Thread by @benimmo

Ha, looks like I really pissed off the Kremlin "information weapon" (to quote its own editor-in-chief).

They hate it when someone reveals how they work by citing actual evidence.

Looks like this is what triggered them. @thetimes on the role of Sputnik's parent company, which is to "secure the interests of the Russian Federation in the information sphere."

Sputnik claims that doesn't apply to them. Seriously.

H/t @macca808

thetimes.co.uk/article/edinbu…

Source for that quote? The founding charter of the Rossiya Segodnya agency, which is Sputnik's parent.

Evidence here: medium.com/dfrlab/putinat…

RT's own chief editor compares it with the Russian army and defence ministry. And talks of it "waging the information war" against the West.

Sources here: medium.com/dfrlab/questio…

For a good example of how RT and Sputnik amplify Kremlin operations, including info ops including military intelligence, here's how they amplified the WADA hack.

medium.com/dfrlab/putinat…

They work using the pattern of the 4Ds: dismiss, distort, distract, and dismay.

The current campaign focuses on the first three. Insult the analysts, distort the evidence, and say everyone does what Russia did.

Case in point: here's @maxblumenthal saying I have, quote, "no journalistic or security expertise."

Easy mistake to make, eh, @BakerLuke @ReutersAdrianC @InaStrazdina @martinromanczyk @terischultz @hrcmaguire @laurnorman?

Here's the joke: I was EU and NATO correspondent for @dpa in Brussels from 2007-11, and NATO's Russia press officer during the reset and after, 2011-14.

Which @MaxBlumenthal would have been able to check, because it's on my bio.

Not just lies. Incompetent lies.

Hilariously, RT says that it's not trying to silence anyone.

That's the way it actually works, as its multiple violations of the obligation to preserve due impartiality make clear.

See the finding of 7 violations in 6 weeks this year, for example.

ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/…

The good thing is that RT and Sputnik aren't very good at what they do. They're getting exposed more and more, which is why they're trying to smear more and more people.

Welcome to 2019. There'll be more of this.