Vanessa Beeley
Vanessa Beeley is a British activist and blogger.[1]
She is known for her pro-Bashar al-Assad advocacy, and for promoting conspiracy theories and falsehoods about the Syrian Civil War, in particular the White Helmets who she falsely claims are a terrorist organization.[2][3][4][5][6] She frequently appears on the Russian state propaganda networks RT and Sputnik.[7][3][1] She is an editor on the conspiracy website 21st Century Wire.[8] In 2017, Russia submitted a report to the United Nations Security Council that falsely linked the White Helmets to al-Qaeda; the report was based on a presentation given by Beeley earlier that year.[7] She has falsely claimed that the White Helmets engage in organ harvesting.[9]
In 2016, she met with Assad, describing it as her "proudest moment".[10][7] She has said that George Soros paid the United Nations to conclude that Assad used chemical weapons in the Syrian Civil War.[8] She has claimed that al-Qaeda was not behind the September 11 attacks, that the Charlie Hebdo shooting was staged, and that "Zionists rule France."[3] In private chats which were later leaked, she admitted that the Assad regime uses torture, but said in those chats that she would never publicly state so.[7]
She is the daughter of a former British diplomat.[10] She is a former consultant to a waste management company in the Middle East.[7]
References
- ^ a b Wilson, Tom; Starbird, Kate (2020-01-14). "Cross-platform disinformation campaigns: lessons learned and next steps". Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review. 1 (1). doi:10.37016/mr-2020-002.
- ^ "The online activists pushing Syria conspiracy theories". BBC News. 2018-04-19. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
- ^ a b c "'Conspiracy Theorist' Vanessa Beeley Faces Backlash As Universities Cancel Her 'Journalism' Talks". consent.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Assad Supporters Plan to Put the 'Media on Trial' for Doing Journalism in Syria". Snopes.com. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
- ^ "White Helmets 'staging fake attacks' in Syria? We sort fact from fiction". The France 24 Observers. Retrieved 2020-03-17.
- ^ "The 'crazy club': Inside the British propaganda trips that seek to legitimise Assad's barbarism". The National. Retrieved 2020-03-17.
- ^ a b c d e Giovanni, Janine di (2018-10-16). "Why Assad and Russia Target the White Helmets". The New York Review of Books. Retrieved 2020-03-17.
- ^ a b Berlatsky, Noah. "Dear Leftists: Going on Tucker Carlson Is Not Going to Stop Imperialism". Pacific Standard. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
- ^ "Mysterious death of White Helmets co-founder spotlights toxic propaganda". PBS NewsHour. 2019-12-24. Retrieved 2020-03-17.
- ^ a b Solon, Olivia (2017-12-18). "How Syria's White Helmets became victims of an online propaganda machine". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-03-15.