MOSCOW, May 15. /TASS/. A universal approach is needed to the problem of misinformation, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday.
He said that the situation around the Financial Times and the New York Times following their allegations of Russia’s underreporting coronavirus mortality figures is to be addressed by Russia’s mass media and communications watchdog.
"As far as I know, they [Russia's communications watchdog] have already begun to do it in line with the law on the mass media. Let us wait and see the reaction to these actions," he said in an interview with RBC. "I think that in general problems linked with the authenticity of information require special attention and a universal approach."
Lavrov pointed to the wide use of the so-called ‘highly likely’ approach that currently accompanies any news hooks, from the Skripal case and the MH17 crash to the referendum in Catalonia. "We are accused of meddling with all these processes," he noted. "Now, they claim in Prague that a Russian diplomat allegedly brought a deadly poison in his suitcase, with special services being aware of that and still letting him in. Such people, who knew about a poison in the luggage and did nothing to stop the man, are to be placed behind bars."
"Or the most recent example. Germany’s Bundestag suddenly claimed that German special services had found out that a hacker attack was staged on Chancellor [Angela] Merkel’s email five years ago and that it was done by Russians. Five years have elapsed but not a single evidence has been given," Lavrov added.