Berliner Tageblatt - US adversaries stoke Kirk conspiracy theories, researchers warn

Official media in the three countries mentioned Kirk -- a close ally of President Donald Trump -- 6,200 times since the activist was shot dead last week during a speaking event on a Utah university campus, the disinformation watchdog NewsGuard reported citing data gathered using a social media analytics tool.

The assessment comes after the United States eliminated a key government agency that tracked foreign disinformation in April, framing the move as an effort to preserve "free speech," even as leading experts monitoring propaganda raised the alarm about the risk of disinformation campaigns from US adversaries.

NewsGuard's report echoed recent warnings from Utah Governor Spencer Cox, who cautioned last week that US adversaries were spreading disinformation surrounding Kirk's killing to inflame political tensions.

"What we are seeing is our adversaries want violence," Cox said.

"We have bots from Russia, China, all over the world, that are trying to instill disinformation and encourage violence."

- Capitalizing on crisis -

Much of the disinformation originated from Russian state media, which falsely claimed Ukrainian involvement and attempted to link the killing to Kirk’s opposition to American military aid to Kyiv, NewsGuard said.

There was no evidence linking Ukraine to the assassination.

US authorities have said that a 22-year-old US citizen from Utah named Tyler Robinson allegedly used a rifle to shoot Kirk from a rooftop. He was arrested and has been formally charged with murder.

Iranian state media baselessly accused Israel -- Tehran's arch enemy -- of orchestrating the killing in retaliation for Kirk's opposition to a US military strike on Iran, NewsGuard's report said.

They framed the killing as an operation by Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, an unfounded claim that researchers say reflects Tehran's longstanding pattern of blaming its adversary for major crises.

Meanwhile, Chinese outlets spread disinformation about Robinson, baselessly claiming that he donated money to the Trump's campaign in 2020.

"Pro-China commentators used Kirk's assassination to mock the US and spread false information about the suspect, portraying America as deeply divided," NewsGuard said.

Foreign influence campaigns have frequently used US political crises, elections, or natural disasters to stoke tensions, disinformation experts say.

Some researchers warn that the United States may be ill-prepared to confront the rising threat of foreign disinformation.

In April, Secretary of State Marco Rubio shut down the State Department's Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (R/FIMI) hub -- an agency formerly known as the Global Engagement Center (GEC) -- which was responsible for tracking and countering disinformation from foreign actors.

Last week, the Financial Times reported that European countries had received a notice from the State Department that it was terminating memoranda of understanding signed last year under Joe Biden's administration, which had aimed to establish a unified approach to countering disinformation by foreign governments.

"The United States has ceased all frameworks to counter foreign state information manipulation and any associated instruments implemented by the former administration," the State Department said Wednesday, without elaborating.

M.Odermatt--BTB