Beware: The Russians Have an Active List of 600 American Influencers

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It was bad enough that the DOJ alleged that a company based in Tennessee (likely to be Tenet media) was being bankrolled with Russian money that was paid to six Right-wing influencers who made sometimes $400,000 a month pushing pro-Trump/Republican and anti-Ukraine propaganda to their large audiences.

But now, Wired points out that Russians have an active list of 2,800 influencers, 600 of whom are in the U.S.

Here are the details via Wired’s David Gilbert:

Who else is on it? Well, for one, the list includes “many US lawmakers”, noting that SDA monitored Republican lawmakers’ posts for ideas to cover; i.e., socially divisive topics to exploit and amplify via their influencers:

“The affidavit references one document maintained by the Social Design Agency, which is not included in the unsealed court documents, that contains a list of more than 2,800 people identified as influencers. While this list is global, US-based influencers account for around 20 percent of the accounts being monitored, including many US lawmakers, according to an analysis of the list by the FBI”

Russia’s list also includes 1,900 “anti-influencers.”

“The Social Design Agency also maintains another list, again not included in the court documents, that tracks over 1,900 “anti-influencers” from 52 different countries, with US-based accounts. The FBI agent who authored the document assessed that “anti-influencer” refers to accounts which post “content that SDA views as contrary to Russian objectives.”

The operation amplified their propaganda with memes, bots posting 40-60 comments under the social media posts to boost them and make it appear as if they are ideas shared by a lot of “people.”

The propaganda mill is aimed specifically at swing states, minorities, gamers, Redditors, and 4Chan, as laid out in the DOJ’s charging documents, which point out, “U.S.Company-I never disclosed to its viewers that it was funded and directed by RT. Nor did U.S.Company-I or its two founders and principal executives (“Founder-I ” and “Founder-2″) register with the Attorney General as an agent of a foreign principal, as required by law.”

Several of the Right-wingers are claiming they were duped, and the US said that at least two of them were in the charging documents. After this news dropped, conservatives copied Russian President Vladimir Putin’s public CYA as he claimed without evidence that he actually supports Vice President Kamala Harris , and not the guy the US Government says he’s trying to get elected.

While no one with a working brain would take Putin at his word especially since in this case it directly contrasts his actions and his own benefit, it’s worth pointing out that just yesterday, ex-president Donald Trump made sure to broadcast that he’d get rid of Russian and Iranian sanctions. This is how Trump has talked to Putin in the past, the most infamous example being his 2016 “Russia, if you’re listening” request to hack Hillary Clinton’s emails, which then happened. Trump has pushed policies over and over again that benefit Putin, including allegations that a Trump campaign aide directed changes to the GOP platform in 2016 to lessen US support for Ukraine.

Putin’s Kremlin has been paying via a laundering scheme through RT just one of these US based operations $10 million to push pro-Trump, pro-Republican culture war issues in order to weaken US institutions, democracy, and global liberal values that threaten Putin’s lies to his own people suggesting that autocracy is necessary because democracy doesn’t work. You can see how Donald Trump’s chaotic, anti-freedom governing style helps sell that message.

Not only are there 600-ish accounts that haven’t been unmasked yet, but there are plenty more from whence this one operation of many came.

This is why it matters that people pay attention to the funding source of any news-political related media they consume; Left, Right, or Center. The depth of corruption on the Right that left them wide open to being willing to stab their country in the back for cash — with an audience too easy to dupe via unregulated influencers — can happen to everyone else, too.

When you consume media that is funded by dark money, you don’t know who is behind it. Every legitimate media will have an About Us page which will disclose how they are funded. A good media source will operate in good faith transparency and with accountability for mistakes and corrections. It’s less about “bias” in reporting and more about undisclosed agendas, dark money funding, and greed. If someone has a financial incentive to lie to you, is unconstrained by ethics and has a penchant for pseudo-intellectualism, be careful. These are not good signs. The Trump effect of me-me-me and divisive mocking of vulnerable “others” that has taken over our entire media culture doesn’t lead to anything good, no matter who is doing it.

Be aware what you consume and don’t let your friends and family be taken for fools by people with no rules of conduct or moral code, and even less patriotism.

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