Integrity Initiative’s anti-Russia crusaders spread ‘the very definition of propaganda’

Published time: 11 Jan, 2019 13:48Edited time: 11 Jan, 2019 14:00

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© AFP / Sergey Gapon

The UK government-funded Integrity Initiative insists its sole aim is to combat disinformation, but new leaks show that the group is actually in the propaganda business, journalist Ben Swann told RT’s Watching the Hawks.

Scotland-based Integrity Initiative (II) enlists “clusters” of individuals working in entertainment, politics, media and academics to “push out” the “same anti-Russia message” across Europe and the United States, even as the shadowy group claims to be countering “propaganda and disinformation,” investigative reporter Ben Swann told Tyrel Ventura on the latest instalment of Watching the Hawks.

“They’re actually performing the very definition of propaganda,” Swann said. The shady “networks of networks” is harming the pursuit of truth, he added. “You shouldn’t want to be duped. You shouldn’t want for media and for Hollywood and other groups to work together to say, ‘We’re going to create a narrative, we’re going to force it down your throat, and you’re going to accept this as truth.’ And unfortunately that’s what’s happening here.”

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British media outlets have remained curiously tight-lipped about hacked documents which show how the Integrity Initiative used its generous £2.5 million in UK government funding to interfere in the domestic politics of other European countries and to engage in a smear campaign against Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn – a rather glaring example of mission creep.

For Swann, the silence points to an intentional omission designed to keep people in the dark about how some of the West’s thought leaders have signed on to what is ostensibly a covert, UK government-sponsored political operation.

“This is a story that has not gotten any coverage on national mainstream media in the United States, even though it is an incredibly important story,” Swann said.