Following the Douma chemical attack in Syria in April 2018, Waters described the White Helmets volunteer group that had first reported the attack as a "fake organisation" that created propaganda for "jihadists and terrorists". Jonathan Freedland in "The Guardian" wrote: "That claim, which has been repeatedly debunked, was instantly applauded and spread by the same crowd of pro-Russia voices on the far left and far right who have served so dutifully as Assad's online cheerleaders."