WASHINGTON, August 6. /TASS/. The US Department of State’s report on "Russia’s disinformation and propaganda ecosystem" is an attempt to silence Moscow’s proposals to resume cooperation in key areas, the Russian embassy in the United States said on Wednesday.
"The above mentioned report is an attempt to silence Russian official proposals to resume cooperation in key areas on which the security of the entire world depends," the embassy wrote on its Facebook account, commenting on the report of the U.S. Department of State Global Engagement Center (GEC) about the "Pillars of Russia’s Disinformation and Propaganda Ecosystem."
According to the Russian embassy, this report is obviously geared to discredit alternative information sources. "The U.S. State Department is not very fond of the existence of alternative sources of information. Serious resources are employed to discredit them. Any voice that contradicts Washington is dubbed "disinformation" in the service of the "Kremlin" and Russian intelligence," it said.
The US report "runs into absurd," Russian diplomats noted. Thus, the US Department of State assigned LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky and the private radio station Govorit Moskva as "Official Government Communications."
"If this serves as the pinnacle of the entire structure, so carefully built by our American colleagues, then it seemingly looks like a house of cards," the commentary reads. "Russian and foreign media outlets that dare to criticize the United States should bear in mind that they can and almost certainly will become the subject of thorough scrutiny. Their accounts in American social media are at risk of being suspended with no explanation."
In its Special Report Pillars of Russia’s Disinformation and Propaganda Ecosystem, the GEC claims that Russia is key threat in terms of disinformation and propaganda. According to the report, this "ecosystem" involves official government channels, state-run mass media, proxy-resources, and social network. The Russian authorities, as follows from the report, are responsible for the development of such tactics and platforms as part of their approach to the use of information as a weapon.
Russia repeatedly denied Western media allegations that it indulges in misinformation. Thus, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that the recent allegations that Russia and China were propagating misinformation about the coronavirus infection were yet another manifestation of the West’s Russophobia and Sinophobia.