Researchers from the UK have discovered a network of shadowy editors who tried to promote pro-Russian narratives about the Russo-Ukrainian war.
The report was created by two British think tanks – the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) and the Center for Analysis of Social Media (CASM), which investigated disinformation on Wikipedia, Gizmodo reports.
The analysts analyzed the activities of 86 editors who were blocked for violating the Wikipedia code of ethics.
They made subtle changes to articles in which they tried to manipulate information and at least slightly tilt it towards the pro-Russian narrative.
“According to researchers, these attempts included changing ‘language to minimize objectivity of pro-Western accounts and maximize objectivity of pro-Kremlin accounts,’ introducing \topics which sway historical background toward pro-Russia narratives,’ and adding ‘Kremlin quotations and press releases explicitly into the page to increase the salience of pro-Russian arguments and viewpoints’,” Gizmodo writes.
The editors also inserted links to Russian state media.
