US accuses Russia of conducting sophisticated disinformation and propaganda campaign

[TomCADem]

Source: CNN

Washington (CNN)A new report from the US State Department accuses Russia of conducting a sophisticated disinformation and propaganda campaign that uses a variety of approaches including Kremlin-aligned news sites to promote their agenda.

Wednesday's report focuses in particular on the Russian government's use of this network to push disinformation about the coronavirus pandemic as it spread across the globe.

It does not mention Russian disinformation in the context of the 2020 US presidential election as it falls outside of the mandate of the Department's Global Engagement Center (GEC), which focuses on foreign propaganda and disinformation aimed at foreign audiences.

However, on the same day the report was released, the Department unveiled "a reward of up to $10M for information leading to the identification or location of any person who, acting at the direction or under the control of a foreign government, interferes with US elections by engaging in certain criminal cyber activities," in the words of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/05/politics/state-department-russian-disinformation-report/index.html

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It is interesting that the report omits Russia's efforts to influence the 2020 election. The websites the State Department identified have promoted unsupported conspiracy theories that allege COVID-19 was created in a lab as a bioweapon, billionaire Bill Gates is plotting to use the pandemic as an excuse to microchip people, and that plans for a coronavirus vaccine are simply a ploy for pharmaceutical companies to make money.

Of course, how is this different from the usual drivel pushed by Trump and right wing media folks like Alex Jones?

[soothsayer]

1. What's this, misdirection? Or a good start?

[BigmanPigman]

2. Is this what Sen Blumenthal was tweeting about and

was on MSNBC with Ali Velshi discussing?

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100213856488

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. Blumenthal was talking about election interference, which was just mentioned in passing

quite literally - this was all they said:

...
Speaking of Russia and other malign actors:

The State Department’s Rewards for Justice program is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the identification or location of any person who, acting at the direction or under the control of a foreign government, interferes with U.S. elections by engaging in certain criminal cyber activities.

A few comments on the Middle East:
...
https://www.state.gov/secretary-michael-r-pompeo-at-a-press-availability-10/

which is pretty vague - "up to", just "a foreign government", without saying what the interference is suspected of being, or how anyone can guard against it. The program:
https://rewardsforjustice.net/english/election_interference.html

[BigmanPigman]

10. I heard it explained as a comparison to 2016.

They said remember all the stuff the Russians did in 2016 then multiply that by 100 since that is how much more they are doing this time around since they weren't stopped the first time. Still a lot of social media and bots and I bet Bannon is involved in there some where as well as Roger Stone.

[ancianita]

3. Or they are about to whitewash Trump's collusion with Russia. Because they've got their Jill Stein.

Put Kanye on battleground state ballots.

Even if every Black voter in America votes for Biden, the rigged machines will show some winning percentage of Black voters voting for Kanye.

Trump comes off as winning "honestly," Democrats are "losers," Black people attack Kanye for being a race traitor, which is worse than a ratfucker.

Then we've got four more years of Third World corporate military junta, with all the hostage politics -- defunding blue states, schools and everything else if they don't kowtow to the dictator.

Unless we can no longer bear it, go on a national TAX STRIKE from blue states, get militarily occupied and/or get armed up and go into all out civil war.

Am I delusional? Keep watching what happens.

[keithbvadu2]

4. Someone must have snuck this past Pompeo.

Someone must have snuck this past Pompeo.

[TomCADem]

5. US Officials: Russia Behind Spread of Virus Disinformation

The U.S. warning does not specifically call out Russian efforts to interefere with the election, though if you look at the actual Russian pieces, they resemble Republican talking points:

https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2020-07-28/us-officials-tell-ap-russia-spreading-virus-disinformation

The disclosure comes as the spread of disinformation, including by Russia, is an urgent concern heading into November’s presidential election as U.S. officials look to avoid a repeat of the 2016 contest, when a Russian troll farm launched a covert social media campaign to divide American public opinion and to favor then-candidate Donald Trump over Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton. The U.S. government's chief counterintelligence executive warned in a rare public statement Friday about Russia's continued use of internet trolls to advance their goals.

Even apart from politics, the twin crises buffeting the country and much of the world — the pandemic and race relations and protests — have offered fertile territory for misinformation or outfight falsehoods. Trump himself has come under scrutiny for sharing misinformation about a disproven drug for treating the coronavirus in videos that were taken down by Twitter and Facebook. Officials described the Russian disinformation as part of an ongoing and persistent effort to advance false narratives and cause confusion.

They did not say whether the effort behind these particular websites was directly related to the November election, though some of the coverage appeared to denigrate Trump’s Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, and called to mind Russian efforts in 2016 to exacerbate race relations in America and drive corruption allegations against U.S. political figures.

* * *
A headline Tuesday on InfoRos.ru about the unrest roiling American cities read “Chaos in the Blue Cities,” accompanying a story that lamented how New Yorkers who grew up under the tough-on-crime approach of former Mayors Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg “and have zero street smarts” must now “adapt to life in high-crime urban areas." Another story carried the headline of “Ukrainian Trap for Biden,” and claimed that “Ukrainegate" — a reference to stories surrounding Biden's son Hunter's former ties to a Ukraine gas company — “keeps unfolding with renewed vigor.”

[ancianita]

6. +1

[Bernardo de La Paz]

8. Fundamentally, trumpanzees are suckers. . . . nt

[Botany]

9. In Ron Johnson's case it is not even sophisticated

Senate Republicans are a vehicle for ‘laundering’ Russian influence campaign in 2020 election

https://blogforarizona.net/senate-republicans-are-a-vehicle-for-laundering-russian-influence-campaign-in-2020-election/