Coronavirus: Russia pushing fake news about US using outbreak to ‘wage economic war’ on China, officials say
- Thousands of Russia-linked social media accounts allegedly spreading alarm and disrupting global efforts to fight epidemic
- Campaign promotes unfounded conspiracy theories that US is behind Covid-19 outbreak
Thousands of Russian-linked social media accounts have launched a coordinated effort to spread alarm about the new coronavirus, disrupting global efforts to fight the epidemic, US officials say.
The disinformation campaign promotes unfounded conspiracy theories that the United States is behind the Covid-19 outbreak, in an apparent bid to damage the US image around the world by seizing on health concerns.
US State Department officials tasked with combating Russian disinformation said that false personas are being used on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to advance Russian talking points in multiple languages.
“Russia’s intent is to sow discord and undermine US institutions and alliances from within, including through covert and coercive malign influence campaigns,” said Philip Reeker, the acting Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia.
“By spreading disinformation about coronavirus, Russian malign actors are once again choosing to threaten public safety by distracting from the global health response,” he said.