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Russia: Propaganda

Question for Foreign and Commonwealth Office

UIN HL311, tabled on 8 June 2015

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what capacity they have immediately available to counter misleading propaganda by official and unofficial Russian sources; and what plans they have for using it.

Answered on

17 June 2015

The British Government uses a range of tools to counter Russian propaganda: corrective statements, social media (as exemplified by our Embassy in Kyiv’s Twitter feed @UKinUkraine), and regular contact with traditional media via Foreign and Commonwealth Office Ministers and our Embassies in Europe and the Former Soviet Union. We coordinate with like minded international partners such as the US on this work.

We have also funded £1.2m of projects in the last financial year to support strategic communications in Ukraine, and are increasing this spend by 50% this year. Additionally, the Good Governance Fund (£20m, covering Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, Serbia and Bosnia & Herzegovina) will fund projects which support independent, pluralistic and reliable media in the region.

Answered by

Foreign and Commonwealth Office