Russia and China continue to use a disinformation campaign about the coronavirus outbreak that could have "harmful consequences" for public health worldwide, a report published by the EU's foreign policy body said.
The document, published on April 1, was written by the Strategic Communications and Information Analysis Division of the European External Action Service (EEAS).
He says that both state and state-backed actors “seek to exploit the public health crisis to advance geopolitical interests, often directly challenging the credibility of the European Union and its partners.”
The campaign poses a risk to effective crisis communication and public health, it says.
Claims that the coronavirus outbreak is leading to the breakup of the EU are a trend being expressed through social media, a new report says.
The report further states that among COVID-19-related content published by Russian government-funded media outlets Russia Today and Sputnik, “articles covering conspiracy narratives such as ‘the virus was man-made’ or was spread intentionally typically received more social engagement than other stories.”
The document is a follow-up to a report published last month by the EEAS that said pro-Kremlin media outlets "have been prominent in spreading disinformation about the coronavirus, with the aim of worsening the public health crisis in Western countries, in particular by undermining public trust in national healthcare systems."
The new report says more than 150 cases of pro-Kremlin disinformation about COVID-19 have been recorded by the EU watchdog EUvsDisinfo since January 22.
He says that in the EU and other parts of the world "coordinated disinformation messages" aim to undermine public trust in the ability of democratic institutions to respond to the crisis effectively and are pointing the finger at vulnerable minorities, blaming them for the pandemic.
Domestically, the report notes, state-controlled media "have shifted their focus to highlight Russia's readiness to handle the outbreak, while Russian aid to Italy was widely covered."
Social media continues to be rife with false health advice about the pandemic that comes in direct contradiction to official World Health Organization guidelines, the document says, citing the example of Sputnik Deutschland, which has promoted the claim on Facebook and Twitter that "washing hands does not help."
In China, state media aggressively highlights displays of gratitude by some European leaders in response to Chinese aid, while promoting unproven theories from government officials about the origins of the coronavirus, the EU report says.
In the Western Balkans region, conspiracy theories continue to trend, some suggesting that the virus is a bioweapon produced by the US, others that it is a pretext for a foreign invasion.
At the same time, the coronavirus crisis is linked to the existing narrative that the EU is "turning its back" on the Balkans, the report says.
(Article from Radio Free Europe in Albanian language)