Propagandist fact-checkers: state-sponsored fact-checking in Russia

Pro-Kremlin Russian propagandists have created a fact-checking platform, the launch of which was announced by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova during her traditional briefing on April 9.

“On April 8, the official website of the Global Fact-Checking Network (GFCN) was launched. Now this global online platform is available to everyone. It brings together the experts in the fight against disinformation and is an international portal forming an honest and open approach to fact-checking, where relevant investigations are being carried out and refutations are being made,” she noted.

This Russian fact-checking initiative was announced back in November of last year. Its initiators are the government-aligned circles of Russia- TASS CEO Andrei Kondrashov and the Dialogue Regions non-commercial organization.

TASS, as is known, is one of the leading state news agencies in Russia and was awarded by Putin’s decree on its 120th anniversary last year. And the mission of the Dialogue Regions organization, established in 2019, according to their website, is to be an “all-Russian inter-agency center” in the field of Internet communications and a “digital operator between the government and the public.”

The Dialogue on Fakes forum held in Moscow in November 2024, during which the initiative to combat fakes was announced, was organized by the Russian Foreign Ministry.

By the way, Maria Zakharova states that this initiative is aimed against the spread of “countless” fakes coming from the West despite the fact that the Fact Investigation Platform (FIP.am) has repeatedly addressed Zakharova’s own statements the vast majority of which were false and manipulative.

Kremlin-aligned propagandists – fact-checkers

The official website of the GFCN indicates the International Association for Fact-Checking as the author of most of the articles. For example, the latest article as of the moment of writing this article is the news about the ban on entry to Bucharest of Irish journalist Chay Bowes, an employee of Russia Today owned by Kremlin propagandist Margarita Simonyan. He was traveling to Romania to cover the elections. Bowes also cooperates with this platform.

Another author is Dutch journalist Sonja van den Ende, who often appears in the Russian press, and who has repeatedly supported the policy of the Russian authorities in her statements and articles and considered Russia’s victory in the Russian-Ukrainian war an existential necessity.

The latter went to Russia a few days after the onset of the Russian-Ukrainian war, and decided to stay and create there.

Sonja van den Ende writes about Russia and Ukraine. Her latest article on this fact-checking platform is a refutation of a Norwegian article about TASS and Russian propaganda.

A year ago, she wrote that sanctions against Russia did not work: “The situation in Moscow is fine, I don’t see any changes in the light of sanctions, and everything can be found in the stores.” This statement of hers was also included in a program by the famous Kremlin propagandist Vladimir Solovyov.

Another author of this platform is Timofey Vi who introduces himself as an expert in anti-crisis communication. He is also a permanent expert on the Russian First Channel and one of the hosts of Solovyev.Live with the Fake Control program.

In his program on April 17, the Russian fact-checker speaks scornfully about the attack of the Russian armed forces in Sumy and considers it odd to questions how it is possible to shell civilian facilities and citizens before Easter, on Palm Sunday.

On April 13, more than 30 civilians were killed and 100 were injured, including children, as a result of Iskander-M missile strikes by the Russian armed forces in the center of the Ukrainian city of Sumy. Timofey shows photos in which he overlooks the fact that civilians were killed and emphasizes the deaths of military personnel. Later, on April 21, Russian President Putin stated that the target of their attack was the Sumy University, which was considered a civilian facility accommodating military personnel.

Another fact-checker worth mentioning is Portuguese lawyer and publicist Alexandre Guerreiro, whose X page cover photo features images of Franklin Roosevelt, Xi Jinping, and Vladimir Putin. He is reported to be a former agent and has defended Russia’s policy of invading Ukraine. Moreover, Guerreiro has a PhD thesis paper in which he defends Russia’s annexation of Crimea from the perspective of international law.

 

Guerreiro has a short interview with Russian Foreign Ministry representative Zakharova on his YouTube channel, where the latter criticizes Portugal for defending Ukraine.

Thus, in fact, the International Association for Fact-Checking and GFCN initiated by the Russian Foreign Ministry are directly and explicitly affiliated with both Russian state agencies and Russian and foreign journalists and publicists who promote Russian narratives.

Hasmik Hambardzumyan