Russia-linked accounts spread far-right propaganda online amid Ceuta crisis: Analysis finds

Accounts linked to the Russian military are reportedly promoting far-right messages in the days following the Ceuta migration crisis. According to an analysis shared by 411, a counter-disinformation group, ...s reached more than 500,000 people online. It is a known fact that Russia-linked social media accounts often spread destabilising narratives across Europe. They are often notorious for promoting right-wing ideologies, especially when it comes to immigration.

However, this time, the 411 experts suggested that the scale and coordination of the disinformation that followed the Ceuta crisis are significant. They noted that the groups spreading disinformation this time were more organised and powerful than they were several years ago. “We keep seeing this across Europe, and we find it very interesting. It seems like there is some type of machinery in place, or structure,” said Saman Nazari, the lead researcher at Alliance4Europe, a Brussels-based nonprofit.

“Quite regularly, we are seeing this escalation happening across Europe now, with these types of crises. It is too much of a coincidence to be a bandwagoning effect,” he added. The analysis noted that the influx started on August 1, the day after tens of thousands of people reportedly attempted to cross into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from Morocco overnight.

Around 72,000 migrants were estimated to have made their way into the small territory in North Africa, the vast majority of whom were swiftly returned. However, the Russia-linked accounts went on to frame these events along far-right lines, calling them a deliberately coordinated “assault”. They went on to suggest that the Spanish authorities were complicit in the whole ordeal, with several accounts using Islamophobic or antisemitic conspiracy theories to support this framing.

The widespread narrative

The analysis pointed out that all these narratives spread rapidly and were even reproduced in seven different languages. The 411 report suggested that such posts reached more than 720,000 views over the course of six hours on 1 August. The figures are based on the body’s examination of roughly 4.5m social media posts.

Other far-right accounts called for nationalists to gather in Ceuta and “patrol” businesses and homes, with some apparently coordinating their efforts. It is pertinent to note that multiple reports suggested that t social media played a significant role in the crisis in Ceuta, prompting people to make the crossing and stoking a response to it.

There were online rumours that led young Moroccans to believe that the border was open; others offered suggestions on how to reach the territory. The analysis pointed out that many of these accounts spread their narratives under the comment section of a viral Ceuta video. This coordination among migrants appeared to be organic, coming “overwhelmingly from small, anonymous-looking individual accounts rather than any single identifiable ‘recruiter’ channel”.

The 411 analysis noted that one origin of the propaganda barrage was Rybar, a Telegram channel with links to Russian intelligence. Rybar’s parent company has faced sanctions in Europe. A network of “repeater” accounts then went on to amplify and spread Rybar’s posts. These included accounts linked to the Pravda network, an operation spreading Kremlin propaganda worldwide.

“That machinery is the real thing to worry about, more than this particular crisis. The next time there’s a border incident anywhere on the Mediterranean, those same relay networks are already in place, ready to pick it up and run with it again,” the analysis said.