Czech James Bond, battle for Africa, Russia’s favorite American comedian
Czechia elected a new president this week. In a second-round runoff, which was portrayed by the media as a contest between populist oligarchy and liberal democracy, retired NATO general Petr Pavel beat his populist challenger, former Prime Minister Andrej Babis. But Babis supporters fought dirty. So dirty that at some point in the runoff the internet suddenly pronounced Pavel dead. As the news spread like wildfire, Pavel took to Twitter. “I am alive,” he wrote. “I never thought I would have to write this online. Someone is sending out a fake copy of my website with the news of my death on behalf of my spokesperson.” A little later, he tweeted a photoshopped image of himself as James Bond in a poster for the 2021 Bond movie “No Time to Die.” Pavel had the last laugh, but electoral disinformation spread through social media is going to be a recurring theme in elections around the world this year.
“It can always get worse.” The Kremlin makes this point every single week, as it further tightens the screws around any opposition to its war in Ukraine. Last week, Russian officials banned Meduza, the country’s leading independent media from operating in the country. On one hand, the ban is meaningless — the Meduza newsroom has been operating in exile (in Latvia) for years now. But it does mean that anything the Russian authorities choose to see as cooperation with Meduza or its journalists — giving an interview, say, or even sharing a Meduza link on social media — could technically land one in prison. The banning order will make Meduza’s already very difficult job of covering Russia effectively impossible.
The war in Ukraine has sparked a diplomatic onslaught on Africa, as Russia and the West engage in a battle for the hearts and minds of the continent’s people. Regular readers of Disinfo Matters know that we’ve been tracking the topic obsessively. Last week, I wrote about RT’s aggressive expansion across Africa. And this week Coda’s Frankie Vetch caught up with Ukraine’s Ambassador in Pretoria, South Africa to find out what Ukraine is doing to counter Russia’s information offensive.
UPDATE: BATTLE FOR AFRICA
By: Frankie Vetch