Western governments have repeatedly accused Russian media of spreading ‘fake news’ about the new coronavirus in recent months, providing scant evidence apart from vague talk about “Russian-state linked” trolls on social media. Moscow has dismissed the claims as “unfounded allegations” resulting from an “anti-Russian obsession.”

Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) domestic intelligence agency is monitoring Russian German-language media’s stories on the coronavirus pandemic, Bild has reported, citing a government response to a query on the issue by Bundestag MP Thomas Hacker.

In its response to the Free Democratic Party lawmaker, Germany’s Interior Ministry confirmed that the BfV is “collecting and evaluating information about the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic is being exploited by foreign states,” adding that “in order to establish such activity, Russian state owned media” have also been made subject to the checks.

The ministry added that Germany’s federal criminal police and the Federal Intelligence Service (Germany’s foreign intelligence service) would also get involved to “investigate the foreign activities mentioned” if necessary.

According to Bild, the response to Hacker makes clear that both RT Deutsch and Sputnik Deutschland are being monitored by Germany’s security services looking out for “propaganda, disinformation and attempts to exploit the coronavirus crisis.”

Speaking to Bild, Hacker praised the security services’ work, saying it was “good that the BfV has an eye on” Russian German-language broadcaster RT Deutsch, which he accused of serving as “an actor in Russia’s disinformation campaign in Germany and Europe.” At the same time, he praised the work of German state-owned broadcaster Deutsche Welle, and suggested that its foreign language content should be made available inside Germany as well, including for Russian-speaking Germans.

Bild's report on the BfV’s activities are just the latest instance of Western military and intelligence services’ efforts to monitor Russian media coverage of the coronavirus pandemic for alleged "misinformation."

Pentagon, EU Also Monitoring Russian Media

In February, Newsweek reported that the Pentagon was keeping tabs on Sputnik, RT and Zvezda, sorting popular stories, tweets, hashtags and key phrases on the coronavirus. In March, the European Union’s External Action Service accused “pro-Kremlin sources” of engaging in a “significant disinformation campaign” aimed at sowing panic among Europeans over their governments’ COVID-19 response. In a report on that campaign, the Financial Times reported that the EU had racked up nearly 80 cases of Russian “disinformation efforts,” without providing any concrete examples.

Commenting on the EU’s campaign, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it seemed to be based on unfounded allegations, and “probably the result of an anti-Russian obsession.” For her part, Sputnik and RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan suggested that the Pentagon would do better to use its resources to fight the pandemic, instead of wasting them “sitting in front of screens” monitoring Russian media.