Kremlin reacts to lawsuit against FBI

Any attempts by US-targeted Russian companies to defend their rights in court are welcomed, according to Dmitry Peskov

Moscow welcomes efforts by Russian companies to defend themselves legally, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday. He was responding to a question about reports that a Russian company plans to sue the FBI in the US over accusations of fake content.

ANO Dialog, which specializes in counteracting fakes, told business daily Kommersant this week it plans to challenge the agency’s accusations that it spread misleading content online. The US has accused the company of contributing to AI-based deep fake operations, has designated it among ‘Russian state-sponsored actors’ and accused it of attempting to undermine election processes.

“Of course, we support any attempts [by targeted companies] to defend their rights in court,” Peskov said. “Those of our organizations and media outlets – both state and non-state – that do this… their rights must be defended by all legal means,” he stated.

The Kremlin spokesman, however, expressed doubt that US courts would be impartial.

“One can assume with a high degree of certainty that in such cases, American courts will immediately lose their impartiality, balance and fairness. They will forget about these principles,” Peskov declared.

“Therefore, there is no great hope for the possibility of a truly unbiased consideration of such cases in the American courts.” 

Vladimir Tabak, the CEO of ANO Dialog, told Kommersant that the company categorically denies the accusations, which he said were made by the US Justice Department and Treasury Department on “testimony from an FBI agent.” 

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“The testimony of officials in the United States has shown that fakes could be spread, for example, by FBI agents and representatives of the US Department of Justice and other agencies,” Tabak stated.

On Thursday, Tabak told journalists that the company had hired American lawyers, noting that the date of filing the lawsuit would be determined in the near future. “We are going to sue the FBI in the state of Pennsylvania,” he said.

The CEO of ANO Dialog also announced the creation of an International Association for Fact-Checking, saying that the goal is to launch services to refute disinformation. It will be a joint project with countries ‘friendly’ to Russia and other organizations that share the same views and values, according to Tabak.