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Media link Italy neo-Nazi missile to ‘pro-Russian separatists’ despite police saying the OPPOSITE | Media link Italy neo-Nazi missile to ‘pro-Russian separatists’ despite police saying the OPPOSITE |
(about 4 hours later) | |
A long list of reputable media outlets such as CNN and BBC have misquoted Italian police about a neo-Nazi group that fought for the government in Ukraine, falsely reporting that they were linked to Donbass separatists instead. | A long list of reputable media outlets such as CNN and BBC have misquoted Italian police about a neo-Nazi group that fought for the government in Ukraine, falsely reporting that they were linked to Donbass separatists instead. |
The Italian state police said on Monday that it had seized a cache of Nazi memorabilia and weapons – including a missile – from a neo-Nazi gang in northern Italy. The operation, the police said, was a result of a year-long investigation into far-right political movements who had fought “against the separatists” in Ukraine's eastern breakaway region of Donbass. | The Italian state police said on Monday that it had seized a cache of Nazi memorabilia and weapons – including a missile – from a neo-Nazi gang in northern Italy. The operation, the police said, was a result of a year-long investigation into far-right political movements who had fought “against the separatists” in Ukraine's eastern breakaway region of Donbass. |
Despite the rather unambiguous wording of the police statement, a host of mainstream media outlets got it dramatically wrong, essentially reporting the exact opposite. | Despite the rather unambiguous wording of the police statement, a host of mainstream media outlets got it dramatically wrong, essentially reporting the exact opposite. |
Citing either the police or unspecified “Italian media,” outlets including Reuters, CNN, the Guardian, BBC and CBS reported that the group “had fought alongside Russian-backed separatist forces in eastern Ukraine” (CNN, Reuters), “took part in the Russian-backed insurgency” (The Guardian), or that the raid was carried out “as part of an investigation into Italian far-right help for Russian-backed separatists” (BBC). | |
While the original statement leaves little room for error, several Italian outlets did rephrase it to sound less precise, describing the neo-Nazis as having "taken part" in the Ukrainian conflict. The police tweet is worded in a similar way. | |
It is possible that multiple people jumped to the same wrong conclusion, or that an initial mis-translation got picked up by a crowd of media outlets known for their anti-Russian bias, who proceeded to skip fact-checking in favor of a narrative that reinforces it. Either way the strategy seems to be bearing fruit, as only a few commentators on social media have taken issue with the false report. | It is possible that multiple people jumped to the same wrong conclusion, or that an initial mis-translation got picked up by a crowd of media outlets known for their anti-Russian bias, who proceeded to skip fact-checking in favor of a narrative that reinforces it. Either way the strategy seems to be bearing fruit, as only a few commentators on social media have taken issue with the false report. |
The lack of critical thinking is particularly puzzling given the fact that rebel forces in eastern Ukraine have never been associated with the neo-Nazis, while the government in Kiev has relied heavily on so-called volunteer battalions, composed of Ukrainian nationalists and foreign neo-Nazi sympathizers, to do the fighting. | The lack of critical thinking is particularly puzzling given the fact that rebel forces in eastern Ukraine have never been associated with the neo-Nazis, while the government in Kiev has relied heavily on so-called volunteer battalions, composed of Ukrainian nationalists and foreign neo-Nazi sympathizers, to do the fighting. |
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