US-Russia Accuse Each Other Of Disinformation Of COVID-19 Vaccine News

Illustration (Pixabay)

JAKARTA - Russia and the United States (US) show unfair competition in the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine. The two countries have carried out disinformation campaigns and content censorship on social media from the vaccines being developed.

Launching Reuters, Russia recently deliberately slowed down Twitter internet access in the country. This is because the microblogging platform does not remove disinformation content on the Russian mass lines.

Moreover, Twitter also implements a label system on accounts related to the state, such as news offices. Some media in Russia have now labeled "state-affiliated media".

Russian President Vladimir Putin last December signed a bill to limit the power of social media from US origin.

"(Social media platforms) in principle do not have unified standards for managing themselves. This is a semantic and technological deadlock", Russian Foreign Minister Maria Zakharova said on her Facebook account.

"Digital content is arbitrarily censored by certain moderators, without a court decision or a relevant and competent authority", said Zakharova.

Zakharova accused Washington of using technology to compete unfairly. The aim is to bias the scientific development of the Russian-made Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine to countries that have signed up to receive it.

The Russian claim came after a similar statement was made by US officials and confirmed by US State Department spokesman Ned Price earlier this week. According to the US, Moscow is behind a similar campaign targeting a US-made vaccine.

"It's very clear Russia is using its old tricks. That (vaccine disinformation) has the potential to put people at risk. Even though we know it (vaccines) can save lives every day", Price said.

The accusations thrown at each other by the two world powers occurred when the issue of "vaccine diplomacy" was being discussed. Namely efforts to capitalize on the huge need for inoculation, to protect humans from the global pandemic during this one year.

Russia claims to be the first country to win the pandemic after launching its production vaccine in August last year. That move was followed by China, which also announced its own vaccine, widely distributed to most of Asia.

On the other hand, US President Joe Biden is facing renewed pressure to distribute more US-made vaccines globally. In the midst of competition, Russia and China have already distributed vaccines globally.

"China and Russia are advancing their vaccine diplomacy and winning a coalition to expand their sphere of influence", J Stephen Morrison, director of the Center for Global Health Policy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told The Washington Post.