Integrity Initiative
The Integrity Initiative (II) is a propaganda effort funded by the UK foreign office [1] through the Institute for Statecraft. Craig Murray blogged that "The Integrity Initiative offers us a glimpse into the very dirty world of surveillance and official disinformation. If we actually had a free media, it would be the biggest story of the day."[2] Lucy Morgan Edwards summarised it in January 2019 as "an extremely shady covert disinformation and anti-democratic deep state outfit".[3] On 22 January 2019 it claimed that some of the data leaked had been falsified (but did not specify which), briefly locked its Twitter feed and deleted the entire content of its website.[4]
Contents
Official narrative
In response to an urgent parliamentary question from Emily Thornberry, Alan Duncan stated that "the Institute for Statecraft is an independent UK-based charity whose work seeks to improve governance and enhance national security. It runs a project called the integrity initiative, which is working to counter disinformation overseas by bringing together groups of experts to analyse and discuss the problem posed by Russian disinformation."[5]
History
The Integrity Initiative was set up in Autumn 2015 by the Institute for Statecraft and the Free University of Brussels.[6]
Purposes
- Full article: Integrity Initiative/Purposes
- Full article: Integrity Initiative/Purposes
Funding
The funding for 2018-9 is listed in one of the leaked documents[Which?] as follows:
- Funding from HQ NATO Public Diplomacy, £12,000 for each inaugural workshop = £168,000
- Funding from partner institutions £5,000 for each inaugural workshop = £70,000
- Funding from NATO HQ for educational video films – free provision of camera team
- Funding from Lithuanian MOD to provide free all costs for their stratcom team for a monthly trip to support a new hub/cluster creation and to educate cluster leaders and key people in Vilnius in infowar techniques = £20,000
- Funding from US State Dept, £250,000 for research and dissemination activities (excluding any activity in USA)
- Funding from Smith Richardson Foundation, £45,000 for cluster activities in Europe and USA
- Funding from Facebook, £100,000 for research and education activities
- Funding from German business community, £25,000 for research and dissemination in EU countries[7]
Publications
On 20 July 2018 Dan Kaszeta published an article entitled Demolishing the Kremlin’s absurd theories about Novichok and Porton Down which concluded that "The proximity argument is absurd. The simple fact is that a nation like the UK needs a place like Porton Down to do valuable work to protect not just the nation’s armed forces but also to protect all of us who live here. Alleging leaks and plots does not do any good for anyone. In the absence of any evidence, these stories and theories are absurd."[8]
On 21 December 2018 Dan Kaszeta "heartily recommend[ed]" The Skripal Files by Mark Urban and termed it "the best starting point available at the moment" on the Skripal Affair.[9]
Exposure
The II was dramatically exposed by a leak on 5 November 2018. Independent media sources have picked up the news about the Integrity Initiative, but UK corporate media has been very slow to do so.
The Leak
- Full article: Integrity Initiative/Leak
- Full article: Integrity Initiative/Leak
In late 2018 and early 2019, Anonymous published 6 tranches of documents at CyberGuerilla which gave names of people who worked for the group and some details of its work.[10][6]
Parliamentary question
On 4 December 2018 Labour MP Chris Williamson tabled a parliamentary question, asking whether Integrity Initiative - a "so-called think-tank dealing in disinformation" - had received UK government funding. The response was affirmative and he called for an parliamentary inquiry.[11]
Independent media
Independent media sources have reported on the Integrity Initiative, and Craig Murray has personally investigated.[12]
Cover up
Commercially-controlled media in the UK has not reported much about the Integrity Initiative. Exceptions include The Mirror, which published an article on 9 December entitled Labour attack government-funded body for sharing articles critical of Jeremy Corbyn.[13] Also, on the same day the Daily Record wrote that "On the surface, the cryptically named Institute for Statecraft is a small charity operating from an old Victorian mill in Fife. But explosive leaked documents passed to the Sunday Mail reveal the organisation’s Integrity Initiative is funded with £2million of Foreign Office cash and run by military intelligence specialists."[14]
Corporate media
On 9 January 2019, James Ball wrote a piece in the Guardian which concluded that "If we are to tackle Russian-backed misinformation – and to restore trust in our institutions, we must – we can’t do it by trying to beat them at their own game... Working largely from the shadows, Russia has co-opted our information ecosystem. Confronting it will have to be done in the open."[15] A commentator in Off Guardian opined that the article "was so poorly written that they had to close the comment section after 138 comments. People do know a lot more than the Guardian thinks."[16]
Wikipedia
A Wikipedia page was created on 18 December 2018, and lasted until 24 December 2018 when Wikpiedia User Rwenland replaced it with a redirect to the Institute for Statecraft page.[17]
Removal of internet presence
On 22 January, the Integrity Initiative announced the "temporary" removal of all content from its website, and interrupted its Twitter feed, making it followers only for a period of time. It also claimed that "We are keen to trace both the source of the hack and the use to which our data - some genuine, some falsified - has been put." RT remarked "The website will be “relaunched shortly” and “analysis” of the hack and its “significance” will be published soon, the statement said. It doesn’t look as though many will be awaiting that analysis with bated breath, however."[4] On 23rd January the Integrity Initiative briefly locked their twitter account.[18] which was reversed
Documents by Integrity Initiative
Title | Document type | Publication date | Subject(s) | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|
Document:5 July Seminar; Potential guest list for discussion | spooky seminar invitation list | 26 February 2016 | Deep state Propaganda UK Integrity Initiative Spooky seminar | Seminar with a mix of media, academics and lots of spooks |
Document:ATA and YATA UK networks development | assessment Greg Rowett and networking | 26 December 2018 | Atlantic Treaty Association Greg Rowett Networking | Greg Rowett explaining how II has developed personal connections with Atlantic Treaty Association and Young Atlantic Treaty Association leaders from other nations, and been recognised and ratified as the UK chapter for both |
Document:An assessment of RT in the Middle East and North Africa: April 2018 | report | 26 December 2018 | An assessment of RT in the Middle East and North Africa: April 2018 | An assessment of RT in the Middle East and North Africa: April 2018 |
Document:Appendix A Ukraine Indicators and Warnings | Ukrainan view of Russian/separatist tactics and strategy | 26 February 2016 | Russia Ukraine Separatists | Ukrainian officers tells British colleagues their opinions |
Document:Bid for MoD Funding 2017-2018 | project proposal | 14 March 2017 | Propaganda Integrity Initiative II/C | "Creation of a Europe-wide network of groups who understand the danger of Russian active measures and who can pass the message on to their own decision-makers and public, often using material which we initiate" |
Document:Brief on Monitoring Moldovan 2019 Elections | Briefing | 26 December 2018 | Moldova Election Election monitoring Maia Sandu | "As a conclusion, it is absolutely important for foreign missions and observers to start monitoring the Moldovan elections already now, since elections are made long before the voting date!" |
Document:CND Gen list 2 | name list | 26 December 2018 | List of names and emails for CND Gen | list of names and email addresses of what seems to be intelligence workers/assets (CND is short for Christopher Nigel Donnelly) |
Document:CND Integrity Initiative visit to Oslo, 29-31 Aug 2016 | schedule | 26 December 2018 | Norway Aftenposten Institute for Defence Studies Northern Norway Barents Observer | Donnelly's travel itinerary to Oslo + meeting how to create cell in Norway |
Document:Chris Donnelly Recommendation for the Appointment or Extension of Tenure of an Honorary Colonel of a T/A Reserve Regional Unit | Recommendation for Extension of Tenure of an Honorary Colonel | 26 December 2018 | Chris Donnelly Specialist Group Military Intelligence | Recommendation for Extension of Tenure of an Honorary Colonel for Chris Donnelly working in Specialist Group Military Intelligence |
Document:Chris Donnelly Washington DC Schedule | schedule | 26 December 2018 | Wikipedia Washington DC | A schedule of c's meetings in Washington |
Document:CyberGuardian Cyber Security Education Programme for Children and Young People | brainwashing concept paper | 30 January 2016 | Hacking "Cyberwarfare" Brainwashing of children | II puts lots of thought into how the military can train British children for cyberwarfare. |
Document:DK15 2016 The Institute for Statecraft PC | Invoice | 26 December 2018 | Hungarian invoice to The Institute for Statecraft Integrity Initiative | |
Document:DK6 2016 PC The Institute for Statecraft | Invoice | 26 December 2018 | Hungarian invoice to The Institute for Statecraft Integrity Initiative | |
Document:Discernment: Why information statecraft matters | strategy document | 26 December 2018 | Censorship Brainwashing "Radicalisation" Information health | Musings on how to keep media dominance and control young minds |
Document:Discussion with Artur Gherman re the situation in Moldova, 28 01 2017 | Discussion | 26 December 2018 | Freemasonry Moldova Election | |
Document:Donnelly Workshop Sept 19 | workshop participants | 26 December 2018 | List of email addresses | |
Document:Euan Grant Contributions | Wikispooks Page | 8 May 2018 | Euan Grant Contributions | Euan Grant telling how he plans to offer completed packages of material to professional bodies, print and online press |
Document:Executive Summary Cyber Security Education Programme for Children and Young People | brainwashing concept paper executive summary | 26 February 2016 | Hacking "Cyberwarfare" Brainwashing of children | II sums up its thought on how the military can train British children for cyberwarfare |
Document:FCO Disinformation update: Salisbury and Syria | review | 26 December 2018 | Douma attack Skripal Affair "Russian Propaganda" | UK Foreign Office email, presumably to trusted pro-government journalists, with information as 'background for your own work'. Cliff notes on Douma, Skripal etc. |
Document:FCO US Integrity Initiative | sketching out a US II-network | 26 December 2018 | Request for US support | |
Document:Forward Thinking Report - The potential relevance of the Ukrainian National Reform Council to the Tunisian Transition | policy advice | 26 December 2018 | Ukraine "Arab Spring" Tunisia | making the Tunisian economy more like Ukraine's |
Document:Greek Cluster Meeting | cluster meeting | 25 June 2018 | The Greek cell ('cluster') conspires against the elected Syriza government. | |
Document:Greek Media and Information Literacy Week | media workshop | 28 November 2018 | The British covert propaganda outfit wants..."to familiarize readers/media users with basic principles and concepts so that they can judge and control...the online and printed content they read, share or create, so as to be able to distinguish news from misinformation, biased content, or propaganda". | |
Document:Gyori lorant acc invoice 00719-16-MFE | Prepayment request | 26 December 2018 | Meeting loots of spooks/propagandists in Washington | |
Document:II Report Greek Diplomatic Expulsions | press summary | 28 November 2018 | Summary of Greek comments after expulsion of Russian diplomats "with the constant advice of the American embassy". | |
Document:Independent journalism in hostile places or How to report Repressive Regimes and survive | review of proposal of joint event with private (?) company | 26 December 2018 | A spooky company called Foreign Desk Ltd suggest a joint event with the Integrity Initiative. The proposal has comments from II's Victor Madeira | |
Document:Institute for Statecraft & Center for Naval Analyses Joint Workshop | workshop summary | 22 June 2018 | Sweden Estonia Norway Poland Psyop Navy Nuclear weapon US/Marine Corps Zapad Information Warfare | Information Warfare Study Day hosted by British Navy. Candid opinions (with a NATO-flavor) on lots of military issues. |
Document:Institute for Statecraft Event China | event plan | 26 December 2018 | China | |
Document:Institute for Statecraft Event Nigeria | event planning | 26 December 2018 | Nigeria 77th Brigade Donald Duke | A strict security round table discussion with Donald Duke, very likely to be a candidate in the next presidential elections in Nigeria |
Document:Institute for Statecraft Production timetable March-June 2016 | list of Armenians suspected of being Russian propagandists | 26 December 2018 | Free University of Brussels Ofcom Armenia List of opponents List of suspected Russian propagandists | |
Document:Integrity 2018 Moldova Cluster (1) | strategy document | 26 December 2018 | Corporate media Strategy Plans Integrity Initiative/Cluster/Moldova | |
Document:Integrity France | report | 25 June 2018 | Propaganda France Integrity Initiative II/C | a partial list of II-France members. For complete list, see Integrity Initiative/Cluster/France |
Document:Integrity Initiative Budget for the 12 months ending 31 March 2019 | Budget and activity plan | 2 November 2018 | Propaganda Integrity Initiative II/C Political warfare Information Operation | Budget outlining how Integrity Initiative is going to control the information space, and influence policy-makers, specialists and media. |
Document:Integrity Initiative Serbian Cluster | budget | 26 December 2018 | Integrity Initiative/Cluster/Serbia | budget and activities of an Integrity Initiative influence network in Serbia |
Document:Integrity Initiative Staff Payments | payment list | 26 December 2018 | Salaries of British intelligence workers | salaries etc. of II staff members |
Document:Invoice Eduard Abrahamyan | invoice | 26 December 2018 | Eduard Abrahamyan | Invoice from Eduard Abrahamyan for work performed |
Document:Invoice for 2 articles by Dan Kaszeta | invoice | 26 December 2018 | Integrity Initiative articles | Invoice for 2 articles written by Dan Kaszeta for Integrity Initiative “Poison gas” and "Nerve agents and treatment” |
Document:Maritime Battle Staff Information Warfare (IW) Study Day | seminar description | 22 June 2018 | Netherlands Psyop DETER/DECEIVE Information Warfare | Information Warfare Study Day hosted by British Navy |
Document:Meeting Note Moscow Stock Exchange Forum | seminar description | 12 June 2017 | Gold Oil Aluminium Russian economy Economic warfare Arkady Dvorkovich Alexander Afanasiev Pavel Grachev Oleg Mukhamedshin Grain | II, probably Victor Madeira or Perry Fawcett, attended a Russian business forum in London |
Document:Meetings in Greece Feb 2017 | cluster meeting | 10 February 2017 | Greek II collaborators discussing how to reorient Greek public opinion. | |
Document:Moldova- suggested priorities for consideration by clusters and UK staff in light of recent and ongoing developments | Strategy Document | 26 December 2018 | Moldova II/C Making and spreading of outputs | |
Document:Nationbuilder People | name list | 26 December 2018 | List of media people | list of Nationbuilder people, ie journalists mostly in large media corporations |
Document:Notes from colleagues in the Baltic States who are monitoring Russia carefully | Wikispooks Page | 18 March 2018 | Skripal Affair Russia/Propaganda | A document from the Integrity Initiative Leak which asserts that "A criminal investigation [into the Skripal affair] alone will not throw these essential clues up, and is unlikely to yield sufficient judicial evidence We need to be looking at, and explaining, this attack from a political and military-intelligence perspective. That means educating our audience to understand how Russia sees this world as being at war." |
Document:Outline Concept paper for IfS US programme v6 28 08 2017 (003) | request for US support | 26 December 2018 | Integrity Initiative/Cluster | |
Document:Pitch for a long-Form TV series about Russia in the 1990s | media strategy planning | 26 December 2018 | Russia Media strategy TV-series | Pitch for creating a long-Form TV series about Russia in the 1990s |
Document:Post Trip Report Stratcom event 11-13th June 2018 | report | 26 December 2018 | Participants telling of several meeting with fellow information warriors in Riga | Participants telling of several meeting with fellow information warriors in Riga, esp. British and Dutch. Ad bureau Saatchi working for US State Dept. |
Document:Private List for Chris. (Possible Funders in Swittzerland) | name list | 26 December 2018 | List of cutouts | This is a list of cutouts, seemingly 'independent' 'philanthropic' foundations financing intelligence work |
Document:Private discussion with Gen Sir Richard Barrons | report | 26 December 2018 | Former leader of British forces Richard Barrons telling of his worries for Britain and the British forces | Former leader of British forces Richard Barrons sketching out military needs. "The 1st offset in the 1950s was through nuclear weapons. The 2nd was precision munitions in the 1980s. The 3rd offset today is to use information technologies to build new capabilities".."The Army understands the importance of information warfare and 77 Brigade is right" ..So we should them [our allies], especially the US, to tell us what is expected of us." |
Document:Production schedule 05 04 2016 | output report | 4 May 2016 | A list of written output from II staff, mostly for internal study use. | |
Document:Production timetable March-April 2016 | output planning report | 25 February 2016 | A list of planned written output from II staff, similar to Document:Production schedule 05 04 2016 | |
... further results |
Quotes by Integrity Initiative
Page | Quote | Date | Source |
---|---|---|---|
Institute for Statecraft/Projection | “Postimees has published 14 articles after the Skirpal (sic.) attack. Most of them are referring to the facts announced by the UK government or security forces.” | Integrity Initiative/Leak | |
Institute for Statecraft/Projection | “It is essential to understand their ability to lie and to have no remorse for their murderous actions, be it an individual, such as Litvinenko and possibly Skripal, or be it hundreds of their own people or thousands of innocent victims in Ukraine or Syria.” | Integrity Initiative/Leak | |
Institute for Statecraft/Projection | ““Information war” (informatsionnaya voyna)There is a clear distinction between the Russian definition: an all-encompassing, and not limited to wartime and the Western one: limited, tactical information operations carried out during hostilities. Russian approach is much broader than simply sowing lies and denial, for instance maintaining that Russian troops and equipment are not where they plainly are. Russian state and non-state actors have exploited history, culture, language, nationalism and more to carry out cyber-enhanced disinformation campaigns with much wider objectives. Russian aims to extract, exfiltrate, manipulate, distort, or insert information, or just isolate a target from sources of information other than Russian ones.” | Integrity Initiative/Leak/5 | |
Institute for Statecraft/Purposes | “Core aim of Russian propaganda is to get people to say the BBC is the same as RT/Sputnik. Satisfaction with BBC public is low among ordinary Scottish people.” | Integrity Initiative/Leak/3 | |
Institute for Statecraft/Purposes | “In terms of power projection the growth in British naval aviation is very encouraging...
A phenomenon has taken place ever since the Communist flag came down from above the Kremlin. How we would achieve peace? We reduced our defense, and moved from threat based planning to a capability based planning - we lost the ability to say we need x, because of y. Now, when you go to the politicians and say I need 127 F22s, the most predictable response, why? The answer is of course: "because x". We need to return to a threat culture, where requirement is met by a capability.. Collectively we looked at those capabilities, and saw we could destroy ourselves by all spending all at the same time, but shifted into dabbling into a bit of everything - what we need to do now is have clearly defined roles... There areas for optimism, the increased [military] investment...” | Integrity Initiative/Leak#5 | |
Institute for Statecraft/Purposes | “We are at war, in a hybrid war, we cannot deter it - only fight it... We need to go away and seek to change the minds within uniformed services, and move away from a mentality of peacetime, to one of wartime.” | Integrity Initiative/Leak#5 | |
Institute for Statecraft/Purposes | “The UK would love it's (sic.) own ballistic capabilities, both in a sovereign sense & to enable better cooperation. The range rings represent threats themselves, even if the capabilities are not matched by intent, there is an lack of will by politicians to provide the necessary protection. Not enough political drive enough, there is significant public blindness, if the public were kept in a state of - this would be easier, however politicians would prefer to have a blithe sense of safety. This represents a start difference to Putin, who has been whipping up the fear.” | Integrity Initiative/Leak#5 | |
Institute for Statecraft/Purposes | “The Italian reactions to Skripal case highlight and confirm a pattern already present in a previous report: pro-Russian sentiments in Italy are mainly inflated not by trolls or fake news but thanks to a large network encompassing politicians, journalists, media, websites etc. already aligned with Russian narrative... To counter this Italian trend it's important to properly address the key political leaders, their new populist parties, and key editorialists, by an effective, discrete and articulated information campaign and narrative and not to be exclusively focused on trolls and fake news.” | 16 March 2018 | |
Institute for Statecraft/Purposes | “Connects media with academia with policy makers with practitioners in a country to impact on policy and society: (Jelena Milic silencing pro-kremlin voices on Serbian TV)” | ||
Institute for Statecraft/Purposes | “We engage only very discreetly with governments, based entirely on trusted personal contacts, specifically to ensure that they do not come to see our work as a problem, and to try to influence them gently, as befits an independent NGO operation like ours.” | Integrity Initiative/Leak | |
Institute for Statecraft/Purposes | “Publish striking images of SV Skripal in hospital and/or victims of similar exposures to nerve agents (something like the iconic 2006 photograph of Sasha Litvinenko on his deathbed). A high-impact visual story to help the public relate to the enormity of what has just happened in Salisbury.” | Integrity Initiative/Leak | |
Institute for Statecraft/Purposes | “It is vital to understand the reasons behind Putin’s warped reasoning – the fact that he is prepared to lie and to kill to protect his wealth and power – if we are to comprehend why the Kremlin has launched this information attack on the West. Only then can we begin to combat it. In Soviet times there was an ideological element, the battle of Capitalism versus Communism. That no longer plays a part. But Putin wants the West at least to respect Russia; better still to fear Russia. That is Putin’s mindset. If in Soviet times the leadership of the USSR relied on Western sympathisers with the Communist cause to help them in their mission, nowadays the Kremlin can call upon support in the West from three groups of people: naïve Russophiles who, despite all the evidence to the contrary, believe that Putin “can’t be all that bad, and anyway the Americans are just as bad”; those who are prepared to toe the Russian line in return for money; or those who are being blackmailed.” | May 2018 | Integrity Initiative/Leak |
Institute for Statecraft/Purposes | “Putin will be around for the foreseeable future - even if he went, what comes after Putin, wouldn't be much better. We believe we will have to face the Russian challenge for many years to come.” | Integrity Initiative/Leak | |
Institute for Statecraft/Purposes | “With missile threats and nuclear threats. The UK has forgotten the importance of conventional strength as a method of defence.” | Integrity Initiative/Leak | |
Integrity Initiative/Cluster | “What access do they have to the individuals or groups we might want to see represented in a cluster (e.g. journalists, politicians, civil servants, military, academics, business etc.)? What are their capabilities/competencies for: research & analysis; networking; mentoring, conference organising, dissemination (writing, translating, public speaking, publishing, broadcasting)?” | Integrity Initiative/Leak/1 | |
Integrity Initiative/Cluster | “The Integrity Initiative has the opportunity to develop the programme into North America, based on
the Institute’s subsidiary, the Institute for Statecraft and Governance, which has a simple office in DC and is in the course of registering as a US 501 c 3 not-for-profit organisation.” | Integrity Initiative/Leak/1 | |
Integrity Initiative/Cluster | “Experience in Phase 1 has shown that, once a cluster has been established, measurable impact can be expected within 3 months and the cluster is fully effective within 6 – 9 months.” | Integrity Initiative/Leak/1 | |
Troll | “The impact of troll accounts cannot be underestimated as they add an additional dimension to an organised disinformation campaign that is difficult to counter. It was noticeable during the research that, whilst UK media could hold its own against its Russian counterparts, there was no UK equivalent to the Russian trolls, who would able to counter their relentless bombardment of anti-establishment rhetoric.” | 18 April 2018 | Integrity Initiative/Leak/4 |
Troll | “Someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion. They hide behind their computer screens, and actively go out of their way to cause trouble on the internet. The internet troll is angry and disruptive in every possible way.” | 18 April 2018 | Integrity Initiative/Leak/4 |
Related Quotations
Page | Quote | Author | Date |
---|---|---|---|
Institute for Statecraft/Secrecy | “Code of Conduct (Greg to commence with internet etiquette) Anonymity of the team remains paramount. As our activity increases we will, no doubt, attract unwanted attention.” | 30 May 2018 | |
Institute for Statecraft/Secrecy | “Be absolutely sure you have good references for people so we know we can trust them before we talk to them about our programme” | 30 May 2018 | |
Institute for Statecraft/Secrecy | “Beware the friendly host who wants to book travel or accommodation on your behalf. Absolutely get their tips on where to stay but avoid getting into tricky scenarios and ensure you follow company guidelines and book everything yourself. If in doubt, ask advice from another team member.” | 30 May 2018 | |
Institute for Statecraft/Secrecy | “* Chris Donnelly makes initial country introduction with nominated trusted 'cordinator' & relevant II team member/s (normally 2 members minimum per country)
| 30 May 2018 | |
Institute for Statecraft/Secrecy | “Beware the friendly host who wants to book travel or accommodation on your behalf. Absolutely get their tips on where to stay but avoid getting into tricky scenarios and ensure you follow company guidelines and book everything yourself. If in doubt, ask advice from another team member.” | 30 May 2018 | |
Integrity Initiative/Cluster | “An effective network is best achieved by forming in each European country a cluster of well-informed people from the political, military, academic, journalistic and think-tank spheres, who will track and analyse examples of disinformation in their country and inform decision-makers and other interested parties about what is happening.” | 30 May 2018 | |
Integrity Initiative/Cluster | “Be absolutely sure you have good references for people so we know we can trust them before we talk to them about our programme ...
| 30 May 2018 | |
Dan Kaszeta | “I will continue to work for @InitIntegrity as needed. If that makes you angry, that's your problem and not mine.” | Dan Kaszeta | 5 February 2019 |
Craig Murray | “We have a programme, the Integrity Initiative, whose entire purpose is to pump out covert disinformation against Russia, through social media and news stories secretly paid for by the British government. And we have the Skripals’ MI6 handler, the BBC, Porton Down, the FCO, the MOD and the US Embassy, working together in a group under the auspices of the Integrity Initiative. The Skripal Case happened to occur shortly after a massive increase in the Integrity Initiative’s budget and activity, which itself was a small part of a British Government decision to ramp up a major information war against Russia. I find that very interesting indeed.” | Craig Murray | 21 December 2018 |
Ben Nimmo | “Ben Nimmo works for the Atlantic Council, funded inter alia by NATO. He is also on a retainer of £2,500 per month from the Integrity Initiative, in addition to payments for individual pieces of work. For his attack on Scottish Nationalists Nimmo was therefore paid by the Atlantic Council (your taxes through NATO), by the Integrity Initiative (your taxes) and by the Herald (thankfully shortly going bankrupt)... Nimmo’s role as witchfinder-general for Russian Bots appears very remunerative. His August 2016 invoice to The Institute for Statecraft, apparently the 71st invoice he had issued to various neo-con bodies that year, was for £5,000.” | Craig Murray Ben Nimmo | 22 December 2018 |
Known members
30 of the 36 of the members already have pages here:
Member | Description |
---|---|
Lukas Andriukaitis | Integrity Initiative forensic researcher |
Anne Bader | Senior Associate Fellow of the Institute for Statecraft |
Quique Badia-Masoni | Spanish journalist member of the Integrity Initiative and the Institute for Statecraft. |
Anna Bosch | |
Simon Bracey-Lane | A "highly improbable left wing firebrand" who worked for the Institute for Statecraft and whom they denied was a spook. |
Ben Bradshaw | UK politician and a member of the Integrity Initiative |
Stephen Dalziel | Spokesman for the Institute for Statecraft and "Research and Staff Coordinator" of the Integrity Initiative with "Forty years of dealing with Russia"... “Definitely not secret service, I promise you.” Russo-British Chamber of Commerce director |
Chris Donnelly | A UK Deep politician who set up the Institute for Statecraft (amongst other groups). |
Alexander Finnen | Spooky UK deep state operative, Chris Donnelly's "right hand man" |
Maria de Goeij | Integrity Initiative/Institute for Statecraft polyglot |
Nigel Gould-Davies | Chatham House, Integrity Initiative |
Euan Grant | Spooky journalist/propagandist who worked for the Integrity Initiative interested in financial fraud. "His main forte is thinking strategically and has experience working in many countries around the world." |
Chris Hernon | Integrity Initiative |
Dan Kaszeta | Spooky US/UK propagandist with a focus on biological weapons, uninvited from a UK MoD conference after his social media posts were deemed to be ill advised. Member of the Integrity Initiative. |
Kseniya Kirillova | "Russian dissident journalist and expert on Russian propaganda and disinformation" who was a member of the Integrity Initiative. |
Francisco de Borja Lasheras | A member of the Integrity Initiative/Cluster/Spain and the European Council on Foreign Relations |
Todd Leventhal | A writer at America.gov Member of the Institute for Statecraft |
Victor Madeira | A UK academic who has focused on Russian espionage. A member of the IfS and the II. |
Jelena Milić | Serbian member of the Integrity Initiative and of DisinfoPortal, suspected deep state functionary |
Mira Milosevich | Polyglot fellow of the Integrity Initiative |
Alina Mosendz | Member of the Integrity Initiative and StopFake |
Johanna Möhring | A senior fellow of the Institute for Statecraft |
Esteban Gonzáles Pons | Spanish politician and member of the Integrity Initiative |
Andy Pryce | Head of 'Counter Disinformation and Media Development' at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in London |
Tim Reilly | |
Greg Rowett | "Information warfare specialist" at the Institute For Statecraft |
James Sherr | Member of the Institute for Statecraft, Chatham House, RUSI Director |
José Ignacio Torreblanca | Spanish journalist, member of the Integrity Initiative. Director of the European Council on Foreign Relations Office in Madrid |
James Wilson | Institute for Statecraft connected lawyer |
Andy Wood | UK Ambassador to Russia (1995-2000), Institute for Statecraft... |
Events Planned
Event | Start | End | Location(s) | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|
Cold War Then and Now? | 13 October 2018 09:30:00 | 13 October 2018 16:30:00 | London City of London School UK | A free conference that appears to have been part of a broader campaign by the Institute for Statecraft to promote Cold War 2.0. |
Reframing Russia | 1 June 2017 | 31 May 2020 | University of Manchester | An IfS/II discussed project about "The RT Challenge" which was publicly launched in 2019, not under the II/IfS name. |
Tackling Tools of Malign Influence | 1 November 2018 | 2 November 2018 | London Frontline Club | Integrity Initiative conference about "Russian Propaganda" |
Workshop on Identifying and Combating Disinformation in Big Data | 13 December 2018 08:00:00 | 13 December 2018 12:00:00 | US Seattle |
Sponsors
Event | Description |
---|---|
UK/FCO | The UK government department dealing with foreign policy. |
WhistleblowersUK | UK group chaired since November 2015 by the former Institute for Statecraft head of security, Tom Lloyd. |
Related Documents
Title | Type | Publication date | Author(s) | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|
Document:5 July Seminar; Potential guest list for discussion | spooky seminar invitation list | 26 February 2016 | Integrity Initiative | Seminar with a mix of media, academics and lots of spooks |
Document:Avisa Partners Presentation | company presentation | June 2016 | Avisa Partners | This is very revealing but more official presentation of the company's influence work. Compare with the dirty tricks in Document:Combatting Russian Disinformation |
Document:Beware the Cult of Cadwalladr | blog post | 22 January 2022 | Craig Murray | The present libel trial between Arron Banks and Carole Cadwalladr is therefore a struggle between two deeply unpleasant people. Cadwalladr’s lies, in my view, are political and still come within the realm of free speech. I support her right to say it, just as I support my right to denounce and expose her as an utterly unprincipled and fraudulent tool of the security services. |
Document:Bid for MoD Funding 2017-2018 | project proposal | 14 March 2017 | Integrity Initiative | "Creation of a Europe-wide network of groups who understand the danger of Russian active measures and who can pass the message on to their own decision-makers and public, often using material which we initiate" |
Document:Chris Donnelly Paris Brussels May 2016 v2 | report | 13 December 2018 | Chris Donnelly | Chris Donnelly talks to his French II connections. "They think our main target needs to be the parts of the political class and the security structures 'where the rot is'"... "As an independent NGO we can do things they can’t do and national governments can’t do" |
Document:Combatting Russian Disinformation | report | June 2016 | Avisa Partners | A truly astonishing II document, with a lot of dirty methods. It is written by an established covert French propaganda network, spreading more than a 1000 stories a month, offering to work for II. "our ability to publish articles across hundreds of credible media outlets means that any campaign we undertake will have far more sway than the content published only on state-sponsored outlets RT and Sputnik, and their local few allies." |
Document:How To Spot A Twitter Troll | Wikispooks Page | 2 July 2019 | Craig Murray | Exposure is the simple way to nullify the vast state propaganda programmes on social media |
Document:How to spot a Twitter troll | blog post | 2 July 2019 | Craig Murray | Exposure is the simple way to nullify the vast state propaganda programmes on social media |
Document:II Twitter performance January 2018 | success analysis | 14 March 2017 | Chris Donnelly | Our total number of Twitter followers was 328 as of 18th January. |
Document:Integrity France | report | 25 June 2018 | Integrity Initiative | a partial list of II-France members. For complete list, see Integrity Initiative/Cluster/France |
Document:Integrity Initiative Budget for the 12 months ending 31 March 2019 | Budget and activity plan | 2 November 2018 | Integrity Initiative | Budget outlining how Integrity Initiative is going to control the information space, and influence policy-makers, specialists and media. |
Document:Invoice to MoD for Ukrainian Visit | success analysis | 22 November 2017 | Chris Donnelly | Invoice from Institute of Statecraft to the Ministry of Defence for Ukrainian visit to London |
Document:Monthly Accounts | accounts | 22 November 2017 | Chris Donnelly | The Monthly Accounts for the Integrity Initiative, somewhat in the startup phase |
Document:Muellergate and the Discreet Lies of the Bourgeoisie | Blog post | 1 April 2019 | Craig Murray | The capacity of the mainstream media repeatedly to promote the myth that Russia caused Clinton’s defeat, while never mentioning what the information was that had been so damaging to Hillary, should be alarming to anybody under the illusion that we have a working “free media”. |
Document:Notes from David Leask meeting 27 March 2018 | strategy document | 27 March 2018 | Chris Donnelly | Integrity Initiative convinced Scottish 'fringe' nationalism is a Kremlin plot caused by RT and Sputnik; intends to influence to tie Scotland to NATO, England wants to keep media and political dominance |
Document:Novara Media and the Integrity Initiative | web page | Phil Bevin | A critical review of Novara Media and their unlikely connections to the Integrity Initiative | |
Document:Novichok, Navalny, Nordstream, Nonsense | blog post | 3 September 2020 | Craig Murray | The US and Saudi Arabia have every reason to instigate a split between Germany and Russia at this time. Navalny is certainly a victim of international politics. That he is a victim of Putin I tend to doubt. |
Document:Project Proposal Integrity Initiative 2017-18 | budget application and plan | 27 April 2017 | Chris Donnelly | Budget proposal for a secret influence network that will protect "the Western system of democratic values"..."against attack by those powers who would seek to overturn our system and all it stands for," no less. |
Document:Project Title INTEGRITY INITIATIVE Phase II | budget application and plan | 27 April 2017 | Chris Donnelly | Project application for phase II of Integrity Initiative |
Document:The Challenge of Brexit to the UK | strategy document | 2 January 2018 | Chris Donnelly | "So, if we consider what qualities and characteristics we need in those whom we select for leadership today, in a period of rapid and profound change, in all sorts of institutions – government departments, big companies, the NHS - the conclusion is that we need to look for people who have abilities that suit a wartime environment"... Leadership understands that in a period of tumultuous change you cannot control, you have to command..." |
Document:The Institute for Statecraft Expert Team v 3 | name list | 13 December 2018 | Chris Donnelly | biographies of core team members with lots of obscure but interesting former and present employers |
Document:The Integrity Initiative Guide to Countering Russian Disinformation | analysis | 2 November 2018 | Integrity Initiative | A guide to Russian disinformation, an ideological prep guide for dedicated II operatives |
Document:The Network of Networks | analysis | 30 May 18 JL | Chris Donnelly | A handbook for Integrity Initiative activities, including starting clusters |
Document:The Russian Party in France | report | June 2016 | Françoise Thom | Everyone in France not following the strict pro-American NATO-line is a "linchpin of the Russian networks" because "we are dealing with a strategy of pre-conquest." |
Document:Top 3 deliverables/achievements of phase 1 | Wikispooks Page | 2 November 2018 | An interesting document describing US parts of the network; NATO General Secretary Stoltenberg and other high level contacts;silencing pro-kremlin voices on Serbian TV; Spanish operation to fire Pedro Baños |
References
- ↑ https://sputniknews.com/analysis/201812131070655802-integrity-initiative-intelligence-disinformation/
- ↑ https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2018/12/british-security-service-infiltration-the-integrity-initiative-and-the-institute-for-statecraft/
- ↑ http://radio4all.net/index.php/program/101001
- ↑ a b https://www.rt.com/news/449451-integrity-initiative-deletes-content/
- ↑ https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2018-12-12a.285.0
- ↑ a b http://syriapropagandamedia.org/working-papers/briefing-note-on-the-integrity-initiative#first-tranche-released-5-november-2018
- ↑ http://syriapropagandamedia.org/working-papers/briefing-note-on-the-integrity-initiative
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20181216141442/https://www.integrityinitiative.net/articles/demolishing-kremlins-absurd-theories-about-novichok-and-porton-down
- ↑ http://anoniem.org?https://www.integrityinitiative.net/articles/review-skripal-files-mark-urban
- ↑ https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/01/07/inte-j07.html?Ref=Reddit_Intelligence
- ↑ https://sputniknews.com/europe/201812121070612795-integrity-initiative-williamson-inquiry/
- ↑ https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2018/12/british-security-service-infiltration-the-integrity-initiative-and-the-institute-for-statecraft/
- ↑ https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/labour-attack-government-funded-body-13709313
- ↑ https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/labour-attack-government-funded-body-13709313
- ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/09/free-societies-russia-misinformation-integrity-initiative
- ↑ https://off-guardian.org/2019/01/08/dads-armys-cover-blown/
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Integrity_Initiative&action=history
- ↑ https://www.rt.com/uk/449518-integrity-initiative-twitter-protected/
- ↑ https://www.rt.com/news/449451-integrity-initiative-deletes-content/ RT , 22 January 2019
Working Group on Syria Propaganda and Media is not affiliated with Wikispooks. Original page source here