Posted on Mar 9, 2022
Russian propaganda targeting Spanish-language users proliferates on social media
1.03K
8
2
7
7
0
Russia and its allies have been using their media platforms to target Spanish speakers with propaganda that is inaccurate or an incomplete picture of the invasion of Ukraine, worrying some about the impact it can have on U.S. Latinos and across Latin America.
While the outlets broadcast in Latin America, their reach on social media platforms like Twitter and YouTube is more extensive.
Actualidad RT and Sputnik both have Spanish-language websites. One of the top stories Wednesday on the Russia-owned broadcast channel Actualidad RT was a conspiracy theory that Russia has floated about the U.S.’s funding a biological weapons laboratory in Ukraine. Actualidad RT reported that China asked the U.S. to reveal details of the laboratory. The U.S. has said the allegations are false. Similar conspiracy theories about secret laboratories have also spread in some far-right circles.
Actualidad RT, as well as Sputnik Mundo, have led in the avalanche of social media posts about the situation regarding people or places in Russia and Ukraine.
While the outlets broadcast in Latin America, their reach on social media platforms like Twitter and YouTube is more extensive.
Actualidad RT and Sputnik both have Spanish-language websites. One of the top stories Wednesday on the Russia-owned broadcast channel Actualidad RT was a conspiracy theory that Russia has floated about the U.S.’s funding a biological weapons laboratory in Ukraine. Actualidad RT reported that China asked the U.S. to reveal details of the laboratory. The U.S. has said the allegations are false. Similar conspiracy theories about secret laboratories have also spread in some far-right circles.
Actualidad RT, as well as Sputnik Mundo, have led in the avalanche of social media posts about the situation regarding people or places in Russia and Ukraine.
Russian propaganda targeting Spanish-language users proliferates on social media
Posted from nbcnews.com
Russia
Propaganda
Spanish
Social Media
Edited 2 y ago
Posted 2 y ago
Responses: 2
1
1
0
PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Experts warned that Russia had been seeding misinformation about Ukraine across the internet in the lead-up to its invasion, although its English-language efforts have generally been drowned out by Western media. The same has happened in Spanish, and the number of posts has shot up since the invasion.
The social media posts had more than 1.5 million engagements from Feb. 23 to March 2, according to an analysis by Omelas, a Washington, D.C.-based firm that has been tracking propaganda in Spanish for five years.
The channels recently asked their Twitter followers to also follow their accounts on the Russian social media platform VK, as well as on Telegram.
Actualidad RT has come a long way since its inception in 2009. It gets more total digital video views than any other Spanish-language channel, according to Omelas’ research. It has more than 18 million followers on Facebook and almost 6 million on its YouTube channel. It describes itself as being a “major source of alternative information in the West.” Although its headquarters is in Moscow, many of its news anchors and correspondents are from Latin America.
Ben Dubow, Omelas’ chief technology officer, said that since January, there has been a narrative on Actualidad: “Ukraine is run by neo-Nazis who are about to commit genocide against the ethnic Russians, and it’s the duty of Russia to preserve world peace and to counterbalance the West that is so feckless."
“They’re not targeting American Spanish speakers because they want to get the truth out," he said. "They’re targeting them because they want to sow discord and they want to create chaos.”
..."Experts warned that Russia had been seeding misinformation about Ukraine across the internet in the lead-up to its invasion, although its English-language efforts have generally been drowned out by Western media. The same has happened in Spanish, and the number of posts has shot up since the invasion.
The social media posts had more than 1.5 million engagements from Feb. 23 to March 2, according to an analysis by Omelas, a Washington, D.C.-based firm that has been tracking propaganda in Spanish for five years.
The channels recently asked their Twitter followers to also follow their accounts on the Russian social media platform VK, as well as on Telegram.
Actualidad RT has come a long way since its inception in 2009. It gets more total digital video views than any other Spanish-language channel, according to Omelas’ research. It has more than 18 million followers on Facebook and almost 6 million on its YouTube channel. It describes itself as being a “major source of alternative information in the West.” Although its headquarters is in Moscow, many of its news anchors and correspondents are from Latin America.
Ben Dubow, Omelas’ chief technology officer, said that since January, there has been a narrative on Actualidad: “Ukraine is run by neo-Nazis who are about to commit genocide against the ethnic Russians, and it’s the duty of Russia to preserve world peace and to counterbalance the West that is so feckless."
“They’re not targeting American Spanish speakers because they want to get the truth out," he said. "They’re targeting them because they want to sow discord and they want to create chaos.”
(1)
(0)
0
0
0
No te preocupes, hay Fox y CNN News en Español.
Places like Nicaragua and Venezuela are censored but generally speaking, Latin America doesn't censor news from American News organizations. I know because I've seen those shows in person while visiting family in Honduras and El Salvador
Places like Nicaragua and Venezuela are censored but generally speaking, Latin America doesn't censor news from American News organizations. I know because I've seen those shows in person while visiting family in Honduras and El Salvador
(0)
(0)
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google