Our latest investigation, carried out over more than six months and involving the examination of hundreds of articles across dozens of websites, found that the operation has a new target - American voters.
Dozens of bogus stories tracked by the BBC appear aimed at influencing US voters and sowing distrust ahead of November’s election. Some have been roundly ignored but others have been shared by influencers and members of the US Congress.
Another fake which went viral earlier this year was more directly aimed at American politics. It was published on a website called The Houston Post – one of dozens of sites with American-sounding names which are in reality run from Moscow - and alleged that the FBI illegally wiretapped Donald Trump’s Florida resort.
It played neatly into Trump’s allegations that the legal system is unfairly stacked against him, that there is a conspiracy to thwart his campaign, and that his opponents are using dirty tricks to undermine him. Mr Trump himself has accused the FBI of snooping on his conversations.
Experts say that the operation is just one part of a much larger ongoing effort, led from Moscow, to spread disinformation during the US election campaign.
They did stuff like this - maybe not with AI - in the last two elections at least. The Mueller report made the Russian activity pretty clear. And 2016 was a really close election; they only have to shape the opinion of a small number of people.
It’s also curious that Republican lawmakers, who historically have been overtly anti-Russian and anti-Putin, have become pro Russian in recent years. What changed?
“Gee, I wonder why the fascist oligarchy is trying to help Trump win? It must be because both sides are the same”
jk, ‘Bothsides’ types would have immediately denounced the BBC as a mouthpiece of US imperialism.
Besides having countless unrecorded conversations with Putin while in office, Trump told Viktor Orbán, the authoritarian PM of Hungary, that he would not send another penny in support of Ukraine if he takes office.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68533351
He also is refusing to support NATO allies, and will let Russia do “whatever the hell they want,” if a nation doesn’t spend enough on defense.
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-russia-nato-defense-funds/story?id=107136736
Oh shit someone finally got a picture of @return2ozma
🤡
