(CNN Business) –– A new conspiracy theory has gained popularity among some of the online communities that have formed around QAnon: the same one that is simultaneously promoting Russia as a justification for its invasion of Ukraine. It is the false claim that the United States develops biological weapons in Ukraine and Vladimir Putin has intervened to destroy them and save the world.
QAnon’s central prophecy has always been that there is a “plan” and that former President Donald Trump will rid the world of a secretive group, culminating in the unmasking, imprisonment or even execution of members of that supposed group. But that prophecy dates back to when Trump was actually president. And now that it is gone, believers have become convinced that there is evidence that the plan is still in effect. Perhaps more than ever, even. In the disinformation from the Kremlin, some have seen that hope.
Yes, there are biological laboratories that the United States finances in Ukraine, that is true. But they are not building biological weapons. In fact, it is quite the opposite: part of the reason for creating them was to secure the Soviet weapons that were left in the former republics that belonged to the communist state. The US State Department called the claims nonsense. Meanwhile, the US and Ukrainian governments have repeatedly triedand for years now, debunking conspiracy theories about the labs, as well as the work that actually goes on in them.
a disinformation machine
Now, Russia’s falsehoods about labs like these have not been limited to Ukraine. Similar claims were made about a lab in Tbilisi, Georgia, which were later shown to be false. Dr. Filippa Lentzos, co-director of the Center for Science and Security Studies at King’s College London, visited the lab with other experts and debunked Russia’s claims. She told CNN that the Russians are spreading the same lies about the labs in Ukraine.
So, there’s a disinformation machine at work here.
And it works a bit like this. The Russian government makes suggestive statements, leaving breadcrumbs that are duly repeated by Russia’s official state media and then – increasingly importantly – by dozens of anonymous websites. In fact, according to the US, some of those pages are linked to Russian intelligence. Social media accounts push the idea further, build on it, make it more fantastical. And those most fantastic claims ultimately end up being picked up by official Russian media and the cycle begins again.
Russia has promoted various bits of disinformation about the US and biological weapons since the Cold War. For example, it has infamously spread the misconception that the US manufactured the VIH / SIDA.
Matt Field, editor of the Bulletin of the Atomic Sciences, told CNN that misinformation about US-supported biolabs seems to peak when Russia is under increased international scrutiny. For example, the accusations about the tbilisi lab they emerged in 2018, amid the international scandal after Russia was found to have poisoned Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury, England.
The methods used to spread this type of disinformation are also not new. Former KGB agents have revealed that the agency seeded stories in obscure or small publications in foreign countries, and then those stories were cited as sources in Russia’s official media.
That process can be done more easily now. Instead of going to the trouble of convincing a newspaper editor to publish false information, Russia can publish it on seemingly independent websites that present themselves as media outlets but are nothing more than parts of the Kremlin. The US Government has identified websites that work in conjunction with the Russian FSB security service.
Russia is still seeding stories in real media as well. For example, in 2017, the American left-wing magazine Counterpunch detailed how she had been tricked into publishing articles under the byline “Alice Donovan”. Which she later confirmed to the US Government was a false identity administered by the Russian military intelligence, GRU.
Does Russia need QAnon?
Russia doesn’t necessarily need to push its disinformation to QAnon followers, because the two have enough shared interests. Today, many Americans are found in online groups and following accounts that have mobilized around QAnon: there, disinformation from Russia is sometimes enthusiastically accepted.
On a US radio show affiliated with QAnon, which aired online Monday, a host read verbatim from Russian state media reports about the biolabs.
On the show’s online discussion forum, a person who had intentionally misspelled the word “Patriot” to include the letter “Q” wrote: “I had a feeling these bastards were getting ready to drop another bioweapon and we needed to SOMEBODY put a stop to that. Putin stepped forward. In my opinion, this was part of his deal with DJT,” referring to Donald’s initials. J. Trump.
“A core element of conspiracy theory belief systems is the constant refinement of narratives and reactions to larger events to support the grand narrative,” Ciarán O’Connor, a researcher at the Institute for Dialogue, told CNN. Strategic, a study center that analyzes disinformation.
Journalists and government officials have tried to debunk falsehoods and spread the truth. Big tech companies have also tried to stop the conspiracy theory from spreading on their platforms. But such measures have so far not been a worthy match for the power of belief and the sustained campaign to promote this theory.
On Tuesday, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman aided the Russian effort and suggested the United States was up to something nefarious in Ukraine’s labs. The same official, in 2020, promoted the idea that the US Army brought covid-19 to China.
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