Nigel Farage and his Brexit Party MEPs once voted against tougher EU measures to combat “highly dangerous” Russian disinformation—and people are talking about it again.
As the war in Ukraine rages on, reminders of that 2019 European Parliament vote have been circulating on social media. The resolution, which called for stronger anti-propaganda efforts and more funding for public service media, passed comfortably.
But the Brexit Party opposed it.
Farage’s Party Rejected the Crackdown
Explaining their stance, the party said:
👉 “We will always vote against more power and spending by the EU.”
👉 “We won’t take lessons in democracy from parties trying to frustrate Brexit.”
👉 “Stories of Russian interference are baseless propaganda used to shut down debate.”
In other words, they dismissed concerns about Russian influence as fearmongering.
Russia’s Tightening Grip on Information
Fast forward to today, and Vladimir Putin has criminalised so-called ‘fake news’—meaning anything that contradicts the Kremlin’s version of events.
Independent media has been silenced. The BBC, Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, Deutsche Welle, and Meduza are all blocked in Russia.
Farage’s party argued in 2019 that tackling disinformation could restrict free speech. Now, Putin has done exactly that—but in a way that serves his own interests.
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