DISINFO: Western mainstream media are totally biased, only Russian and Venezuelan outlets tell the truth
SUMMARY
It is striking is that one can lie with such impunity as in the case of the Vrbetice explosions. This is a result of the lack of press freedom in the West, where there is no outlet besides RT, Sputnik or Venezuela’s Telesur that address these topics with objectivity, which means having both versions of the facts. When there is an information about Russia, China, Iran or Venezuela, this is, about those governments that are not subdued to Washington, there is only one version without any outlet contradicting it, so you can say real nonsenses as in this case.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Western mainstream media, attempting to frame any information contrarian to Russian interests as unreliable and biased, and to portray Russian outlets as truthful despite its evident manipulations and promotion of disinformation.
In this case, the claim serves to reinforce a disinformation campaign about the events surrounding the Vrbetice explosion in 2014 and the expulsion of Russian diplomats from the Czech Republic in 2021, after the involvement of Russian state actors was established by Czech authorities despite Moscow’s denials (see here for a full debunk of the incident).
See other examples of disinformation on this topic in our database, such as the alleged persecution of Sputnik in totalitarian Estonia due to its truthful reporting and fear of its influence; the allegedly brave efforts of Sputnik against intolerance in Lithuania; the supposed violations of the rights of Russian journalists in the US and the EU; or the stories on how nice is to be a journalist in Russia, unlike in Europe, because Russia is the global champion of free speech.
This disinformation message appeared in the same TV programme as the claims that “The ‘highly likely’ argument is used again to spread lies about Russia”, that “Accusing Russia for the Vrbetice explosion is an attempt to abort its rapprochement with Europe”, and that “The West wanted the ‘Vietnamisation’ of Ukraine’s conflict but Russia didn’t fall in the trap”.