Editor’s note: This is one example of what needs to be done to fight misinformation – highlighting the motivations of those who twist and edit statements to suit their motivations. It’s part of any political playbook and perhaps the divisive nature of our politics is inuring people to the threat misinformation poses to a functioning democracy. I’m glad one of these police officers determined what was happening but it’s too late and now he’s become one of RT’s tools. Hopefully, this example will educate more people about the motivations of RT and the networks like them that exist to undermine our way of life in the west.
From the VoA:
WASHINGTON – Russia appears to be intensifying its focus on police enforcement issues in the United States, using popular reactions to protests that have gripped the nation as part of a larger propaganda campaign to divide Americans ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November.
The death of African American George Floyd in police custody and the ensuing U.S. protests have for weeks dominated media coverage from Russian state-sponsored outlets like RT and Sputnik.
Only now, it seems that Russia, through the English-language RT in particular, is reaching out to U.S. police officers and union officials, in what some U.S. officials and lawmakers say is an effort to further inflame tensions.
“When officials give comment to RT, it legitimizes it as a ‘serious’ news outlet,” according to Nina Jankowicz, a Disinformation Fellow at the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. “This is absolutely part of RT’s strategy, and why it rebranded from its original name of ‘Russia Today.’”
Read it all here.