Germany is worried about the scale of Russian disinformation

The German Interior Ministry has announced that Russia constantly tries to spread disinformation.

A representative of the ministry told the DPA news agency, DW reports (article in Russian). According to the media, Russian networks continue to spread disinformation in large volumes, where well-known Moscow-style narratives are present, and these topics are massively getting comments.

“At the same time, Russia continues to rely on a complex network of state or state-related actors,” the Interior Ministry spokesman said.

Russia is spreading disinformation on social media – report

The official added that Russia is mainly active in disinformation, using social media such as Telegram, where fake accounts spread messages from allegedly well-known news portals that look authentic but are fabricated.

“Over the past 12 months, the scale of Russian disinformation has not decreased,” the Interior Ministry official said. He clarified that the agency does not underestimate the seriousness of the “threat of foreign influence and manipulation” and is firmly opposed.

Earlier, the German Ministry of the Interior found and exposed the agency’s fake website and Twitter account, allegedly created by pro-Russian hackers to spread disinformation among the German audience.

Read also: Russia’s military unit 54777, disinformation and psychological operations abroad

Russian disinformation operations disclosed: recent cases

Recent hack of a high-ranking Russian official Babakov’s emails have shown that Moscow has been trying to sway public opinion in the EU and the US via spreading disinformation and hybrid influence measures.

Ukrainian hackers group Cyber Resistance, claims to have disclosed emails apparently belonging to Alexander Babakov, a deputy head of Russia’s parliament. Cyber Resistance published 11 GB of Babakov’s communications.

In June, the French body for countering foreign influence, VIGINUM, exposed an online disinformation campaign against France involving Russian actors and state or Russian-linked entities.

Read more here: Operation Doppelgänger: How Russia faked the news of leading European media.

According to the 2022 report on disinformation and manipulation of facts in the global information space, published by the European External Action Service, the level of threat posed by Russian (and Russia-friendly) propaganda has reached the point where the EU is forced to prepare to respond.

Read also: How Russia’s long-term influence operations target the US and Europe