AI chatbots serve up content from Russia's sanctioned state-run outlets, RSF finds

ChatGPT, Grok and Claude provided full news summaries drawing on EU-sanctioned Russian state media outlets — including RT and Sputnik — sharing links and quotes without warning users that the content came from banned sources, according to a study by Reporters Without Borders published this month. The investigation, led by RSF technology desk head Vincent Berthier, tested six AI chatbots by explicitly requesting news from a list of sanctioned Russian outlets: RIA Novosti, Russia Today and its foreign-language editions, Rossiya RTR, Rossiya 24, Sputnik and the Strategic Culture Foundation. Where direct access was blocked, the researchers instructed the tools to look for workarounds, including Telegram channels and mirror sites.