Thread by @InTheLionsDen_

THREAD
1/ I'm seeing claims I'm seeing that "the UN" has accused the White Helmets of various crimes, promoted by various pro-Russia people, notably Assad apologist, Eva Bartlett on Russia Today & Sputnik, among other unsavoury outlets.

2/ Obviously when I heard that "the UN has accused the White Helmets of committing crimes in Syria" I was both worried & a little sceptical.

I tried Google & Twitter searching, the only people talking about it are the usual suspects: Russian media outlets & their useful idiots.

3/ The claim is that a UN panel has "proved" that the White Helmets are responsible for various crimes in Syria & that the "Western media" aren't reporting on it (obviously for nefarious reasons & not because the panel seems to be little more than Russian/Assadist propaganda).

4/ The "UN panel" of is made up primarily of Russian & Syrian regime officials such as Feodor Strzhizhovsky & Vasily Nebenzya (both Russia UN officials), Bashar Jaafari (Syria's UN rep) & a journalist by the name of Rafiq Lotef (often cited by pro-regime sources).

5/ Less than a minute into this panel, who should be introduced via video link?

None other than "independent journalist" Vanessa Beeley (another Assad apologist & conspiracy theorist).

6/ The study the panel was citing was by the "Foundation for the Study of Democracy" a Russia-based outfit led by Maxim Grigoriev, which has also been promoting the Putin line on Ukraine.

7/ The panel in question took place on the 20th of December 2018 & Eva Bartlett wrote about it on the 25th December on RT, there seems to have been something of an uptick of activity on Twitter about this today (thanks to my friend @FindlaterJake for bringing it to my attention.

8/ To follow are a few things that have been written about Russia's ongoing disinformation campaign against the White Helmets.

This UN panel is just the latest in a long line of Russian attempts to demonise & delegitimise them.

Chemical Weapons and Absurdity: The Disinformation Campaign Against the White Helmets via @bellingcat bellingcat.com/news/mena/2018…

How Syria's White Helmets became victims of an online propaganda machine theguardian.com/world/2017/dec…

Russian disinformation campaign targets Syria’s beleaguered rescue workers wapo.st/2ECjlEo?tid=ss…

That last article includes a quote that really struck me about how disinformation & conspiracy theory isn't harmless.

A former White Helmet, arrested & tortured by Syrian forces: “This isn’t just buzz on the Internet [...] It has real-life consequences. We’re dying for this.”