Last week I became the target of a Russian hack-and-leak operation, with the pro-Russian website Grayzone as the delivery mechanism. I am a high-profile journalist, critical of the Putin regime, and of its supporters in the West. This smear campaign is the penalty.
I make no comment on the purportedly hacked contents other than to repeat that they may be edited, distorted or fake.
I have criticised and investigated attempts by overt supporters of Russian and Chinese foreign policy to influence the British left — which I am part of — to gain a platform within our legitimate campaigns, and to use social media to spread disinformation.
I have called publicly for democratic states to use legal and financial scrutiny to limit the reach of Russia-aligned media outlet like Grayzone. I believe all civil society organisations, including the left, should adopt active counter-disinformation strategies.
Nobody would need to read my private emails to find that out.
The suggestion that I have created a “blacklist” of left-wing groups and individuals is complete nonsense and entirely made up. Likewise the allegation that I am the “agent” or “asset” of an intelligence agency.
These allegations are not only defamatory and false, but look designed to place my personal safety as a…
