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\u00a9 Andrew Aitchison \/ Getty Images<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n
RT.com<\/p>\n
By\u00a0Kit Klarenberg<\/strong>, an investigative journalist exploring the role of intelligence services in shaping politics and perceptions.<\/em><\/p>\n For all its alarmism about Russian \u2018propaganda\u2019 and \u2018misinformation\u2019, the UK government appears to be behind a multi-million-pound push to boost negative coverage of the Russian state, both in Russia and neighbouring countries.<\/p>\n At a European Union summit in November 2017, then-UK prime minister Theresa May\u00a0announced<\/a>\u00a0plans to designate Russia a \u201chostile\u201d state, and pledged to spend in excess of \u00a3100 million over the next five years on tackling the alleged threat of Kremlin \u201cdisinformation\u201d internationally.<\/p>\n Now, hacktivist collective Anonymous has released what appear to be internal UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) files that shed significant light on the true purpose, and ominous dimensions, of these vast efforts.<\/p>\n According to the papers, Whitehall has sought contractors to covertly infiltrate media and civil society at multiple levels \u2013 all under the aegis of schemes to, among other things, improve literacy, promote cultural activities, ensure\u00a0\u201cbalance and plurality\u201d<\/em>\u00a0in media reporting, and counteract propaganda.<\/p>\n One of these contractors, Zinc Network (more on them later)\u00a0explained<\/a>\u00a0in its pitch documents that it was in the process of\u00a0\u201cdelivering audience segmentation and targeting support for two of Russia\u2019s leading independent media outlets \u2013 Meduza and MediaZona\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n The former is a Russian-language online newspaper and news aggregator based in Riga, Latvia. The latter is an investigative platform focused on Russia\u2019s judicial, law enforcement and penal system, founded by two members of controversial punk rock band Pussy Riot.<\/p>\n As the pair\u00a0\u201c[lacked] the expertise and tools\u201d<\/em>\u00a0to\u00a0\u201cpromote content effectively to new audiences\u201d<\/em>, Zinc was working diligently to ensure their output reached as many eyes and ears as possible. In the process, the contractor conducted\u00a0\u201cweekly mentoring sessions with specialists from the outlets\u201d, \u201cadjusting their editorial and commercial strategy accordingly\u201d<\/em>\u00a0and creating\u00a0\u201ccommon framings of issues.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Prior to the release of these documents, any suggestions that Meduza and MediaZona \u2013 which both consistently publish content highly critical of the Russian state \u2013 were not only privately coordinating to ensure a consistent editorial line, but receiving assistance from the UK government to do so, would surely have been dismissed as Russian propaganda, conspiracy theory, fake news, or worse.<\/p>\n It seems likely Meduza\u2019s relationship with Whitehall, direct or indirect, conscious or unconscious, extends far further than this collaboration. Several contractors reference the outlet in the leaked files, in relation to numerous other FCDO-funded and directed projects.<\/p>\n For instance, in pitch\u00a0documents<\/a>\u00a0submitted by another contractor, Albany, Meduza is mentioned alongside ETV+, which is the Russian-language service of the Estonian broadcaster; Latvia\u2019s LTV, Lithuania\u2019s LRT Re:Baltica \u2013 the website of the Baltic Centre for Investigative Journalism \u2013 and other Russian-language platforms as a potential\u00a0\u201clong-term partner\u201d<\/em>, for which\u00a0\u201cnew programming\u201d<\/em>\u00a0could be funded and developed.<\/p>\n That this programming was to be explicitly anti-Moscow in character is starkly underlined by a\u00a0section<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0\u201ccreating narrative games which encourage participation through social media and mobile platforms.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cMeduza is a leading proponent of these games which, for the most part, embrace political themes (e.g. Putin Bingo, \u2018help Putin get to his meeting with the Pope on time\u2019 and \u2018help the Orthodox priest get to his church without succumbing to earthly pleasures\u2019),\u201d<\/em>\u00a0Albany notes.<\/p>\n These\u00a0\u201csatirical games\u201d<\/em>\u00a0would make the\u00a0\u201cvalid point\u201d<\/em>\u00a0that\u00a0\u201cthe offer of a fairer, respectful and caring society is better than that of an arrogant, nationalistic regime.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0Proposed themes include helping\u00a0\u201cthe whimsical Russian exile preserve his cultural identity in the face of British political correctness\u201d<\/em>, and\u00a0\u201cthe oligarch\u2019s son conceal his unseemly wealth on his first day at university\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n Such surreal proposal excerpts would be laughable, were it not for the fact they amply underline the extraordinary lengths London is determined to go to in service of demonizing, destabilizing and isolating Russia nationally and internationally.<\/p>\n The contractors involved \u2013 including the aforementioned Zinc and Albany \u2013 all boast staff possessed of such clearances, individuals who previously served at the highest levels of government, the military and security services. They furthermore have extensive experience in conducting information warfare operations on London\u2019s behalf the world over. For instance, several shadowy companies named in the leaked papers feature prominently in leaked documents related to Whitehall\u2019s far-reaching propaganda\u00a0blitz<\/a>\u00a0in Syria.<\/p>\n As such, the companies clearly wouldn\u2019t be at all obvious candidates to lead programs genuinely concerned with strengthening civil society, improving journalistic standards, or combating disinformation \u2013 but of course, the programs aren\u2019t.<\/p>\n Zinc Network<\/a>\u00a0(previously known as Breakthrough Media) is a seasoned\u00a0veteran<\/a>\u00a0of clandestine Whitehall-funded information warfare campaigns at home and abroad. It has a\u00a0long<\/a>, deplorable\u00a0history<\/a>\u00a0of cynically co-opting genuine civil society voices to covertly further Whitehall\u2019s interests, without their knowledge or consent, and often with serious real-world\u00a0consequences<\/a>.<\/p>\n One programme Zinc\u00a0bid for<\/a>\u00a0is Support for Independent Media in the Baltic States. The leaked papers include the FCO\u2019s\u00a0statement of requirement<\/a>\u00a0for the project, as well as the details that were spelled out to contractors at a\u00a0meeting<\/a>\u00a0convened June 2018 by FCDO Counter Disinformation & Media Development (CDMD) chief Andy Pryce, along with a parallel operation in Eastern Partnership\u00a0countries<\/a>.<\/p>\n Stating openly the endeavor \u2013 set to cost up to \u00a36 million in 2018-2021 \u2013 is ultimately concerned with\u00a0\u201cweakening the Russian state\u201d<\/em>, Pryce warned attendees against\u00a0\u201cunauthorised disclosures of activity\u201d<\/em>, and noted that\u00a0\u201cfor security reasons\u201d<\/em>, some suppliers\u00a0\u201cwill not wish to be linked to the FCDO.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n He went on to list numerous ways in which journalists and media organizations in target countries could not only be co-opted via funding, but outright\u00a0\u201cacquisition\u201d<\/em>\u00a0of content. Sponsoring public broadcasters was said to provide\u00a0\u201ceasy wins\u201d<\/em>\u00a0given\u00a0\u201clight touch governance\u201d<\/em>\u00a0locally, a euphemism for corruption and lack of regulation.<\/p>\n He professed to be\u00a0\u201caudience agnostic\u201d<\/em>\u00a0when asked whether there were issues targeting people under-18, and said there was\u00a0\u201cscope for gender sensitivity in programming\u201d\u00a0\u2013 \u201cGirls on HBO is the type of thing but in Ukraine.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n It\u2019s a bizarre suggestion which amuses at first glance, until one considers at least five television serials in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were\u00a0produced<\/a>\u00a0by Zinc Network (more on them later) under the auspices of the program, including the region\u2019s first Russian-language kids show.<\/p>\n It\u2019s troubling in the extreme that millions of people \u2013 among them many children \u2013 may have watched this programming, without any idea it was created to surreptitiously extol anti-Russian, pro-Western propaganda, let alone that the UK government bankrolled its production as part of a dedicated psyops effort.<\/p>\n Such disquiet is amplified by Albany specifically\u00a0seeking<\/a>\u00a0to exploit\u00a0\u201cyoung Russian speakers\u201d<\/em>\u00a0in the Baltics\u00a0\u201cas agents of change\u201d,<\/em>\u00a0to\u00a0\u201cinfluence their parents\u2019 and grandparents\u2019 generations and amplify a distinct \u2018Euro-Baltic\u2019 identity\u201d<\/em>\u00a0in a separate project.<\/p>\n Other leaked documents reveal Zinc\u2019s activities in the region were already sizable by the time it submitted proposals for the project, to the extent of\u00a0maintaining<\/a>\u201can in-house team of Russian speaking producers, digital researchers and digital growth strategists.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Zinc\u00a0maintained<\/a>\u00a0a secret network of Russian-speaking social media influencers, to promote\u00a0\u201cmedia integrity and democratic values\u201d \u2013 curiously, its relationship with these individuals is said to have involved \u201cdaily management\u201d.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Recruited via YouTube, Facebook, VK and Instagram, the company\u00a0\u201c[helped] them build their brands and improve their content in order to grow their audience share,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0\u201c[established] a co-owned channel on YouTube to host their content, help them access one another\u2019s audiences, co-creating content that tackled complex social issues.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Moreover though, one file\u00a0indicates<\/a>\u00a0Zinc taught these influencers how to\u00a0\u201cmake and receive international payments without being registered as external sources of funding\u201d<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0\u201cdevelop editorial strategies to deliver key messages\u201d<\/em>, while minimizing their\u00a0\u201crisk of prosecution\u201d<\/em>\u00a0and managing\u00a0\u201cproject communications\u201d<\/em>\u00a0to ensure the network\u2019s existence, and indeed the UK government\u2019s central role in creating it, were kept\u00a0\u201cconfidential\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n In other words, they operated, and may continue to, as effective paid agents of the British state, Zinc\u00a0\u201cassisting\u201d<\/em>\u00a0them in crafting slick propaganda furtively propounding Whitehall-approved\u00a0\u201ckey messages\u201d<\/em>, which was then broadcast globally under the guise of citizen journalism.<\/p>\n The identities of the influencers, and their cognisance of the insidious role they were playing by collaborating with the company, is presently unknown. Although, unlike viewers, the influencers would\u2019ve at least known their\u00a0\u201cindependent\u201d<\/em>\u00a0content was in fact scripted, produced and edited in the firm\u2019s London offices.<\/p>\n There are hundreds of papers in Anonymous\u2019 leak, and the above is just scratching the surface. The FCDO\u2019s wide-ranging, secret campaign apparently consists of four pillars, or \u2018strands\u2019 \u2013 ENGAGE, ENHANCE, ENABLE, EXPOSE. One\u00a0document<\/a>\u00a0circulated to contractors pitching for the assorted, lucrative programmes therein \u2013 dubbed \u201cTheory of Change\u201d \u2013 sets out the activities, output, outcome, and impact of the respective strands, both in isolation and in tandem with one another.<\/p>\n EXPOSE\u2019s activities are defined as\u00a0\u201creal-time debunking, support to investigative journalism, capacity building, networking between NGOs\u201d<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 yet its output, outcomes, and impact are redacted, hidden in an already classified document, indicating its operations and objectives are extremely sensitive indeed, and one requires a senior security clearance to know them.<\/p>\n For all the mainstream media\u2019s alarmist chatter of the threat of Kremlin\u00a0\u201cdisinformation\u201d<\/em>, not a single example of anything even remotely comparable to the full-spectrum, multi-channel, on- and offline, global assault on perceptions outlined in this article has ever been attributed to Moscow, or any other\u00a0\u201chostile\u201d<\/em>\u00a0state.<\/p>\n It\u2019s truly staggering that for all the documents\u2019 references in the documents to transparency, truth and democracy, these mammoth, multi-million-pound initiatives have been conducted in total secrecy for years without any public oversight, or even awareness among British citizens \u2013 let alone target audiences overseas \u2013 of their operation.<\/p>\nSupporting anti-Kremlin media<\/h2>\n
The contractors<\/h2>\n
Co-opting social media influencers<\/h2>\n
ENGAGE, ENHANCE, ENABLE, EXPOSE<\/h2>\n