Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "White Helmets (Syrian civil war)" in English language version.
{{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)Globally, false flag theories can have extremely sinister political uses. One particularly chilling international conspiracy theory claimed that chemical attacks by the Syrian government against civilians were either staged or perpetrated by the White Helmets, a civilian aid group.
For the past few months, however, the White Helmets have been the target of a smear campaign on social media, mainly led by supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Today, Canada is also announcing a $4.5-million contribution to Mayday Rescue to support the White Helmets' life-saving work in Syria. This contribution, funded through the Peace and Stabilization Operations Program
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs began a propaganda campaign, largely relying on its agents and followers on Twitter to distribute falsehoods about the event. These included the claim that the chemical attacks were staged by the White Helmets using actors, as part of a Western conspiracy that was meant to provide cover both for the US airstrike on April 7 on the Shayrat air base and for a plot to bring down Assad by creating a pretext for military intervention.
we provide, through USAID, about $23 million in assistance to them
The Syrian volunteer rescue workers known as the White Helmets have become the target of an extraordinary disinformation campaign that positions them as an al-Qaida-linked terrorist organisation.
While the White Helmets might seem like the poster children for feel-bad humanitarianism, they've in fact become the target of a [sic] internet smear campaign, one designed to bolster the regime of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and undermine its opponents, including the United States. Various White Helmet 'truthers'—who range from Assad and his supporters to Russian embassies, and even to Alex Jones—accuse the group of staging rescue photos, belonging to al Qaeda, and being pawns of liberal bogeyman George Soros. The story of how that conspiracy grew is a perfect distillation of how disinformation can spread unchecked, supplanting fact with frenzy where no support exists.