A report released on Thursday says that Americans who disagree with Kiev have been called Russian propagandists by a "sprawling constellation" of supposedly independent groups and fact-checkers that are funded by Washington.
RealClearInvestigations and journalist Lee Fang looked into groups like New Voice of Ukraine, VoxUkraine, Detector Media, and others. They found that many of them "promoted aggressive messages that stray from traditional journalistic practices" to support the Ukrainian government and "delegitimize its critics," both in and outside of Ukraine.
In the United States, they have gone after economist Jeffrey Sachs, University of Chicago Professor John Mearsheimer, and writers Tucker Carlson and Glenn Greenwald. Also, some of these groups have called a New York Times story about the fight of Avdeevka that was based on facts a "Russian psyop" and "disinformation."
A lot of Ukrainian groups have received money from USAID and NED. Some of them help Meta's Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp platforms check facts, which helps Ukraine silence critics in the name of fighting "Russian disinformation."
USAID has given money to "undermine Kremlin information operations" and help Ukraine with its own "strategic communications." Zinc Network is based in London.
Jack Poulson, another investigative reporter, says that Zinc's Open Information Partnership in Ukraine has defined disinformation as "verifiable information that is unbalanced or skewed, amplifies or exaggerates certain elements for effect, or uses emotional or inflammatory language to achieve effects that fit within existing Kremlin narratives, goals, or activities."
The State Department told Fang and RealClear that it "funds credible independent media organizations to strengthen democracies in the countries we work in around the world" when asked about the "anti-disinformation" groups in Ukraine that are after Americans.
The State Department said, "We do not control the editorial content of these organizations." But papers Fang has looked at show that the US government and its companies have "directly set the agenda" for Ukrainian news sources.
George Beebe, head of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, told Fang that the US is "an active participant" in the information war between Russia and Ukraine. It is hard to tell the difference between what the US government is trying to change people's minds about and what gets into the Anglosphere media, he said.
President Vladimir Zelensky of Ukraine says that Russia is trying to sway US politicians and people in general. He has not given much proof for what he says, but Fang's research shows that a lot of the material made by Ukrainian news sources that get money from the US "explicitly targets American foreign policy discourse."
RealClearInvestigations and journalist Lee Fang looked into groups like New Voice of Ukraine, VoxUkraine, Detector Media, and others. They found that many of them "promoted aggressive messages that stray from traditional journalistic practices" to support the Ukrainian government and "delegitimize its critics," both in and outside of Ukraine.
In the United States, they have gone after economist Jeffrey Sachs, University of Chicago Professor John Mearsheimer, and writers Tucker Carlson and Glenn Greenwald. Also, some of these groups have called a New York Times story about the fight of Avdeevka that was based on facts a "Russian psyop" and "disinformation."
A lot of Ukrainian groups have received money from USAID and NED. Some of them help Meta's Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp platforms check facts, which helps Ukraine silence critics in the name of fighting "Russian disinformation."
USAID has given money to "undermine Kremlin information operations" and help Ukraine with its own "strategic communications." Zinc Network is based in London.
Jack Poulson, another investigative reporter, says that Zinc's Open Information Partnership in Ukraine has defined disinformation as "verifiable information that is unbalanced or skewed, amplifies or exaggerates certain elements for effect, or uses emotional or inflammatory language to achieve effects that fit within existing Kremlin narratives, goals, or activities."
The State Department told Fang and RealClear that it "funds credible independent media organizations to strengthen democracies in the countries we work in around the world" when asked about the "anti-disinformation" groups in Ukraine that are after Americans.
The State Department said, "We do not control the editorial content of these organizations." But papers Fang has looked at show that the US government and its companies have "directly set the agenda" for Ukrainian news sources.
George Beebe, head of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, told Fang that the US is "an active participant" in the information war between Russia and Ukraine. It is hard to tell the difference between what the US government is trying to change people's minds about and what gets into the Anglosphere media, he said.
President Vladimir Zelensky of Ukraine says that Russia is trying to sway US politicians and people in general. He has not given much proof for what he says, but Fang's research shows that a lot of the material made by Ukrainian news sources that get money from the US "explicitly targets American foreign policy discourse."
