Sports Olympic Games 2024
“Not the first or last time” – IOC speaks about Russian disinformation
Status: 04:04 am | Reading time: 2 minutes
Microsoft analysts found that Russia had stepped up its disinformation efforts against the Paris Olympics
Source: dpa/Aurelien Morissard
A fake Netflix documentary about the Olympic Games was released in 2023 under the title “Olympics has Fallen”. Now IOC spokesman Adams explains that the increasing Russian disinformation campaigns are something the Olympic Committee will have to “live with”.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has expressed resignation in the face of disinformation campaigns just before the start of the Summer Games in Paris. “Obviously there is some kind of campaign,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams said at a press conference on Saturday. “It is not the first or the last time that the IOC will be the target of misinformation,” he added.
“I’m afraid this is one of those things we have to live with,” Adams said. “It’s part of the divided world we live in.”
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Expulsions from the city
The IOC spokesman was responding to a question about a fake documentary that was distributed in 2023 under the title “Olympics has Fallen.” It included a soundtrack created by artificial intelligence that imitated Hollywood star Tom Cruise.
The film, which falsely claims to be a Netflix documentary, was apparently intended to undermine global support for the Olympic Games.
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A few months ago, the IOC announced that its President Thomas Bach had received calls from a group in Russia posing as representatives of the African Union Commission.
Russia is not allowed to send a team to the Olympic Games
Meanwhile, the Threat Analysis Center of US technology giant Microsoft has found that Russia has stepped up its disinformation efforts against the Paris Games.
After the country’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia will not be allowed to send an official team to the Olympic Games in Paris. Instead, only a small handful of Russian athletes will be allowed to participate in the Olympic Games under a neutral flag.
