"Good Luck Launching Europe Today" - Margarita Mocks EU’s Efforts to Censor RT’s Success
The EU has launched a large-scale campaign against the Russian media. The European Parliament suggested creating a channel called "Europe Today" to counter Moscow. Editor-in-chief of the Russian RT Margarita Simonyan wished the Parliament luck but reminded that the Ukrainian analog had existed for only two years.
Regina Sevastyanova has the details.
There have been different suggestions some of which were, according to an Italian delegate, absurd. There was a statement that the representatives of the Russian propaganda were among the audience working on interfering with the future EU elections. Another statement said that the new propaganda laws and restrictions were by no means a kind of censorship because they didn't target individuals they targeted robots that are allegedly responsible for the propaganda for the benefit of the Russian media.
And here's the statement of a Dutch delegate.
Johannes Cornelis van Baalen, MEP: "We've found ourselves on the Internet. I've seen a video of me shooting huge guns on the Maidan. These guns were so huge that they were bigger than my hands. You might call it rubbish but some people believe it and ask me: "Why were you shooting guns on the Maidan?" And I wasn't even there".
That's the second similar statement during this week that blames the Russian propaganda or fake news from Russia within the framework of the EU institutions.
This week, a new expert group was introduced in Brussels. It includes 39 members who will meet at the highest level and fight fake news. 39 people were selected out of 300 candidates. The group includes journalists, representatives of media platforms, civil society, social networks. First, they will define the term "fake news." By February 23, they will have conducted a survey. And in April, they will produce a plan to fight fake news primarily that allegedly spread by the Russian agents.
During today's debates, the representative of the EU Commission reminded why they do that.
Julian King, European Commissioner for the Security Union: "The fake news campaign is to persuade people that it's not fake but rather trustworthy. If we look at the survey results we'll see how many people trust these obvious fakes spread by the pro-Kremlin media. Unfortunately, our conclusion is that Russia is quite successful at producing fake news. That's why we must double our efforts to disprove this propaganda. And this makes today’s debates are so important".
The debates were initiated by the European People's Party. It was its turn to select the topic for the debates. Its member Sandra Kalniete said that the EU had to take up the matter with Russia at the highest level. Curiously enough, the debates about fighting propaganda and fake news were initiated based on the report that was a private initiative of the US senators but is still referred to as the official position of the US.
Other opinions were voiced today as well. For example, several MEPs pointed out that no intelligence service be it the German, French, or Italian one confirmed the cases of the interference of any Russian agents with the elections that took or, as it is in Italy's case, will take place in these countries.
Barbara Spinelli, member of the European Parliament: "We must be very careful about what we call fake news because it might have a double purpose: be a propaganda-fighting instrument or propaganda itself and be used for the sake of censorship. I'm skeptical about any cases of the interference with the elections including the EU elections when there's no evidence. Wisconsin, California Berlin's Digital Society Institute — everyone doubts that. Meanwhile, the major international media were openly lying about the war in Iraq. People attack allegedly fake news call for censorship on the Internet and then spread the news that is actually fake that plunge us into a dangerous Cold War with Russia".
The debates didn't result in any resolution. But still, there was an official document: The People's Party of the EU suggests multiplying the costs of fighting the Russian propaganda and fake news.
Regina Sevastyanova Vesti FM, Brussels