Eva Bartlett

{{short description|Canadian activist and blogger|bot=PearBOT 5}}

{{Infobox person

| image = Eva Bartlett in 2014.png

| caption = Bartlett in 2014

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1977|6|14|df=y}}

| birth_place = United States

| citizenship = {{flatlist|

United States
Canada

}}

| occupation = {{flatlist|

Activist
Commentator
Blogger

}}

| known_for = Promotion of conspiracy theories connected to the Syrian Civil War

}}

Eva Karene Bartlett (born 14 June 1977) is an American Canadian activist, commentator, and blogger who has propagated conspiracy theories in connection to the Syrian civil war,{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/18/syria-white-helmets-conspiracy-theories|title=How Syria's White Helmets became victims of an online propaganda machine|last=Solon|first=Olivia|date=18 December 2017|work=The Guardian|access-date=8 August 2018|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=1 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180101235803/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/18/syria-white-helmets-conspiracy-theories|url-status=live}}{{cite news |last1=Reilly |first1=Emma |title=Controversial freelance journalist to deliver lectures on Syria in Hamilton |url=https://www.thespec.com/news-story/7079673-controversial-freelance-journalist-to-deliver-lectures-on-syria-in-hamilton/ |accessdate=4 October 2019 |work=The Hamilton Spectator |date=22 January 2017 |archive-date=6 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191006041148/https://www.thespec.com/news-story/7079673-controversial-freelance-journalist-to-deliver-lectures-on-syria-in-hamilton/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web | last=Worrall | first=Patrick | title=FactCheck: Eva Bartlett's claims about Syrian children | website=Channel 4 News | date=20 December 2016 | url=https://www.channel4.com/news/factcheck/factcheck-eva-bartletts-claims-about-syrian-children | access-date=22 August 2022}} most notably the disproven allegation that the White Helmets stage rescues and "recycle" children in its videos.{{Cite web|url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/syrian-war-victims-are-being-recycled-and-al-quds-hospital-was-never-bombed/|title=Syrian War Victims Are Being 'Recycled' and Al Quds Hospital Was Never Bombed?|last=|first=|date=14 December 2016|website=Snopes|access-date=|archive-date=3 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211203013516/https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/syrian-war-victims-are-being-recycled-and-al-quds-hospital-was-never-bombed/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/syria-myths-debunked_us_585be4dce4b0d9a594574000|title=5 Major Myths About Syria Debunked|last=Robins-Early|first=Nick|date=10 January 2017|work=Huffington Post|access-date=8 August 2018|language=en-US|archive-date=7 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180807155708/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/syria-myths-debunked_us_585be4dce4b0d9a594574000|url-status=live}}

Bartlett describes herself as an "independent writer and rights activist".{{Cite news|url=https://www.channel4.com/news/factcheck/factcheck-eva-bartletts-claims-about-syrian-children|title=FactCheck: Eva Bartlett's claims about Syrian children|work=Channel 4 News|access-date=8 August 2018|language=en-GB|archive-date=23 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223003044/https://www.channel4.com/news/factcheck/factcheck-eva-bartletts-claims-about-syrian-children|url-status=live}} She writes commentary pieces for Russian state-controlled RT's website.{{refn|group=note|Bartlett's articles are published in the website's section styled Op-ed (previously Op-edge).{{cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/143ecf74-4e18-11e3-8fa5-00144feabdc0|last=Pomerantsev|first=Peter|title=The Kremlin's attempt at soft power is back-to-front|work=Financial Times|date=22 December 2013|access-date=29 July 2021|quote=... [RT's] Op-Edge segment. RT insists the ideas are those of the pundits rather than its own – but the message is consistently similar.|archive-date=29 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210729151048/https://www.ft.com/content/143ecf74-4e18-11e3-8fa5-00144feabdc0|url-status=live}}}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/02/14/as-the-dust-on-an-information-war-settles-the-truth-about-the-battle-for-aleppo/|title=Analysis {{!}} As the dust on an information war settles, the truth about the battle for Aleppo|newspaper=Washington Post|language=en|access-date=8 August 2018|archive-date=28 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328070113/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/02/14/as-the-dust-on-an-information-war-settles-the-truth-about-the-battle-for-aleppo/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newsweek.com/2018/04/13/assad-syria-fake-news-war-propaganda-russia-iran-united-states-white-helmets-874161.html|title=Why small groups of Western tourists are flocking to Syria|date=5 April 2018|work=Newsweek|access-date=8 August 2018|language=en|archive-date=8 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180808181056/https://www.newsweek.com/2018/04/13/assad-syria-fake-news-war-propaganda-russia-iran-united-states-white-helmets-874161.html|url-status=live}} Critics contend that her advocacy amounts to participation in a disinformation campaign aimed at lessening the responsibility of the Assad regime for the acts of indiscriminate killing during the war, and to promote pro-Kremlin content in relation to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Bartlett's posts on social media have been tagged with the disclaimer that her writings "may be partially or wholly under the editorial control of the Russian government".{{cite web | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/russian-propaganda-efforts-aided-kremlin-content-creators-research-fin-rcna32343 | title=Russian propaganda efforts aided by pro-Kremlin content creators, research finds | website=NBC News | date=8 June 2022 }}

Bartlett has lived in Russia since 2019. She has been making videos and posts on social media from Ukraine during the Russian invasion, sometimes with journalists from RT. She often appears as a guest on RT. She has been criticised for spreading Kremlin propaganda and misinformation.

Early life and education

Bartlett was born in the United States and grew up in Canada. She taught English in South Korea after finishing university.{{cite web |title=Gaza Under Siege – Eva Bartlett on Reality Asserts Itself (1/2) |url=https://therealnews.com/stories/ebartlett0221gazapt1 |website=The Real News Network |accessdate=13 January 2020 |date=5 October 2014 |archive-date=28 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191228045719/https://therealnews.com/stories/ebartlett0221gazapt1 |url-status=live }}

Career

From 2008, Bartlett was a pro-Palestinian campaigner with the International Solidarity Movement, making trips to Gaza, reporting and commenting on her blog, and going on speaking tours in North America.{{cite AV media |date=9 November 2020 |title= Intrigue Ep4: Mayday - Hoax Producers |medium=Podcast |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p08xs61y |access-date=17 July 2021 |time=15:11}}{{Cite web|first=Matthew|last=Weaver|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/blog/2009/jan/19/gaza-bloggers-israel-withdrawal|title='On the blogs: Gaza assesses the devastation|date=19 January 2009|work=The Guardian|access-date=12 July 2021|language=en-GB|archive-date=12 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210712212346/https://www.theguardian.com/news/blog/2009/jan/19/gaza-bloggers-israel-withdrawal|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/uk-academics-pro-assad-conspiracy-theories-about-syria_uk_5aa51ea7e4b01b9b0a3c4b10|title='Whitewashing War Crimes': How UK Academics Promote Pro-Assad Conspiracy Theories About Syria|date=19 April 2018|work=HuffPost UK|access-date=8 August 2018|language=en-GB|archive-date=25 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180625043523/https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/uk-academics-pro-assad-conspiracy-theories-about-syria_uk_5aa51ea7e4b01b9b0a3c4b10|url-status=live}} Since then, she has commented on the Syrian civil war, and has travelled to Syria six times prior to 2017.

= Syrian civil war viral disinformation video =

{{see also|Crisis actor#Conspiracy theories and defamation|l1="Crisis actor" as a conspiracy theory motif}}

In late 2016, Bartlett generated controversy over a video on a Russian-funded web channel that went viral, in which she said that Syrians "overwhelmingly support" Bashar al-Assad, as evidenced by the results of the 2014 election, an election widely denounced, e.g. by the European Union, as an illegitimate sham.{{cite web | last=Daro | first=Ishmael N. | title=This Quirky New Viral Video Channel Is Funded By The Russian Government | website=BuzzFeed | date=16 December 2016 | url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/ishmaeldaro/quirky-viral-video-channel-is-funded-by-the-russian-govt | access-date=27 January 2021 | archive-date=26 February 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226140538/https://www.buzzfeed.com/ishmaeldaro/quirky-viral-video-channel-is-funded-by-the-russian-govt | url-status=live }}{{Cite news|url=https://www.metro.se/artikel/den-h%C3%A4r-facebooksidan-sponsras-egentligen-av-den-ryska-staten |title=Den här Facebooksidan sponsras egentligen av den ryska staten |trans-title=This Facebook page is actually sponsored by the Russian state |date=30 January 2017|work=Metro|access-date=9 August 2018|language=sv|archive-date=9 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180809153539/https://www.metro.se/artikel/den-h%C3%A4r-facebooksidan-sponsras-egentligen-av-den-ryska-staten|url-status=live}}{{cite web | last=Kalam | first=Ahnaf | title=Exposing the Apologetics for Assad and Putin | website=Areo | date=16 December 2016 | url=https://areomagazine.com/2016/12/16/exposing-the-apologetics-for-assad-and-putin/ | access-date=4 April 2023}}

She has characterized the White Helmets as being part of a Western propaganda campaign,{{cite web | last=Norris | first=Sian | title=Disinformation and Deceit: How Russia Attacked Western Democracy – Byline Times | website=Byline Times | date=30 March 2022 | url=https://bylinetimes.com/2022/03/30/disinformation-and-deceit-how-russia-attacked-western-democracy/ | access-date=4 April 2023}} alleging that rescues by that organization are hoaxes whereby they "recycle" the same children in footage of staged rescues,{{Cite news|url=https://www.lemonde.fr/les-decodeurs/article/2016/12/15/fausses-images-et-propagande-de-la-bataille-d-alep_5049097_4355770.html|title=Fausses images et propagande de la bataille d'Alep|work=Le Monde.fr |trans-title=False images and propaganda of the battle of Aleppo |access-date=9 August 2018|language=fr-FR|archive-date=21 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180621143720/https://www.lemonde.fr/les-decodeurs/article/2016/12/15/fausses-images-et-propagande-de-la-bataille-d-alep_5049097_4355770.html|url-status=live}} and that "no one in eastern Aleppo has heard of [the White Helmets]". In the same video, Bartlett falsely claimed that the al-Quds Hospital bombing in April 2016, where 55 died, never occurred, saying it was rebel propaganda.{{Cite web|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/world/middle-east/2017/11/last-doctor-out-eastern-aleppo-you-can-t-just-turn-your-back-and-walk-away|title=The last doctor out of eastern Aleppo: "You can't just turn your back and walk away"|website=www.newstatesman.com|date=2 November 2017 |language=en|access-date=8 August 2018|archive-date=8 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180808204157/https://www.newstatesman.com/world/middle-east/2017/11/last-doctor-out-eastern-aleppo-you-can-t-just-turn-your-back-and-walk-away|url-status=live}} Bartlett's claims were amplified by Russian-controlled outlets such as RT, Sputnik News and In The Now. The claims were found to be false by Channel 4 News and Snopes. The broader "same girl" internet meme has been categorized as a derivation of the "crisis actor" conspiracy theories.{{Cite web|last=LaCapria|first=Kim|url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/cnn-same-refugee-girl/|title=Did CNN Use the Same Girl in Three Different Refugee Crisis Pictures?|website=www.snopes.com|language=en|date=26 December 2016|access-date=17 July 2021|archive-date=10 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220310172747/https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/cnn-same-refugee-girl/|url-status=live}} The video presented Bartlett as an independent journalist speaking to the United Nations when in fact the event was staged by the Syrian government.{{cite web | last1=Ahmad | first1=Idrees | last2=Campbell | first2=Iain | title=How Russia's Disinformation Apparatus Ran Aground in Ukraine – Byline Times | website=Byline Times | date=22 March 2022 | url=https://bylinetimes.com/2022/03/22/how-russias-disinformation-apparatus-ran-aground-in-ukraine/ | access-date=16 January 2023}}

In 2017, Bartlett was rebuked by The Syria Campaign, an advocacy group that campaigns on behalf of the White Helmets.{{cite web|url=https://www.whitehelmets.org/en|title=Support the White Helmets|website=The Syria Campaign|access-date=14 July 2021|archive-date=18 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210718015518/https://www.whitehelmets.org/en/|url-status=live}} Relying on research done by the social media intelligence company Graphika, it released a report alleging a Russian disinformation campaign in the Syrian Civil War, according to which Bartlett was part of a network seeking to discredit the White Helmets in order to minimise war crimes committed by the Assad regime.{{Cite web|url=https://diary.thesyriacampaign.org/killing-the-truth/|title=Killing The Truth|website=The Syria Diary|language=en|access-date=8 August 2018|archive-date=2 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180102191409/https://diary.thesyriacampaign.org/killing-the-truth/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/syrien-russlands-feldzug-gegen-die-wahrheit-a-1184533.html|title=Desinformation als Kriegswaffe: Russlands perfider Feldzug gegen die Wahrheit |trans-title=Disinformation as a weapon of war: Russia's perfidious campaign against the truth |last=Reuter|first=Christoph|date=21 December 2017|work=Spiegel Online|access-date=8 August 2018|archive-date=14 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180214092516/http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/syrien-russlands-feldzug-gegen-die-wahrheit-a-1184533.html|url-status=live}} According to the publication, YouTube had removed several videos of Bartlett because they were on "accounts linked to Russian disinformation". An equal characterization of Bartlett's activity has been made in a 2017 report on the situation in Aleppo, by the American think-tank Atlantic Council.{{Cite web|url=http://www.publications.atlanticcouncil.org/breakingaleppo/|title=Atlantic Council - Breaking Aleppo – Breaking Aleppo|website=www.publications.atlanticcouncil.org|language=en-US|access-date=8 August 2018|archive-date=8 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180808203112/http://www.publications.atlanticcouncil.org/breakingaleppo/|url-status=live}}

According to Janine di Giovanni in The New York Review of Books, Bartlett is a core member of a group of "Assad’s Western apologists", alongside Vanessa Beeley, Sharmine Narwani, and Max Blumenthal; their work is disseminated by a "spectrum of far-left, anti-West conspiracy theorists; anti-Semites; supporters of Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah; libertarians; and far-right groups".{{cite news|last=Di Giovanni|first=Janine|url=https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2018/10/16/why-assad-and-russia-target-the-white-helmets/|title=Why Assad and Russia Target the White Helmets|work=The New York Review of Books|date=16 October 2018|access-date=15 July 2021|archive-date=12 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191112051700/https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2018/10/16/why-assad-and-russia-target-the-white-helmets/|url-status=live}}

Research by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue in 2022 identified Bartlett as a member of a network of social media accounts, individuals, outlets and organisations who disseminated disinformation about the Syria conflict, noting that one video featuring her had been viewed 4.5 million times on Facebook.{{cite web | last=Townsend | first=Mark | title=Network of Syria conspiracy theorists identified – study | website=the Guardian | date=19 June 2022 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/19/russia-backed-network-of-syria-conspiracy-theorists-identified | access-date=16 January 2023}} Coda Story noted that by March 2022 the different versions of the video had been viewed 10 million times.{{cite web | last=Amine | first=Rayan El | title=Syria rolls out the red carpet for influencers and friendly foreigners, while local reporters face death and prison | website=Coda Story | date=4 November 2022 | url=https://www.codastory.com/disinformation/syrian-journalists/ | access-date=16 January 2023}}

= North Korea trip =

Bartlett went{{refn|group=note|An article in HuffPost said the trip was "regime-sponsored".}} to North Korea in 2017 alongside Tim Anderson, and said that western media coverage of the country is aimed to "detract from America’s past and current crimes against the Korean people, and to garner support for yet another American-led slaughter of innocent people".{{cite web | title=Academic praises Kim Jong-Un's North Korea during visit | website=Queensland Times | date=5 September 2017 | url=https://www.qt.com.au/news/academic-praises-kim-jong-uns-north-korea-during-v/3220160/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309211007/https://www.qt.com.au/news/academic-praises-kim-jong-uns-north-korea-during-v/3220160/ | archive-date=9 March 2021 | url-status=dead | access-date=13 July 2021}}

= Ukraine =

In 2022, Bartlett spent time in Ukraine, reporting on the Russian invasion of Ukraine from a pro-Russian perspective, sometimes with journalists from Russian state-owned channel Russia Today.{{cite news |url=https://www.youtube.com/c/EvaKBartlett/videos |access-date=23 June 2022|title=Eva K Bartlett - YouTube }}{{cite web | title=Russian propaganda efforts aided by pro-Kremlin content creators, research finds | website=NBC News | date=8 June 2022 | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/russian-propaganda-efforts-aided-kremlin-content-creators-research-fin-rcna32343 | access-date=25 January 2023}} The Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) identified her as one of the twelve key Western influencers spreading pro-Kremlin disinformation about the Russo-Ukrainian War. Bartlett is not directly employed by RT, although she has regularly written op-eds on RT’s website, makes videos with RT correspondents and shares RT content. Facebook has labeled her posts with a disclaimer that she “may be partially or wholly under the editorial control of the Russian government.”{{cite news |last=Emma |first=Vardy |date=22 April 2022 |title=Russian propaganda efforts aided by pro-Kremlin content creators, research finds |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/russian-propaganda-efforts-aided-kremlin-content-creators-research-fin-rcna32343 |publisher=NBC News |access-date=23 June 2022}}{{cite web | last=Gilbert | first=David | title=Meet the US 'Journalist' Helping Spread the Kremlin's Propaganda | website=VICE | date=9 June 2022 | url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/ukraine-patrick-lancaster-journalist/ | access-date=16 January 2023}} In July 2022, she was a speaker at the Russian-organised International Public Tribunal on Ukraine in Moscow, which aimed to "collect data and prove the commission of war crimes by the Kyiv regime".{{cite web | title=In Russia, a 'sham tribunal' investigates what it says are Ukraine's war crimes - CBC News | website=CBC | date=7 July 2022 | url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/russia-tribunal-ukraine-1.6512853 | access-date=16 January 2023}}