Russia’s media watchdog has charged five US government-controlled outlets of disseminating disinformation about the July 2020 vote on the country’s constitutional amendments.
The outlets – Radio Liberty, Crimea.Realities, Caucasus.Realities, Siberia.Realities and North.Realities – are all part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), a group of websites tasked with being consistent with the US’s foreign-policy objectives, according to the mission statement of their parent body, USAGM. They are further obliged to have the capability to “provide a surge capacity to support United States foreign-policy objectives during crises abroad.”
“A number of materials were handed over to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to bring administrative responsibility to those resources through which fake, unreliable information was distributed,” said Vadim Subbotin, the deputy head of media watchdog Roskomnadzor, at a State Duma commission meeting on foreign interference in Russia.
Subbotin also added that the websites run by RFE/RL act as both harsh propaganda and soft power, sharing “destructive ideas.”
The vote ended on July 1, with 77.92 percent of voters supporting the constitutional changes. Among the amendments were the definition of marriage as a union between a man and a woman, the restriction of top officials from having foreign passports, and the annulment of President Vladimir Putin’s served terms, allowing him to run for office two more times.
