But there’s more than a little irony in who Reuters has chosen to slay the dragon of disinformation. Graphika, a “social network analysis” firm that appears to specialize in squashing narratives that contradict the US government line, counts among its ranks such luminaries as Ben Nimmo, perhaps best known for baselessly accusing British and Finnish citizens of being Russian bots. Nimmo, who remains a senior non-resident fellow at pro-war NATO-backed think tank Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab and has also worked with the UK government’s secretive Integrity Initiative, was hired by Graphika last year as its Head of Investigations, suggesting the company values a vivid imagination over factual accuracy.
Like the Atlantic Council itself, Graphika has partnered extensively with the same US government agencies that continue to flog the “Russian meddling won Trump the 2016 election” conspiracy theory. Rather than die a graceful death after the Mueller report failed to turn up the promised evidence of collusion in 2019, Russiagate has been resurrected for the 2020 election with a 1,000-page Senate report and a parade of ominous government statements suggesting nefarious foreign actors are to blame for any and all election results. Topping off this conspiracy souffle are the usual anonymously-sourced news articles reminding Americans to blame Putin if they don’t get their way in November.
Graphika is the same organization that is watching anyone criticizing Guo Wengui, calling them ‘Chinese Bots,’ basically, and having them removed by Twitter and YouTube!