The Bavarian Office for the Protection of the Constitution published an analysis of a Russian disinformation campaign called “Doppelgänger”.
The intelligence agency states: “The large-scale campaign aims to sow doubt about liberal democratic values in Western societies by spreading deliberate misinformation and pro-Russian narratives. With regard to Germany, the foundations of the liberal democratic order are being specifically targeted.”
Recently, Lena Berger, a social media influencer has been spreading sensation on social media, especially on Twitter, as she criticizes various journalists and their views on a report from the Bavarian State Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
Independent activist Lena Berger has over 25.6K Followers on her official Twitter account, where she shares her views and opinions on politics and social issues.
In a long 11 threads, Lena Berger points out how fake websites, which look like reputable media outlets, are spreading Russian narratives, where she has listed websites such as Nachdenkseiten, Berliner Zeitung, Freitag.de, and Weltwoche.
Is Jakob Augstein, publisher of “der Freitag,” part of a Russian disinformation campaign? A thread in 11 parts.
By Lena Berger.
On 12.08.2024, the Bavarian Office for the Protection of the Constitution published an analysis of a Russian disinformation campaign named “Doppelgänger.”
The intelligence agency stated: “The large-scale campaign aims to sow doubt about liberal democratic values in Western societies by spreading deliberate misinformation and pro-Russian narratives. Regarding Germany, the foundations of the liberal democratic order are specifically targeted.”
Besides fake websites of well-known media outlets, the report lists “websites spreading news fitting the Russian narrative” that are “used by Doppelgänger.”
Among online portals of dubious journalistic reputation, such as Nachdenkseiten, Berliner Zeitung, and Weltwoche, the website Freitag.de appears.
Freitag.de is the online portal of “der Freitag,” a weekly newspaper published by Jakob Augstein since 2008. From 2013 to 2022, he also served as its editor-in-chief, with a short interruption in 2017. From 2017 to 2018, Jürgen Todenhöfer acted as publisher.
The weekly newspaper published by Augstein frequently features authors with pro-Russian positions. For example, @JohannesVarwick has written at least ten (!) articles since the full-scale invasion in 2022, characterized by Kremlin propaganda narratives and evident bias.
Varwick’s articles included titles such as:
– “The Ukraine War Must Be Frozen”
– “Ukraine War: German Soldiers to the Front?”
– “Ukraine Summit in Switzerland: This Won’t Work”
Jakob Augstein himself has a journalistic history marked by an overwhelming understanding of Russia’s repeated violations of the UN Charter.
In April 2014, he defended the illegal annexation of Crimea, writing: “Neither Russia nor NATO will deliberately start a military conflict, but the risk of an accidental campaign is growing. The West should withdraw from this conflict; Ukraine is not worth the risk.”
In the summer of 2022, Jakob Augstein was among the signatories of the open letter “Ceasefire Now,” alongside more or less well-known individuals such as Richard David Precht, Erich Vad, Johannes Varwick, Wolfgang Merkel, and Juli Zeh.
The letter was widely perceived by the German public as a one-sided stance in favor of Russia’s illegal war objectives in Ukraine.
Augstein’s opinion pieces often reveal a marked disdain for Ukraine and its culture. This was particularly evident in an interview he conducted with Ukrainian author Tanja Maljartschuk on 17.10.2022 at the Literaturhaus Berlin.
Regarding the event, @uebermedien noted: “The conversation with the author, or more precisely, his conduct, was a remarkable demonstration of performed lack of empathy, an exemplary presentation of how the Dunning-Kruger effect works: Augstein lacked the empathy to realize he was missing empathy.”
Further: “With the tact of a Land Rover, he bulldozed his way through the conversation with a chatty, aggressive form of patronizing journalism, making the exchange more of a communicative car crash than a discussion.”
Side note: The current issue of “der Freitag” features a very flattering, youthful-heroic image of Sahra Wagenknecht as a cowgirl of the “wild east.”
Final remarks: I am fully aware that some people in Berlin and elsewhere will feel offended because I dare to address Jakob Augstein. This thread has required a lot of courage from me. However, I gladly accept personal disadvantages at this point because:
When it comes to a brutal war of aggression with genocidal traits in the middle of Europe, every individual who still stands by the Russian aggressor—whether through action, tolerance, or inaction—should ask themselves, when looking in the mirror each morning (pun intended), how their conscience fares. This also applies to the loftiest feuilletonists and the residents of the upper echelons of German-language quality journalism, as well as those who consider themselves such.
Jakob Augstein would do well to provide answers to the public, especially regarding how publications under his editorial responsibility could, according to the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, become part of a large-scale Russian disinformation campaign aimed at destabilizing our liberal-democratic order.
Appendix: The document from the Bavarian Office for the Protection of the Constitution on Russia’s influence operation “Doppelgänger” can be accessed via this link.
Written by Lena Berger.
