Larry Williams Drive

The head of New Zealand's foreign ministry says there is "no question" Russian troll farms have been spreading disinformation online here under direction from the Kremlin.Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade chief executive Chris Seed said intelligence provided by the Five Eyes security alliance showed a "high degree of assurance" Russian-sourced disinformation was being pushed into New Zealand.This was similar to instances in other Western jurisdictions, and had been confirmed by tech platforms too, he said."It is a basic statecraft of the Russian system these days."Seed said there were examples in the anti-vaccination arena."The issue is the extent to which the troll farms and the way they are operating, the way in which that is directly directed by the Russian state, there is no question about that," he told a Parliamentary select committee, after questions from National Party MP Gerry Brownlee.Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta said this disinformation was also harmful in its effect on how people were percei