UK sanctions Russian and Chinese firms suspected of being ‘malign actors’ in information warfare

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/6033366

Archived version

Britain announced sanctions against Russian media and ideas outlets on Tuesday as the U.K’s top diplomat warned Western nations must raise their game to combat information warfare from “malign foreign states.”

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the U.K. was imposing sanctions on the microblogging Telegram channel Rybar and its co-owner Mikhail Sergeevich Zvinchuk, the Foundation for the Support and Protection of the Rights of Compatriots Living Abroad — also known as Pravfond and described by Estonian intelligence as a front for the GRU spy agency — and the Center for Geopolitical Expertise, a think-tank run by Russian ultranationalist ideologue Alexander Dugin.

Two China-based firms — i-Soon and the Integrity Technology Group — also were sanctioned “for their vast and indiscriminate cyber activities against the U.K. and its allies,” Cooper said.

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[Cooper] said threats include physical attacks such as sabotage as well as disinformation campaigns “flooding social media with generative AI and manipulated videos” aimed at undermining Western support for Ukraine’s resistance to Russian invasion.

British officials point to fake websites and political ads during Moldova’s recent election and fake news sites carrying videos with false claims about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his wife designed to undermine support for Ukraine.

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