The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Vaccines: on social networks, Sputnik V conquering the West

2021-04-08T19:04:42.567Z


DECRYPTION - Many Internet users are surprised to be the target of advertisements for the Russian vaccine. Still under study in Europe, the war for Sputnik V is also being played out digitally.


Want to win a summer trip to Russia, along with a dose of vaccine?

This is the prize for the

"V is for Victory" competition

... And especially for Sputnik V. A site dedicated to the Russian vaccine offers English-speaking Internet users to post a photo of them on social networks to promote Sputnik V A game-contest almost like any other, which is part of a vast communication campaign for the Russian vaccine in the digital world of the West.

Read also: Covid-19: can we do without the Sputnik V vaccine?

Instagram, Twitter, Facebook: Sputnik V borrows the codes of general public communication with a lot of smileys.

Until International Women's Day:

“Did you know that 17 of the 31 members who developed Sputnik V are women?”

Is it written on the @SputnikVaccine Facebook page for March 8.

The campaign, in English, seeks to win over an international audience.

However, the vaccine is still under study by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and its deployment continues to be debated in Europe.

"It is precisely because it is not authorized that Russia invests so much in this communication campaign, which aims less to convince foreign political and health authorities than public opinion at large.

», Analyzes Maxime Audinet, researcher at the Russia center of the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI) and specialist in Russian soft power

.

"The creation of a large ecosystem of accounts on social networks dedicated to Sputnik is as much a part of a large-scale advertising campaign as of what is called" digital diplomacy "to better influence foreign audiences

,

"

he continues. .

A competition game offers to win a trip to Russia.

Screenshot of instagram account @Sputnikvaccine

The abundance of posts is paying off, with 134,000 subscribers on the social network and more than 10,000 on Instagram.

The eponymous tweeted account is approaching 280,000 fans against just 20,000 three months ago.

Because the profile is now decorated with a small blue badge, which guarantees users "

the authenticity of a public interest account

", and offers sponsored content.

Many French Internet users are indeed surprised to be the target of advertisements in the glory of the Russian vaccine, which is still not authorized by the European Medicines Agency.

Medicines that are advertised must, however, according to the Public Health Code, appear on a list established by order of the Ministry of Health.

In its advertising policy for Covid-19, Twitter explains that it allows

“customers and partners to publish content containing an implicit or explicit reference to Covid-19”

, subject to compliance with a certain number of conditions:

“the mention vaccines, treatments and test kits is allowed, only in the form of information. "

"

The vaccine is not a competition

"

So what is the nature of this

sponsored

information

”?

Most of the time, they tell the “

success story

” of a vaccine

“for all mankind”

.

The accounts relay the list of countries that allow it, share articles favorable to Sputnik V and highlight polls on the general public's confidence in the Russian vaccine, compared to products from Pfizer or Moderna.

But beware: @Sputnik V assures us, the fight against the vaccine is a collective enterprise where competition has no place.

"91.6% efficiency for Sputnik> 91.3% for Pfizer"

, we read in a tweet.

Before specifying

"But this is not a competition and Sputnik V has constantly called for cooperation between the various vaccine producers"

.

Read also: Sputnik V tends relations between Moscow and the EU

“We can defeat the pandemic together and only by leaving politics aside!”

Assures another tweet.

"The recent attempts to depoliticize the vaccine and to insist more specifically on its safety come from an awareness in Moscow that it is precisely this political charge of Sputnik V that arouses the most mistrust in Western countries"

, notes Maxime Audinet.

Particularly in the face of comments by Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, who at the end of March described the Sputnik V vaccine as

“a propaganda weapon.”

A more offensive tone

Between the competitions and the photos of vaccinated people all smiles, the tone of the various sites is quite offensive, not hesitating to attack the “

Big Pharma lobbies

” and the “

anti-Russian bureaucrats.

"

" What will prevail in Slovakia?

The Prime Minister's call to save lives and offer people the possibility of their vaccine?

Or the pharmaceutical lobbies hidden by the bureaucracy, and the delays? ”States

a tweet, relaying the appeal of the Slovak Prime Minister, Eduard Heger, not to wait for the European authorization to vaccinate in Sputnik V.

Read also: Covid-19: Sputnik V, a very political Russian vaccine

It is difficult to know exactly who is funding this intense communication campaign, but the various sites refer to the email address of RDIF, the sovereign fund of the Russian state which financed the vaccine. Kirill Dmitriev, the president of the fund, intervenes on numerous occasions on the various social networks. The Wall Street Journal affirms that the Russian intelligence agencies would work to discredit the vaccines Pfizer and Moderna, when Politico evokes a "

vast campaign of disinformation

" to "

sow the division

". According to the American media outlet, the accounts of the embassies of the countries which have signed agreements with Sputnik V have seen their number of subscribers explode in record time, according to studies by the German Marshall Fund of the United States, a think tank in Washington. A digital anomaly for accounts normally unpopular, which "

push positive propaganda on Sputnik V

", according to Politico. This article is

"another example of an organized and unethical campaign against Sputnik V"

retorts, on Twitter, the Russian vaccine account.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2021-04-08

You may like

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-27T16:45:54.081Z
News/Politics 2024-03-28T06:04:53.137Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.