U.S. rivals China, Russia, and Iran are exploiting the coronavirus pandemic to spread coinciding false propaganda narratives against the United States, including that the disease is an American bioweapon, the State Department reportedly warns in a new report.
Communist officials in China have hidden the severity of the coronavirus outbreak within their borders, under-reporting both total cases and fatalities linked to the disease, the U.S. intelligence community reportedly confirmed in a classified report to the White House.
The Kremlin stated on Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin remains in peak physical condition, as evidenced by his heavy workload. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to confirm or deny whether Putin has been tested for the Wuhan coronavirus.
Trump administration officials warned the public on Monday that a foreign disinformation campaign is trying to incite panic over a non-existent national lockdown over coronavirus.
Hong Kong Executive Council adviser Fanny Law Fan Chiu-fun made waves during a radio interview on Monday by claiming young girls are giving free “comfort sex” to Hong Kong protesters to keep them motivated.
Twitter announced on Thursday it has shuttered some 4,800 accounts with ties to the government of Iran. The accounts were engaged in spreading disinformation and propaganda that “benefited the diplomatic and geostrategic views of the Iranian state.”
The government of Sri Lanka responded to the horrific Easter Sunday bombings by restricting access to social media sites such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat. Officials said they would keep the sites blocked until the counter-terrorism investigation concludes.
Pope Francis suggested Tuesday that “huge economic interests” are at work in the digital world, capable of manipulating “the democratic process.”
The New York Times has revealed more details about a disinformation campaign led by Democrat strategists during the 2017 Alabama Senate election, which may have contributed to a narrow victory by Democrat candidate Doug Jones.
Billionaire LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman has apologized for funding a campaign that influenced the 2017 Alabama Senate election using disinformation tactics against Republican Roy Moore.
Facebook has suspended five accounts belong to Democrat strategists who were involved in a 2017 Alabama Senate election disinformation campaign against Republican candidate Roy Moore. The social media giant called the effort “coordinated inauthentic behavior.”
The French National Assembly passed two bills this week concerning the censorship of “fake news” that have been sharply criticized as an attack on freedom of the press and the imposition of an “official truth.”
