The European External Action Service (EEAS) recently presented its first report on Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) threats. A short section on page 16 of the report deals with imitation techniques and their victims. He lists six incidents involving false identities related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Among other things, covers of three satirical magazines were faked to create sentiment against Ukraine and its President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Two images imitated covers from the French magazine Charlie Hebdo, one each from the German Titanic magazine and the Spanish El Jueves. Unfortunately, some media companies fell for the fake front pages - or worse: they allowed themselves to be harnessed to the cart of Russian disinformation. For example, an article appeared in the right-wing Austrian online magazine “für Selberdenker” exxpress.at , which was about the cover of a supposed special edition of Charlie Hebdo:

“And suddenly we have tipped over to the dark side of power” – this is how the well-known satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo addresses the dramatic situation in Ukraine: Russian missile attacks on the energy supply are still causing blackouts today.

The teaser for the article on exxpress.at

Information Manipulation: The Fake Titanic Cover

One of the fake covers distributed by a Russian propaganda channel

, attentive Twitter users, as well as the Reuters , quickly drew attention to the fake. The original of the October 2022 issue looks like this:

The FIMI report from the European External Action Service

The Strategic Communications Division 8 report is the first of its kind and is therefore considered a pilot project of the EEAS. To do this, he selected a sample of 100 cases of information manipulation that were uncovered and analyzed between October and December 2022. The focus was not on a comprehensive overview of all FIMIs or all actors, but rather on improving the analysis methods.

The most important findings of the report are: Chinese and especially Russian actors dominate the period under review, main topic: Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. 33 incidents directly attack Ukraine and its representatives, and in 60 the motive for supporting the invasion can be clearly identified. Russian diplomatic channels are an “integral part” of many FIMI incidents. This also applies to China, where the spin is mostly directed against the USA.

Information manipulation: FIMI cases
Information Manipulation: The Fake Magazine Cover in the FIMI Report

Imitation techniques are becoming more and more sophisticated. Russian actors pose as international and trustworthy organizations and individuals in order to attack Ukraine in particular. Print and TV media are most often imitated, with magazines copying the entire style.

Excerpt from the summary of the FIMI report

Foreign information manipulation is primarily aimed at distraction and distortion. The main intention is to draw attention to another actor or a different narrative or to shift (“deflect”) blame. Russia also often tries to change (“distort”) the framework and narrative. FIMI is predominantly image and video based. Due to the cheap and easy production and distribution of image and video material on the Internet, these formats are the most commonly used.

“We must focus on foreign actors who are deliberately and in a coordinated manner trying to manipulate our information environment,” Spiegel quoted Democratic countries should work together and actively combat disinformation from authoritarian regimes, he said at an EEAS conference on February 7 in Brussels.

The FIMI report includes only 100 cases and information manipulation that surfaced in the last quarter of 2022. There were also several other cases of Russian actors using fake front pages to spread sentiment against Ukraine and its politicians, as Myth Detector reported in detail in December. Including more Charlie Hebdo and El Jueves covers, but also some from Time magazine.


Sources: EEAS , Spiegel , Reuters , Myth Detector

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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )