NBC noted that its content, for instance on the Syrian civil war, promoted pro-Russian geopolitical positions. Early viral hits included one of Canadian blogger Eva Bartlett defending the legitimacy of the 2014 Syrian presidential election, another attacking Syria's White Helmets civil defence volunteers, and one of Naouai describing messages from civilians in besieged Aleppo as "a coordinated PR campaign". Both videos were promoted by RT, Russian embassies, and then right-wing social media personalities, although RT stated that the platform was editorially independent from the main news channel.