Fake 'apocalypse' cover of The Economist circulates online
- Published on December 3, 2024 at 23:10
- 3 min read
- By Daniel Patrick GALGANO, AFP USA
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"APOCALYPSE: Allowing missile strikes deep into Russia is the start of World War III,' warns the iconic prophetic magazine The Economist," says a November 18, 2024 post on X.
The same claim has circulated elsewhere on X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Tumblr and Rumble -- including in Spanish, Russian and Arabic. NewsGuard reported the Telegram account @golosmordora, which is associated with Russia's intelligence services, and a pro-Kremlin disinformation network amplified the supposed cover (archived here).
The Ukrainian military has begun using American and British tactical missiles against targets in Russian territory as the conflict continues to escalate amid reports that Russia has started deploying North Korean troops to the front lines.
Moscow retaliated in November by hitting Ukraine with a mid-range ballistic missile and promised further tests as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appealed for updated air-defense systems to meet the new threat. Putin also signed a decree lowering his country's threshold for the use of nuclear weapons, a move Western leaders called "irresponsible."
Trump campaigned on swiftly ending the Ukraine war and has claimed he could easily negotiate a settlement between the two countries. However, some critics fear the president-elect will leverage US military aid to force Zelensky into agreeing to a deal that would permanently cede territory to Russia and exclude Ukraine from NATO.
Many of the first posts to share the supposed Economist cover link to a Russian-language Telegram channel that mimics the media organization's artistic and editorial style.
However, The Economist does list Telegram among its social media channels -- and its website does not show any November 2024 covers similar to the one posted online (archived here).
The list of articles in the top right corner does correspond to the cover of a March 2024 edition of The Economist with the title: "Inside Russia" (archived here). But on the fake cover there are multiple grammatical errors in the text and a non-existent article titled: "Biden left the White House" was added. The "Apocalypse" image also lacks a date range for the purported edition, which most copies of The Economist include.
AFP contacted The Economist's parent company for comment, but no response was forthcoming.
AFP has debunked other claims about the war in Ukraine here.
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