Unsealed FBI Doc Exposes Terrifying Depth of Russian Disinfo Scheme
newrepublic.com
New court documents reveal that Russia is keeping a very, very long list of influencers to spread its propaganda.

New court documents reveal that Russia is keeping a very, very long list of influencers to spread its propaganda.

The Russian disinformation plot revealed in a Justice Department indictment this week may just be the tip of the iceberg, according to newly unsealed court documents.

On Wednesday, the DOJ announced it would seize 32 internet domains linked to a larger Kremlin scheme to promote disinformation and influence the 2024 election. The Russian campaign, known as Doppelganger, uses AI-generated content to create “fake news” boosted through social media with the aim of electing Donald Trump.

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Of particular note, the documents released Wednesday included an affidavit that noted a Russian company is keeping a list of more than 2,800 influencers world wide, about one-fifth of whom are based in the United States, to monitor and potentially groom to spread Russian propaganda. The affidavit does not mention the full list of influencers, but is still a terrifying indicator of how deep the Russian plot to interfere in U.S. politics really goes.

    • Boddhisatva@lemmy.world
      1·
      4 months ago

      There are a few obvious ones around but it’s against the rules to even suggest that they could be shills or bots. Hopefully this news will get the mods to start taking action against the most blatant ones.

    • dragontamer@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      4 months ago

      Yes but… Fediverse has more moderators and even server level bans where we can fight back.

      It’s a different political makeup here on the Fediverse. It’s not like the Russians can hand money to just one or two CEOs and suddenly all of the moderators we trust here turn to the other side.

      We need to keep our wits about us here. We came to Lemmy (and Fediverse) because centralized commercial control of our discussion spaces led to perverse incentives.

      I only consider this political situation to be yet another test of the Fediverse. We have to survive it. But I also believe we moved to the Fediverse because we all believe we can do more about disinformation or malicious actors here on the Fediverse than on… Reddit or Facebook.