[1] The task force's flagship project is EUvsDisinfo, a database of articles and media which the organization considers as providing false, distorted or partial information.
[4] The ESCTF was created as a conclusion of the European Council meeting on 19 and 20 March 2015, citing the "need to challenge Russia's ongoing disinformation campaigns".
[5] Initially, it relied on donations from European countries and consisted of ten people, of whom only one (a former Czech journalist) worked full time.
The team also runs the European External Action Service's Russian language website, as well as Twitter and Facebook accounts.
[17] EU Member State Governments have strongly supported the Task Force since its inception and provide the majority of its staff.
"[8] In 2020, The New York Times wrote that the ESTF "is unique because its biggest supporters — countries in Central and Eastern Europe with a history of Communist influence — are also among its loudest critics.
"[31] Danish newspaper Politiken criticized East StratCom for writing[32] that Russian-backed militants were fighting in Ukraine at the Battle of Avdiivka.
[41][42] Professor Wouter Hins from Leiden University admitted that EUvsDisinfo made a mistake, but argued that it should not be closed: "The idea that the government should then shut up is rather unworldly".