US special counsel Robert Mueller has filed charges against 13 Russian nationals and three Russian groups for allegedly interfering with the 2016 presidential election.
In an indictment released Friday (PDF), Mueller and the Justice Department call out the Internet Research Agency, a group linked to Russian propaganda efforts across social media. Employees for the IRA created troll accounts and used bots to stage arguments and sow political chaos during the 2016 campaign.
The defendants are charged with conspiracy to defraud the US and aggravated identity theft.
Disinformation campaigns ran rampant across social media during 2016, with trolls creating controversial and divisive discussions. It was considered a major security concern during the Senate Intelligence Committee's annual "Worldwide Threats" hearing on Tuesday. The trolls would work both sides of the same issue, with the primary goal to misinform and create political divide.
Facebook, Twitter and Google have struggled to deal with fake news, trolling campaigns and bots on their platforms, facing the scorn of Capitol Hill over how they've handled the problem.
Source : cnet
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