Story at a glance
- The Guardian reports a PR agency called Fazze asked social media influencers to explain to their followers that “the death rate among the vaccinated with Pfizer is almost 3x higher than the vaccinated by AstraZeneca.”
- They were also asked to avoid using the words “advertising” or “sponsored” in their posts and to make it appear as if it were their own independent view.
- The PR agency claims to be based in London but is not registered there. Fazze also shut down its website and made its Instagram private Tuesday, according to The Guardian.
Several European social media influencers, bloggers and YouTubers say a public relations agency with alleged ties to Russia offered them money to claim the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine was dangerous on their social media channels, according to a new report.
The Guardian reports a PR agency called Fazze that claims to be based out of the United Kingdom contacted several French health and science YouTubers last week, and asked them to explain to their followers that “the death rate among the vaccinated with Pfizer is almost 3x higher than the vaccinated by AstraZeneca.”
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The influencers were asked to publish links to reports in the French newspaper Le Monde, Reddit and website the Ethical Hacker about a supposed leaked report containing data to back up the false claim in exchange for money.
According to The Guardian, the article in Le Monde was about data reportedly stolen by Russian hackers from European authorities but contained no information on mortality rates from the Pfizer vaccine and the two other pages have been deleted.
Fazze reportedly pushed influencers to ask their followers why governments were purchasing the Pfizer vaccine “which is dangerous to the health of people?” and asked them to act like they had a passion for the topic. They were also asked to avoid using the words “advertising” or “sponsored” in their posts and to make it appear as if it were their own independent view.
The PR agency claims to be based in London but is not registered there. Fazze also shut down its website and made its Instagram private Tuesday, according to The Guardian.
The news outlet reports that, per LinkedIn, Fazze’s management team appeared to come from Moscow and some employees formerly worked for another agency founded by a Russian entrepreneur. The LinkedIn profiles appear to have been scrubbed from the site.
French media have also pointed to similarities between the agency’s messaging and talking points from the Twitter account for Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine.
Popular French Youtuber Léo Grasset tweeted screenshots of emails from Fazze to Twitter Monday.
“It’s strange. I received a partnership proposal which consists of breaking down the Pfizer vaccine on video. Colossal budget, client who wants to remain incognito and you have to hide the sponsorship,” Grasset tweeted along with the screenshots.
Grasset also noted the address the agency claims to be located in London is an aesthetic laser center and “All employees have weird LinkedIn profiles…which have been missing since this morning. Everyone has worked in Russia before.”
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