from Sepia@mander.xyz to world@lemmy.world on 16 Feb 10:14
https://mander.xyz/post/47528038
cross-posted from: mander.xyz/post/47527848
On Jan. 29, the “Vremya Pokazhet” talk show on Russia’s Kremlin-controlled Channel One (Perviy Kanal) presented “proof” of what the program’s host said was criticism directed against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky by the French press. The covers of two French newspapers — Libération and Le Parisien, both showing the date Jan. 27 — were presented on screen to corroborate his allegations. However, it later emerged that the front pages displayed on Russian television were fabrications created and spread by the “Matryoshka” bot network, according to analysis conducted by the Bot Blocker project.
On the show, host Ruslan Ostashko said that “two major French outlets are criticizing Zelensky for his inability to negotiate.” The big screen behind him then showed covers with the headlines “Why Is the Whole World Waiting for One Man?” and “Why Is Ukraine Continuing the War?
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In fact, the French newspapers in question never published these covers. A report by the independent Russian fact-checking project “Provereno” (lit. “Checked”) noted that the front page of Libération’s Jan. 27 issue featured French journalist and lawmaker Francois Ruffin. That same day, Le Parisien put on its cover a story about an investigation into the New Year’s Day fire in the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana, which took the lives of 41 people. The fake versions, however, kept elements of the real issues’ design, including their subheadings, layout, and publication details.
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The information campaign known as Matryoshka has been operating since at least September 2023, and the Bot Blocker project was the first to document and draw attention to its activity. The scheme centers on distributing fake posts featuring anti-Ukrainian content through a network of coordinated accounts.
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#world
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