{"id":1421,"date":"2023-04-25T12:49:08","date_gmt":"2023-04-25T09:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digitalskills.by\/?p=1421"},"modified":"2024-05-01T19:45:04","modified_gmt":"2024-05-01T16:45:04","slug":"","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digitalskills.lt\/en\/2023\/04\/25\/belaruskie-media-publikuyut-materialy-regulyarnogo-istochnika-dezinformatsii\/","title":{"rendered":"Belarusian state-controlled media publishes materials from a regular source of disinformation","raw":"Belarusian state-controlled media publishes materials from a regular source of disinformation"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the process of preparing the publication of the list<\/a> of Belarusian political actors for March 2023, an increase in mentions of Valery Tsepkalo was noted.<\/p>\n

The analysis conducted points to a connection between this fact and the publication, which contains information that Polish taxpayers are paying Valery a rent of 1500 euros per month for an apartment in Warsaw.”<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

The next step was to find the original source<\/a> of this publication:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

In an attempt to locate the author of the article, Hanna Kramer, an investigation conducted by Polish fact-checkers was found. Information about a journalist with such a name is absent on the Internet, except for mentions on the website<\/a> of the publication Niezale\u017cny Dziennik Polityczny and in the context of warnings about Russian propaganda.<\/p>\n

The Niezale\u017cny Dziennik Polityczny itself has been the subject of a detailed analysis<\/a> on the MediaIQ website in an article titled: “Mechanisms of Russian disinformation: ‘NATO supplies scrap metal to Ukraine’ and ‘clears warehouses’,” published on January 13, 2023.<\/p>\n

Among other things, the article states that a study conducted by the Polish portal True Story found that most of the articles on the Niezale\u017cny Dziennik Polityczny website were borrowed<\/a> from other publications, creating the appearance of a functioning media outlet. The assumption that the site is a conduit for Russian disinformation is supported<\/a> by the portal Oko.press. In 2019 and 2020, the site posted a fake letter from Polish generals demanding President Duda to dismiss Minister B\u0142aszczak. Despite the Ministry’s denial, the text went viral on social media.<\/p>\n

The authors of True Story note that the texts of the Niezale\u017cny Dziennik Polityczny are written in poor Polish, with Russian grammatical constructions, which may indicate a failed machine translation. Editor Adam Kaminski is a fictional character, and the picture in his Twitter and Facebook profiles (now deleted) actually depicts Lithuanian traumatologist Andrius \u017dukauskas. No real Polish journalists associated with this site, or people familiar with them, could be found.<\/p>\n

After this, we analyzed the frequency of mentions of this publication in Belarusian online media and social media:
\n\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

The peak occurred on March 17, when the article \u201cNDP: Poland<\/em> spent<\/em> $6<\/em> billion<\/em> on<\/em> attempted<\/em> coup<\/em> in<\/em> Belarus<\/em>\u201d was published.<\/h3>\n

This date also marked the peak mention of the Polish publication in Belarusian Telegram channels, based on TGStat data:
\n\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

The Polish site is most often mentioned on Belarusian toxic Telegram channels:
\n\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

Additional intriguing facts related to the article about the mythical six billion dollars from the Polish government:<\/p>\n