Syria’s White Helmets rescue teams under attack from Russian-aligned campaign
▶ Two-year online onslaught has tried to tarnish the 3,000-strong organisation by linking it to extremist groups
The Nobel Peace Prize-nominated White Helmets are known as a force of volunteer humanitarians who have worked to help civilian victims of the conflict in Syria.
Their work was documented in a Netflix film that won Best Documentary at this year’s Oscars.
But an online campaign that has been running for more than two years, which aligns with the aims of the Russians and the Syrian government, has sought to tarnish the White Helmets as an organisation linked to Al Qaeda.
The group, whose official name is Syria Civil Defence, was formally instituted in 2014 by volunteers in response to the bombing of heavily populated rebel-held urban areas by security forces loyal to president Bashar Al Assad.
The group’s website says it is funded by governments and humanitarian non-profit organisations. There is believed to be about 3,400 members strong and more than 150 White Helmets have given their lives in the line of duty.
An investigation by The Guardian said that a twopronged attack against the group has been in full swing since September 2015, when Russian forces joined the conflict in Syria, saying they would only attack areas held by ISIL.
Television footage and reports of White Helmets rescuing people from buildings in cities such as Aleppo challenged those claims.
That Russian line was supported by Kremlin-friendly media organisations such as Russia Today and Sputnik.
Supporting them have been online attacks by a loose coalition of activists and trolls, including anti-western bloggers and far-right conspiracy theorists railing.
Footage from the White Helmets of the chemical weapons attack in Khan Sheikhoun in April this year, which killed more than 80 people, was widely circulated. United Nations investigators blamed the attacks on the Syrian government.
The network of propagandists swiftly cast doubt on the veracity of the UN report, calling it “illogical” and saying that the attack had been “deliberately staged” by Syrian militants.
The Syrian government claimed an air attack had hit a chemical weapons depot belonging to rebel forces.
An American website, Infowars, claimed the White Helmets had carried out the attack.
A Google search for the White Helmets confirms the efficacity of the information war being waged against the group.
On the first page of results for videos, there are anti-SCD reports from Russia Today, alongside items with titles such as “White Helmets discovered beheading Syrian soldiers and taking part in executions” and “This ISIS video proves White Helmets work for ISIS”.
Among the bloggers discovered by The Guardian attacking the White Helmets was Vanessa Beeley, the daughter of a former British diplomat, who visited Damascus in 2016 and met Mr Assad, describing the encounter as her “proudest moment”.
“This is the heart of Russian propaganda,” David Patrikarakos, author of War in 140 Characters: How Social Media is Reshaping Conflict in the 21st Century, said. “In the old days they would try and portray the Soviet Union as a model society. Now it’s about confusing every issue with so many narratives that people can’t recognise the truth when they see it.”
Scott Lucas, professor of politics at the University of Birmingham, calls such campaigns “agitation propaganda” and said many of those spreading stories realise they are being used. “The most effective propaganda is when you find someone who believes it then give them support – you don’t create them from scratch.”