A number of fake websites, very similar to the official media, have appeared in Great Britain, spreading misinformation about Western companies operating in Ukraine.
Points of attention
- Fake websites resembling official media have surfaced in Great Britain, disseminating misinformation about Western companies in Ukraine.
- The association of these fake sites with Russian propaganda raises suspicions about the origin of the disinformation and prompts calls for legislative amendments.
- Accusations against a company operating in Ukraine were proven unfounded, highlighting the need to combat fake news and enhance transparency in online information sources.
- The content on these fake British sites is believed to have been AI-generated, with linguistic analysis indicating a potential Russian-speaking author behind the misleading narratives.
- Efforts by organizations like NewsGuard have debunked numerous false stories about the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, emphasizing the importance of scrutinizing online information sources.
What is known about the emergence of fake sites with disinformation about Ukraine in Britain
It is noted that Russian propagandists are suspected of creating and using these fake sites.
In particular, the publications of the sites londoninsider.co.uk and talk-finance.co.uk were distributed by the Ukrainian mass media, because in Ukraine the British mass media have a reputation of being reliable and trustworthy.
The use of these sites drew the attention of the American firm Sarn, which works in Ukraine in the energy and military equipment sectors.
Sarn representatives noted that the materials of the two sites falsely accused the company of arms trafficking, court fraud and embezzlement.
According to the deputy head of Sarn, Armen Agas, the company categorically denies the baseless and completely fake news that was distributed under the headlines: "Weapons, money and Sarn: how the Czech-American group appropriated Ukraine."
"We believe that we were attacked because of our work on economic development in Ukraine during the conflict," Agas emphasized.
What is known about the structure of disinformation on fake British sites
The content on the sites was most likely generated by AI, while an analysis by a linguist hired by Sarn showed that the original text was created by a Russian-speaking author.
At the same time, the materials contained the signature of a real journalist from Great Britain, who stated that he knew nothing about his alleged publication for londoninsider.co.uk.
As a result, there are calls in Britain for parliamentarians to amend the law to force UK-registered news sites to disclose information about their owners.
Meanwhile, NewsGuard, which seeks to counter disinformation by studying and evaluating news sites, found that false narratives about Ukraine and its allies were already circulating online before the February 2022 invasion.
The company said it debunked more than 250 false stories related to the war between Russia and Ukraine, and identified 627 sites spreading these myths. The false stories ranged from propaganda claims that reports of mass killings by Russian troops in places like Bucha were "staged" to claims that Nazi ideology was driving Ukraine's political leadership, the publication emphasized.
