explained.
In turn, Vladimir Shapovalov noted that in fact the British Foreign Ministry allocates money in order to "manipulate public opinion", forming certain ideas that will be sent in the right direction for London.
“Central and Eastern Europe is the last space that has not yet been completely cleansed of alternative points of view. Great Britain and the United States have a serious desire to impose on Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and the rest of the peoples of the Western Balkans their “correct” picture of the world, ”the expert explained.
According to Shapovalov, with the help of financial programs for many years, an information pool of propagandists who perform the tasks of London and Washington has been formed.
“They oppose politicians and parties that are not supported in the UK and the USA. In this case, we are talking about Serbia and the states next to it, because they have a sufficiently large number of political forces that seek to preserve the independence of their countries from the influence of the West, ”concluded the expert.