U.S. intelligence officials are accusing the financial news website Zero Hedge of passing Russian propaganda, publishing articles written by Kremlin-controlled media. According to the AP:
"The officials said Zero Hedge, which has 1.2 million Twitter followers, published articles created by Moscow-controlled media that were then shared by outlets and people unaware of their nexus to Russian intelligence. The officials did not say whether they thought Zero Hedge knew of any links to spy agencies and did not allege direct links between the website and Russia. [snip]
Zero Hedge has been sharply critical of Biden and posted stories about allegations of wrongdoing by his son Hunter. While perhaps best known for its coverage of markets and finance, the website also covers politics with a conservative bent.
In recent months, Zero Hedge has published numerous articles that accused the U.S. of fomenting panic about Ukraine, which now faces the possibility of an invasion by more than 130,000 Russian troops massed on several sides of the country. Some of those articles are listed as being written by people affiliated with the Strategic Culture Foundation.
Recent articles listed as authored by the foundation and published by Zero Hedge include the headlines: “NATO Sliding Towards War Against Russia In Ukraine,” “Americans Need A Conspiracy Theory They Can All Agree On” and “Theater Of Absurd... Pentagon Demands Russia Explain Troops On Russian Soil.” (our emphasis)
The "Strategic Culture Foundation" is alleged by U.S. intelligence to be run by Russia's foreign intelligence service, the SVR. The foundation was sanctioned last year along with 15 other Russian propaganda outlets for their role in interfering in the 2020 elections in favor of the Malignant Loser.
Putin has long taken advantage of our First Amendment rights to catapult propaganda into the U.S. mainstream, with, for example, operations like the Kremlin-approved Russia Today (RT) cable network. That and outright cyber attacks like SolarWind are Russian thug Vladimir Putin's sign that a subtle, "soft" war is occurring in our media.
