NYT: Russian group spread disinformation about Princess of Wales

A Kremlin-linked group known for online campaigns to sow falsehoods and distrust among Russia’s foes has helped fuel the frenzy of conspiracy theories about Catherine and her health, according to The New York Times.

The whirl of conspiracy theories that enveloped Catherine, Princess of Wales, before she disclosed her cancer diagnosis last week probably didn’t need help from a foreign state. But researchers in Britain said Wednesday that a notorious Russian disinformation operation helped stir the pot.

Martin Innes, an expert on digital disinformation at Cardiff University in Wales, said he and his colleagues tracked 45 social media accounts that posted a spurious claim about Catherine to a Kremlin-linked disinformation network, which has previously spread divisive stories about Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as about France’s support for Ukraine.

As in those cases, Professor Innes said, the influence campaign appeared calculated to inflame divisions, deepen a sense of chaos in society, and erode trust in institutions — in this case, the British royal family and the news media.

“It provokes an emotional reaction,” he said. “The story was already being framed in conspiracy terms, so you can appeal to those people. And people who support the royal family get angry.”

The motive, he said, was likely commercial as well as political. Social media traffic about Catherine skyrocketed over the last three months, as a dearth of information about her condition created a void that an online army filled with rumors and speculation. For the Russian network, amplifying those posts through their accounts would enable them to boost their own traffic statistics and follower counts.

It is not clear who might have hired the disinformation network to go after Catherine, but it has a track record of campaigns to undermine the countries and people at odds with the Kremlin. Britain’s robust support for Ukraine, and London’s longstanding antagonism with Moscow, would make it a tempting target for the Russians.

The Daily Telegraph, a London newspaper, reported on March 24 that British officials were worried that Russia, China and Iran were fueling disinformation about Catherine in an effort to destabilize the country.

Asked about these reports in Parliament on March 25, the deputy prime minister, Oliver Dowden, did not name the countries, but said it was “a reminder to us all that it is important for us to ensure that we deal with valid and trusted information, and are appropriately skeptical about many online sources.”

In 2020, a British parliamentary committee concluded that Russia had mounted a prolonged, sophisticated campaign to undermine Britain’s democracy — using tactics that ranged from disinformation and meddling in elections to funneling dirty money and employing members of the House of Lords. The Russian foreign ministry dismissed the conclusions as “Russophobia.”

Kensington Palace, where Catherine and her husband, Prince William, have their offices, declined to comment on Russia’s role in the recent rumormongering. The palace has appealed to the news media and the public to give Catherine privacy, after she announced she had cancer in a video on March 22.

Last week, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced sanctions against two Russians, and their companies, for involvement in cyberinfluence operations. They are believed to be part of the Russian disinformation operation known in the industry as Doppelgänger network.

Since 2017, Doppelgänger has been linked to the creation of fake websites that impersonate actual news organizations in Europe and the United States.

Catherine is not the only member of the royal family to have become the subject of an online feeding frenzy in Russia. On the same day as the multiple posts about the video, an erroneous report of the death of King Charles III began circulating on Telegram, a social media network popular in Russia.

Those reports were later picked up by Russian media outlets, forcing the British embassies in Moscow and Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, to deny them as “fake news.” Like Catherine, Charles, 75, is being treated for cancer, though he continues to greet visitors privately and plans to attend church services on Easter.