Tag: Internet Research Agency

Russian operatives known as the Internet Research Agency targeted Robert Mueller in an attempt to discredit him, according to new reports prepared for the Senate. The panel discusses. » Subscribe to MSNBC: http://on.msnbc.com/SubscribeTomsnbc About: MSNBC is the premier destination for…

WASHINGTON (AP) — Russia’s sweeping political disinformation campaign on U.S. social media was more far-reaching than originally thought, with troll farms working to discourage black voters and “blur the lines between reality and fiction” to help elect Donald Trump in 2016, according to reports released Monday by the Senate intelligence committee. The two studies are the most comprehensive picture yet of the Russian interference campaigns on American social media. The Senate panel has been investigating Russian interference on social media and beyond for almost two years. Intelligence committee Chairman Richard Burr said in a statement that the data shows how aggressively Russia tried to divide Americans by race, religion and ideology and erode trust in institutions. One major takeaway from both studies is the breadth of Russian interference that appeared on Instagram, which is owned by Facebook and was not frequently mentioned when its parent company testified on Capitol Hill. The study says that as attention was focused on Facebook and Twitter in 2017, the Russians shifted much of their activity to Instagram. “Instagram was a significant front in the IRA’s influence operation, something that Facebook executives appear to have avoided mentioning in congressional testimony,” the researchers wrote. The Russians’ attempts to influence Americans on social media first became widely public in the fall of 2017. Other findings in the studies: — During the week of the presidential election, posts directed to right-leaning users aimed to generate anger and suspicion and hinted at voter fraud, while posts targeted to African-Americans largely ignored mentions of the election until the last minute. — Facebook posts linked to the IRA “reveal a nuanced and deep knowledge of American culture, media, and influencers in each community the IRA targeted.” Certain memes appeared on pages targeted to younger people but not older people.

As Americans prepare for another election, Russian troublemakers appear to laboring afresh to divide U.S. voters and discredit democracy, and perhaps even sway the outcome. The first person charged with foreign interference in the 2018 midterms, Elena Khusyaynova, said “my heart filled with pride" at the accusation. Speaking last week on Russian TV after being indicted for a covert social media campaign for both the 2016 and 2018 votes, she added, "It turns out that a simple Russian woman could help citizens of a superpower elect their president.” (Federal News Agency via AP) PARIS – Sweeping accusations that the Kremlin tried to sway the 2016 U.S. election haven't chastened Russian trolls, hackers and spies — and might even have emboldened them. The Kremlin also resents what it considers U.S. interference in the politics of countries once under Moscow's sphere of influence, from Ukraine to the Caucasus. One of its projects, a news site called USAReally, covers tight U.S. congressional races and is closely following the migrant caravan heading north from Latin America. We talk to Americans about America. Every media wants to do that. Malkevich also assails what he calls the myth of American democracy. That's one more way that alleged Russian manipulation of U.S. social media serves the Kremlin's interests: By discrediting Western democracy, that strengthens Putin's argument to his own voters that his authoritarian model of governance is best. The troll factory, meanwhile, has moved to bigger offices in St. Petersburg, just 2.5 kilometers (a mile and a half) across town.

He cautions, however, that “Russia is not responsible for all of America’s problems. Speaking last week on Russian TV after being accused in the United States of a covert social media campaign for both the 2016 and 2018 votes, she added, “It turns out that a simple Russian woman could help citizens of a superpower elect their president.” Pavel Koshkin of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute for U.S. and Canadian Studies called accusations of meddling “a gift to Russian propaganda and Russian politicians,” who can use U.S. anti-Russian sentiment “as a tool in stirring anti-Americanism and increasing their approval ratings.” The 2016 U.S. election thrust Russian foreign interference into the spotlight, but it wasn’t an isolated project. The Kremlin also resents what it considers U.S. interference in the politics of countries once under Moscow’s sphere of influence, from Ukraine to the Caucasus. One of its projects, a news site called USAReally, covers tight U.S. congressional races and is closely following the migrant caravan heading north from Latin America. “Yes, we are a Russian site. But is that forbidden?” its chief editor Alexander Malkevich, an avowed Trump fan, said in an interview with The Associated Press. Every media wants to do that. That’s one more way that alleged Russian manipulation of U.S. social media serves the Kremlin’s interests: By discrediting Western democracy, that strengthens Putin’s argument to his own voters that his authoritarian model of governance is best. ” Many of the Russians accused of interference in the 2016 U.S. campaign have moved underground or moved on. He vowed to continue fighting those who “try to drag Russia through the mud” and thanked “those who want to join me in the fight against informational enemies.” The troll factory, meanwhile, has moved to bigger offices in St. Petersburg, just 2.5 kilometers (a mile and a half) across town.

The company, which said it is in the early stages of its investigation, held briefings in the House and Senate this week. The company said it doesn't know who is behind the efforts, but said there may be connections to Russia. Facebook said it has found some connections between the accounts it removed and the accounts connected to Russia's Internet Research Agency that it removed before and after the 2016 U.S. presidential elections. “Today’s disclosure is further evidence that the Kremlin continues to exploit platforms like Facebook to sow division and spread disinformation, and I am glad that Facebook is taking some steps to pinpoint and address this activity," Warner said in a statement to Fox News. There is still much that needs to be done to prevent and counter foreign interference on social media." Facebook says more than 290,000 accounts followed at least one of the fake pages. Facebook says the pages ran about 150 ads for $11,000 on Facebook and Instagram, paid for in U.S. and Canadian dollars. That group was created by Russian government figures but had been dormant since Facebook disabled its administrators last year. However, the tech company chose to remove the group to protect the privacy of its members in advance of a forthcoming report from the Atlantic Council that will analyze the Pages, profiles and accounts that Facebook disabled today. Miller continued: “We will not be safe from foreign interference -- and Facebook’s own business model of profiting off of bad actors -- until Congress and the FTC step in to break up the company and impose strong privacy rules.” The Associated Press contributed to this report.

WIRED / Internet Research Agency Your WIRED daily briefing. Today, the United States House Intelligence Committee has released thousands of Russian ads intended to influence US politics, a new study links Hurricane Harvey to climate change, malicious Chrome extensions infected over 100,000 users and more. Democrat members of the United States House Intelligence Committee have released over 3,500 Facebook ads published by Russian political advertising firm Internet Research Agency in an attempt to disrupt US politics and the country's 2016 presidential election (TechCrunch). Democrat Adam Schiff tweeted that: "They sought to harness Americans’ very real frustrations and anger over sensitive political matters to influence our thinking, voting and behavior." New research surrounding last year's Hurricane Harvey, which caused catastrophic flooding and damage in the United States and across the Caribbean, has for the first time shown a link between the volume of rain over land at the amount of water evaporated from a warming ocean (Phys.org). Lead author Kevin Trenbert says that: "The implication is that the warmer oceans increased the risk of greater hurricane intensity and duration. While we often think of hurricanes as atmospheric phenomena, it's clear that the oceans play a critical role and will shape future storms as the climate changes." Malicious Chrome extensions designed to impersonate genuinely useful tools have again made their way onto Google's Chrome Web Store, infecting over 100,000 users with software that made their computers part of a botnet and installed cryptocurrency miners (Ars Technica). "Violence fits the definition of a contagious disease," argues Gary Slutkin, founder of research and education NGO Cure Violence (WIRED). WIRED 05.18 is out now.

Washington (CNN)The Trump administration announced Thursday it is enacting new sanctions on Russia, including individuals indicted last month by special counsel Robert Mueller, in a sweeping new effort to punish Moscow for its attempts to interfere in the 2016 US election. In enacting the sanctions, the administration is finally meeting a congressional mandate to impose measures punishing Moscow for its cyber intrusion. In announcing the measures, the administration also disclosed a Russian attempt to penetrate the US energy grid, and said the new sanctions would punish actors for their participation in other major cyberattacks. Yevgeniy Viktorovich Prigozhin, a financial backer to the Internet Research Agency with deep ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, is also included. Sanctions were also applied on 13 other individuals who were indicted by Mueller for their participation in the election meddling efforts. In addition to those included in Mueller's indictments, sanctions were slapped on two Russian intelligence agencies, the Federal Security Service and the Main Intelligence Directorate, as well as some of their employees. "It looks like it," Trump said. A very sad situation." The sanctions were applied through executive power as well as through the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, which Congress initially passed this summer hoping to pressure Trump into punishing Russia for its election interference. On Thursday, administration officials insisted the new measures weren't the end of their efforts to punish Russia.