West slaps sanctions on Putin's fake news factories

Twelve key disinformation outlets used to bolster Vladimir Putin have been hit with sanctions in an online crackdown on “false and misleading” reports claimed to be orchestrated by Russian intelligence.

- Jon Ungoed-Thomas

The UK Foreign Office announced last week that sanctions would be imposed on the Internet Research Agency, the notorious Russian-based troll factory. Two other alleged disinformation websites, New Eastern Outlook and Oriental Review, were also targeted.

The Internet Research Agency has been exposed in the past for paying Russia -based bloggers $650 a month to flood the internet with pro-Putin comments on chat forums, social networks and the comment sections of western publications.

Government investigators also claim Russian intelligence supports international news and analysis websites that promote the Kremlin’s view of the Ukraine invasion.

Tom Southern, of the Centre for Information Resilience, a non-profit UK social enterprise that counters disinformation, said the impact of Russian information manipulation campaigns in the Ukraine conflict was being blunted by concerted action by governments and social media companies. “This seems to be a turning point against this fake news,” he said.

The US treasury has imposed sanctions on the three outlets identified by the UK authorities. It has also taken action against at least nine others, five of which have been targeted with sanctions since the Ukraine invasion.