Russian Influence Campaign Suspected: Report Allegedly Fabricated

In a series of recent events, the German investigative journalism platform CORRECTIV has found itself at the centre of a disinformation campaign. The campaign, dubbed "Storm-1516," is believed to have been orchestrated by Russian propagandists to influence the federal election in Germany.

The campaign began with a fake article and video, meticulously copied to resemble a genuine CORRECTIV investigation. However, the URL contained an extra "r," a subtle yet noticeable difference. This fake article, presented as the third investigation into German politician Jens Spahn, linked CORRECTIV's research on Spahn's network with IT millionaire Frank Gotthardt, a connection that CORRECTIV had indeed uncovered in its second investigation.

CORRECTIV, in collaboration with the European Parliament's disinformation unit, is actively taking action against these fake news reports. The platform did not publish the article or the video that was circulated, and after an inquiry from CORRECTIV, the hosting provider "Hostinger" took down the fake website the same day.

The Russian propagandists also linked CORRECTIV's research on Spahn to tech billionaire Christian Angermayer, a connection that the journalism platform had exposed in its first investigation.

Last year, CORRECTIV's website was subjected to attacks, and a defamatory report was published. In January, CORRECTIV, along with Newsguard and Gnida, uncovered Storm-1516's attempts to manipulate the election using dozens of fake news websites.

The fake article and video, attributed to "Storm-1516" by the online investigative project Gnida, also falsely accused Jens Spahn, along with Friedrich Merz and Manfred Weber. The EU official whose identity was deceived in the video stated that none of the claims mentioned in it were from him.

On August 1, various profiles on social media platform X circulated a video falsely claiming that Friedrich Merz thwarted a vote of no confidence against EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen by paying bribes to the Green faction in the European Parliament. The video used the CORRECTIV logo and claimed to be an exposure by CORRECTIV.

The publisher of the platform "X," where false videos and false news about Jens Spahn and Friedrich Merz are still online, is Elon Musk, who owns the social media platform formerly known as Twitter and renamed it X. The platform did not respond to an inquiry from CORRECTIV regarding the removal of these false reports.

As CORRECTIV continues its work in investigative journalism, it remains a target for those seeking to spread disinformation and false news. Yet, the platform remains resilient, committed to exposing the truth and upholding the principles of journalistic integrity.