Suspicious Facebook accounts spread Covid-19 disinfo in Armenian: DFRLabApril 6, 2020 - 16:55 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Suspicious accounts — some of them likely hacked or inauthentic — spread disinformation in several Armenian Facebook groups on March 30–31 2020, the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab said in a new study. The accounts allege that COVID-19 has spread through an Armenian military unit stationed in Noyemberyan, a town in Armenia’s northeast Tavush Province bordering Azerbaijan. "Armenia has not been immune from the infodemic that has gripped much of the world as the coronavirus pandemic spreads. On March 20, the country’s National Security Service announced that it had discovered that “hackers, some of them from the Republic of Azerbaijan,” had gained access to the social media accounts of Armenian Facebook users and spread disinformation about the coronavirus in Armenia from their accounts,"DFRLab said. As of March 30, the Armenian Ministry of Defense spokesperson reported six confirmed cases of COVID-19 among servicemen. There have been no official reports of widespread infection among units in the Noyemberyan region. The research organization cited open-source evidence linking several instances of disinformation spread in Armenia to people in Azerbaijan. Armenia, a country of just under three million, struggles with the most confirmed cases of Covid-19 (833 infections as of April 6) in the South Caucasus, as Armenia-Azerbaijan tensions reach a flashpoint after a recent military incident, and as voters headed to the polls in Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh), the heart of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. Top stories Yerevan will host the 2024 edition of the World Congress On Information Technology (WCIT). Rustam Badasyan said due to the lack of such regulation, the state budget is deprived of VAT revenues. Krisp’s smart noise suppression tech silences ambient sounds and isolates your voice for calls. Gurgen Khachatryan claimed that the "illegalities have been taking place in 2020." Partner news Most popular in the section | Russia clarifying reports on Baku’s alleged arms supply to Ukraine Russia says is carefully working to verify reports about alleged arms supplies from Azerbaijan to Ukraine Russia warns Armenia against “falling into West’s trap” Zakharova maintained, however, that anything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed. CSTO: Armenia has not participated in secretariat’s work recently Recently Armenia has not participated in the work of the secretariat of the CSTO, Imangali Tasmagambetov said. Meeting with U.S., EU not against third parties, says Armenia The meeting scheduled for April 5 is dedicated to strengthening of the Armenia-EU-US cooperation, Yerevan added. |