Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media
The Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media (SPM) is a group of academics and activists whose stated purpose is to study propaganda and information operations surrounding the Syrian civil war. It was formed by environmental political theory professor Tim Hayward and former academic Piers Robinson in 2017. Activities. The group has gained attention and attracted criticism for disputing the veracity of the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Civil War as well as for its claims that the Syrian White Helmets civil defence organisation has staged false flag attacks in order  to trigger Western retaliation against the Syrian government. The group has produced a number of reports. The SPM's first publication, entitled, "Doubts about 'Novichoks'," questioned whether Russia's secret nerve agent programme – through which Novichok chemical weapons were developed – had ever existed. In subsequent publications, the SPM has argued that the 2018 Douma chemical attack was faked by the White Helmets civil defence organisation. The SPM report accused Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, the former head of Britain's Joint Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Regiment, of being an agent working on behalf of a British covert influence programme. According  to Bellingcat, the group used other entities such as "Berlin Group 21" (BG21) as their front for publishing "statements of concern". Controversies. In early 2018, "The Times" newspaper ran a series of articles critical of the SPM, in which it said the group intentionally spreads "disinformation" in support of the government of Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian Civil War and "conspiracy theories promoted by Russia". "The Times" described the group's members as "apologists for Assad" and likened them to Holocaust deniers. In response, the SPM said that its members have a shared interest in "investigating the 'information operations ' (...) associated with the Syrian conflict" and stressed that "the Working Group does not take any position for or against the Syrian government." In March 2021, the BBC and "The Times" published reports of a sting operation targeting SPM member Paul McKeigue by the organisation Commission for International Justice and Accountability (CIJA), in which CIJA posed over email as a Russian agent named "Ivan." McKeigue corresponded with "Ivan" over the course of several months, believing that he was communicating with Russian secret services. In April 2021, "The Daily Beast" and "Newlines Magazine" reported on McKeigue's emails to "Ivan" and the  SPM's attempts to coordinate with Russian diplomats including Alexander Shulgin, Russia's ambassador to the Netherlands, on publications about Syria. The report also stated that McKeigue obtained legal advice from Melinda Taylor, one of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange's personal lawyers, on how to make litigious claims against the OPCW which McKeigue referred to as "lawfare", a term generally used to describe frivolous or harassing litigation. McKeigue and Taylor also discussed promoting claims of fraud against CIJA. A March 2021 BBC News article stated that the SPM had, "echoed [...] Russian disinformation narratives," in a number of publications by suggesting  that the governments of the United States and United Kingdom had a motive to kill Russian dissident Sergei Skripal in order to prevent him from testifying in a libel case against former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele. The view of the UK government is that Skripal, a former Russian spy, was poisoned by Russian secret service agents. Members. Members of the SPM include: Members of its advisory board have included: