WASHINGTON – The United States yesterday denounced what it called a Russian disinformation campaign against US-made Covid-19 vaccines, saying Moscow is putting lives at risk.
The Global Engagement Centre – an arm of the State Department, whose activities include monitoring foreign propaganda – said Russian intelligence is behind four online platforms involved in the campaign.
The sites have “included disinformation about two of the vaccines that have now been approved by the FDA in this country”, said State Department spokesman Ned Price, referring to the US Food and Drug Administration.
“It is very clear that Russia is up to its old tricks, and, in doing so, is potentially putting people at risk by spreading disinformation about vaccines that we know to be saving lives every day.”
The Wall Street Journal first reported on the centre’s findings, which said the websites played up risks of the US-made Pfizer vaccine in an apparent bid to boost Russia’s home-grown Sputnik V.
In an assessment provided last year, the centre said thousands of Russian-linked social media accounts have run a coordinated campaign to undermine official narratives on Covid-19, including by spreading allegations of US involvement.
The centre found that China briefly made a similar effort but ultimately decided it made more traction by highlighting Beijing’s own efforts.
US intelligence has long suspected Russia in disinformation campaigns on health, including spreading the myth in the 1980s that US scientists created the HIV virus that causes AIDS. – AFP, March 9, 2021
