A new information attack on independent media Texty.org.ua: with the support of Elon Musk and Laura Loomer
Texty.org.ua is an independent data journalism agency that employs 12 people. We are a non-governmental organization unaffiliated with the state, often criticizes the Ukrainian government, and has not received direct funding from USAID.
The Texty.org.ua team announces a repeated attack of manipulation and slander on the social network X (Twitter). Like last summer, this attack has signs of coordinated actions that are part of a campaign against Ukraine.
On March 1, American activist Laura Loomer and Romanian blogger Iosephine Pascal spread false information about Texty.org.ua.
Laura Loomer, who is close to the Trumpist Republicans, published a reminder that "Ukraine is not our ally because they made hit lists of American citizens, including me. The post's author referred to our project, "Roller Coaster. From Trumpists to Communists. The forces in the U.S. impeding aid to Ukraine and how they do it ," published in June 2024, in which we explored how the arguments of those opposed to aid echo the narratives of Russian propaganda.
A few hours later, Iosephine Pascal, a supporter of the pro-Russian Romanian politician Kelin Georgescu, accused our team of interfering in Romania's internal affairs and, in particular, of calling for the cancellation of elections in her country. She cited four of our publications as evidence: two news stories about the presidential race in Romania and two analytical articles. She called Texty.org.ua, a Ukrainian state group that also received funding from USAID.
The Romanian blogger, almost simultaneously with her American colleague, also suddenly mentioned the alleged "hit lists" of American conservative figures.
Her post was shared 11 minutes after it was published by Mario Nawfal, an American user of X with two million followers who calls himself an investor in cryptocurrencies. This post, in turn, was shared by the owner of X, Elon Musk, a fan and super-sharer of Mario Nawfal's posts.
Thus, the defamatory post received several thousand reposts.
On the same day, an identical message about Texty.org.ua was spread by a well-known Russian propagandist Anatoly Sharii.
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Texty.org.ua is an independent media outlet that employs 12 people. We are a non-governmental organization unaffiliated with the state. We often criticize the Ukrainian government and have not received direct funding from USAID.
In one of the publications mentioned by the Romanian blogger, we analyzed the presidential race, and we did not mention Gorgescu. On the other, we talked about how Bohdan Gheorghiu gained votes through the TikTok campaign and how Russia could be involved. We did not call for the election results to be canceled.
Regarding the accusation of creating hit lists of Americans. Back during the previous wave of attacks on Texty.org.ua, immediately after the publication of this study, we said in a statement: "This data was collected and published only to demonstrate the evidence base for the theses presented in the article. The article is not an accusation but a study of the political and media context influencing the government's decision to continue supporting Ukraine in the Russian-Ukrainian war.
The editorial staff of Texty.org.ua in no way denies, condemns, or challenges the right of American citizens, media, and institutions to express opinions and hold political beliefs.
We value and respect freedom of speech, a necessary precondition for a democratic society.
In turn, we reserve the right to explore the topic directly related to the preservation of Ukrainian statehood, provide evidence, state facts, debunk false arguments, and compare them with those that Russian propaganda has been spreading around the world for ten years since the Russian-Ukrainian war began."
We have also long been committed to the principle of non-violence unless it is a defense against external aggression.
In response to the coordinated appearance of accusations of fictitious calls for violence, we emphasize that we are an independent editorial office. Researching Russian propaganda and disinformation in Ukraine and abroad is one of our activities. That is why we have probably become the target of another information attack, which is part of a large-scale campaign against Ukraine and the Ukrainian government.
The Texty.org.ua team has never called for violent actions or tried to interfere in political processes in other countries. Instead, it has focused on data analysis and research of information influence algorithms.
You can support our independent work here. In this chaotic world of disinformation we are not alone. We have you — our beloved readers.
Together — we are power.
