I do not envy the people who are working as fact checkers (or who volunteer!), because there sure is a ton of fakes and propaganda out there to be checked and debunked.
The graffitis, videos or screenshots sent to newsrooms are fake and were fabricated for the purpose of diverting journalist’s ressources, or even try to have their narratives amplified by getting fact-checkers to publish debunks. Operation Overload, as we dubbed the action, is detailed in our latest report, led with the support of Reset.Tech and 20+ fact-checking entities, which shared content they had received.
Check First via https://checkfirst.network/operation-overload-how-pro-russian-actors-flood-newsrooms-with-fake-content-and-seek-to-divert-their-efforts/
A recently uncovered campaign named “Operation Overload” targets fake checkers by sending them a lot of fake, fabricated resources with the goal to have well-known fake checking websites such as corrective.org re-publish the fakes and “debunking” them (thus spreading the content more, and talking about it), and at the same time overloading the employees with useless stories.
It is a really weird time to be on the internet. How did we come from funny videos and sharing what we like to a globe-spanning real time propaganda machine owned by a billionaire (X).
I’m grateful for the work done by organisations like Correctiv, Volksverpetzer, and Disinfo.eu. If you can, consider supporting them via donations. 🫰
The full report, linked below, is long but well worth the time.
Links
- Full report (90 pages) as PDF here https://checkfirst.network/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Operation_Overload_WEB.pdf
- German article by CORRECTIV: https://correctiv.org/faktencheck/hintergrund/2024/06/04/post-aus-russland-desinfo-kampagne-nimmt-correctiv-und-andere-faktencheck-redaktionen-ins-visier/