cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/4226005

Archived version

Disinformation websites in the Czech Republic publish an average of 120 pieces a day — more than the country’s leading media outlets. An investigation by Voxpot, carried out in collaboration with the Druit IT collective, analyzed 360,000 publications across 16 platforms over the past 25 years. They found that around 10% of the content consisted of translations or rewrites of articles from sanctioned Russian pro-government outlets, including Sputnik, RT, and RIA Novosti.

The distribution of materials from such sources is banned in the EU, and in the Czech Republic, violators can be punished with fines of up to 50 million korunas ($2.38 million) or prison terms of up to eight years. According to Voxpot’s sources in the Czech government, the authorities are aware of the systematic violations of the sanctions regime but have so far been hesitant to intervene.

The activity of disinformation websites has spiked in the run-up to the parliamentary elections, which are scheduled to take place on October 3-4. In recent months, the outlets have been publishing up to 4,000 articles a month, around 250 of which were translations of Russian propaganda materials.

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