Eva Bartlett
Eva Karene Bartlett is a Canadian activist and blogger who is known for promoting conspiracy theories about Syria.[1][2] She writes op-eds for the television network RT.[3][4] Bartlett describes herself as an "independent writer and rights activist."[5] Critics contend that her advocacy amounts to support for the Assad regime, and she has promoted the falsehood that the White Helmets stage rescues and "recycle" children in its videos.[1][5][6][7]
Early life
Bartlett was born in the U.S. and grew up in Canada. She taught English in South Korea after finishing university.[8]
Career
In her early blogging career, Bartlett concentrated on Gaza.[9][5]
Syrian civil war
Bartlett gained controversy over a video in which she alleges that rescues by the White Helmets are hoaxes and that they "recycle" the same children in footage of staged rescues.[10][11][12][13] Bartlett's claims were found to be false by Channel 4 News and Snopes.[1][5][6][7] Bartlett's claims were amplified by Russian-controlled outlets such as RT, Sputnik News and In The Now.[10][14] Bartlett has characterized the White Helmets as being part of a Western propaganda campaign.[14] Bartlett has said that none of the civilians that she has met in Aleppo knew of the White Helmets.[14] A 2017 report by The Syria Campaign claimed that YouTube had removed several videos of Bartlett because the videos were on “accounts linked to Russian disinformation”.[11]
An RT video where Bartlett said that the 2014 election results showed that Syrians "overwhelmingly support" Bashar al-Assad was widely viewed.[14] BuzzFeed News noted that the 2014 elections were widely regarded as a "sham".[14][12]
Bartlett falsely claimed that the al-Quds Hospital bombing in April 2016, where 55 died, never occurred, saying it was rebel propaganda.[6][15]
Two 2017 reports, one by the Atlantic Council and another by The Syria Campaign NGO, on Russia's disinformation campaign in the Syrian Civil War claimed that Bartlett was part of a network seeking to discredit the White Helmets and lessen war crimes committed by the Assad regime.[3][10][11][16]
North Korea
Bartlett went on a government-sponsored trip to North Korea, and said that western media coverage of the DPRK is aimed to "garner support for yet another American-led slaughter of innocent people".[9][17]
References
- Solon, Olivia (18 December 2017). "How Syria's White Helmets became victims of an online propaganda machine". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
- Reilly, Emma (22 January 2017). "Controversial freelance journalist to deliver lectures on Syria in Hamilton". The Hamilton Spectator. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
- "Analysis | As the dust on an information war settles, the truth about the battle for Aleppo". Washington Post. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
- "Why small groups of Western tourists are flocking to Syria". Newsweek. 5 April 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
- "FactCheck: Eva Bartlett's claims about Syrian children". Channel 4 News. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
- "Syrian War Victims Are Being 'Recycled' and Al Quds Hospital Was Never Bombed?". Snopes.
- Robins-Early, Nick (10 January 2017). "5 Major Myths About Syria Debunked". Huffington Post. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
- "Gaza Under Siege – Eva Bartlett on Reality Asserts Itself (1/2)". The Real News Network. The Real News Network. 5 October 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
- "'Whitewashing War Crimes': How UK Academics Promote Pro-Assad Conspiracy Theories About Syria". HuffPost UK. 19 April 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
- "Atlantic Council - Breaking Aleppo – Breaking Aleppo". www.publications.atlanticcouncil.org. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
- "Killing The Truth". The Syria Diary. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
- "Den här Facebooksidan sponsras egentligen av den ryska staten". Metro (in Swedish). 30 January 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
- "Fausses images et propagande de la bataille d'Alep". Le Monde.fr (in French). Retrieved 9 August 2018.
- Daro, Ishmael N. (16 December 2016). "This Quirky New Viral Video Channel Is Funded By The Russian Government". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
- "The last doctor out of eastern Aleppo: "You can't just turn your back and walk away"". www.newstatesman.com. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
- Reuter, Christoph (21 December 2017). "Desinformation als Kriegswaffe: Russlands perfider Feldzug gegen die Wahrheit". Spiegel Online. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
- Loussikian, Kylar (5 September 2017). "Academic praises Kim Jong-Un's North Korea during visit". Queensland Times. Retrieved 18 December 2018.