BRIEF: DR (dr[.]dk, collaborated with the Dossier Center, Le Monde, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Norddeutscher Rundfunk, Expressen, NRK, and SVT, to report on documents showing a Quran burning inspired Russia to stage fake protests. hoaxlines.org/2023/brief-paludans-quran-burning-has-inspired-a-russian-intelligence-service-to-stage-fake-protests
Fake protesters set fire to Turkish flags. They spray-painted Erdogan-critical messages at bus stops. Demonstrations were recorded and spread on social media. Documents say masked protestors should "step on Turkey's flag" and "write insulting statements about Erdogan."
The documents mention a Paris demonstration in March. Protestors painted graffiti denouncing Erdogan and Turkey. The source of this image is the leaked document, according to DR.
Content featuring the protests then appeared on YouTube and Facebook. Posts of the Paris protests were traced to two North African men in Saint Petersburg. The two me had also spread content from demonstrations in The Hague, Brussels, and Madrid.
A review of European demonstrations showed participants holding placards with identical messages, including the same spelling errors. The signs called for an end to aid to Ukraine. In some ci ies, participants also attended anti-Ukrainian demonstrations.
Experts believe the same actors behind Erdogan's campaign may have also planned anti-Ukrainian demonstrations. The Jan Quran burning led to Erdogan saying Sweden could not join NATO. https://ap ews.com/article/nato-politics-sweden-government-turkey-recep-tayyip-erdogan-795fe9f6fd7ed4f0416fc1a78498dd9d
Valentyna Shapovalova, from the University of Copenhagen, observed the significant impact of the Paris campaign, which was covered by mainstream media.
Such campaigns should be seen as a larger ecosystem that attempts to spread content to credible sources where the content will gain legitimacy, says Shapovalova.
(Speaking of information ecosystems, I just updated the mapping methodology) hoaxlines.org/information-classification
Swedish intel states this campaign is consistent with others that have been uncovered. According to the Dossier Center, the documents originate from an intelligence officer in one of Russia's intelligence services. DR also knows the officer's identity.
hoaxlines.org/2023/brief-paludans-quran-burning-has-inspired-a-russian-intelligence-service-to-stage-fake-protests
E. Rosalie @erosalie.infoepi.com
@Info_Rosalie
Public health + national security • Johns Hopkins alum • Tracking mysterious weaponized pigeons and FIMI • Most likely building a database somewhere