MOSCOW, January 14. /TASS/. Western countries prohibit the dissemination of any information that is critical of their authorities, while in Russia, restrictions do exist, but they are strictly regulated, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference on the results of Russian diplomacy in 2024.
Asked by a journalist whether specialists from Western countries should be involved in the work of the International Fact-Checking Association or whether it is worth interacting only with experts from friendly states, Lavrov replied:
"I wouldn't close ourselves off to this. That’s what makes our approach to information different. Maria Vladimirovna (official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova - TASS) can confirm - when all that hysteria was just beginning, even before the special military operation, when Macron came to us, Putin went to Macron, in a cozy atmosphere, we held some informal dinners there. Even at that time, we asked the French: why aren't Sputnik and RT accredited at the White House? And they answered: because they are not media, but propaganda tools. I'm not joking," Lavrov said.
The top Russian diplomat recalled that the principles of free access to information were recorded at the OSCE conference in Paris in the fall of 1990, and the corresponding document "was pushed through primarily by the French and other members of the European Union, Western countries."
"And now, all of a sudden, they are cracking down on these channels, introducing some bans, as advanced [internet] users say. We asked the French: how is this possible, it’s the OSCE, your own rules. They do not listen, they do not want to listen," the Foreign Minister went on.
"Yes, we also have certain restrictions, but they are clearly regulated - socially dangerous things, first of all, concerning children, concerning our traditional values. But in the case of the West, they ban access to any information that is critical of the actions of the authorities, but it is not just critical, it's based on facts," Lavrov summed up.
On November 20, the Institute of Russian Realist Art in Moscow hosted the "Dialogue on Fakes 2.0" forum. The event was devoted to how to stop the spread of misinformation. The event was sponsored by the autonomous non-profit organization for the development of digital projects in the field of public relations and communications "Dialogue Regions." TASS was the strategic partner of the forum. On December 24, the co-founders of the organization - the Russian news agency TASS, ANO Dialogue Regions and the Workshop of New Media - signed an application for registration with the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation of the International Association for Fact-Checking (Global Fact-Checking Network, or GFCN).