Faktomats: Russian propaganda about Latvia is full of lies and disinformation

"Faktomats", the fact-checking project of the Latvian news portal TVNET, has turned this month to two Russian propaganda pieces about Latvia. The project analyses them to check whether what they claim is true.

The image of Latvia that propaganda builds

According to "Faktomats", Russian propaganda regularly portrays Latvia as a country weighed down by problems. In these materials Latvia is said to oppress its Russian-speaking residents, sink into Russophobia (hostility towards Russians), restrict human rights, or behave aggressively and insolently.

The project's assessment

In the project's view, such materials are usually packed with lies, fabrications and disinformation. It has therefore picked two recently published examples and looks at them more closely.

Both pieces were published this month, so they show which claims Russian propaganda is spreading about Latvia at present. The themes they touch on are the situation of Russian-speaking residents, attitudes towards Russians and human rights.

The aim of a fact-checking project is to compare publicly circulated claims with verifiable facts. This time it does that work on Russian propaganda materials about Latvia.