Thirteen Russian nationals and three Russian companies have been indicted for interfering in the 2016 US presidential election through social media propaganda. The indictment, released yesterday by the office of US Special Counsel Robert Mueller, said, the accused, through their actions, wanted to “spread distrust towards the candidates and the political system in general”. According to the indictment, the Russians created hundreds of social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, making it appear that the accounts were controlled by persons within the US.
To hide the Russian origin of their activities, the Russians allegedly purchased space on computer servers located within the US in order to set up a virtual private network. The accused posed as politically and socially active Americans, advocating for and against particular political candidates. They established social media pages and groups to communicate with unwitting Americans. They also purchased political advertisements on social media and used stolen or fictitious American identities, fraudulent bank accounts, and false identification documents.
Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein said the indictment served as a reminder that people are not always who they appear to be on the Internet. “The indictment alleges that the Russian conspirators want to promote discord in the United States and undermine public confidence in democracy. We must not allow them to succeed,” said Rosenstein. According to the allegations, twelve of the individual defendants worked at various times for Internet Research Agency (IRA), a Russian company based in St. Petersburg.
Source : financialexpress
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