Thread by @PaulaChertok

⚡️While conducting its genocidal war, #Russia has been spreading its poison online to try undermine support for #Ukraine & Ukrainian #refugees.

⚡️@Meta just shut down another major malign Russian #propaganda op. Notably, it wasn’t effective. Details👇

@Meta 🧵On foiled Russian op targeting Europeans around Russia’s war in Ukraine & the US ahead of the midterms:

In Europe, Russia mostly targeted Germany, France, Italy, Ukraine, UK w/ anti-Ukraine narratives via a sprawling network of 60+ websites impersonating legitimate news orgs.

@Meta #Russia's op began in May. Over 60+ websites IMPERSONATING legitimate news outlets—incl Spiegel, The Guardian, Bild—Russians posted original articles criticizing #Ukraine & Ukrainian refugees, supporting Russia, and arguing Western sanctions on Russia would backfire. per @Meta

@Meta #Russia would then promote their propaganda articles on fake websites impersonating legitimate news orgs with original memes & YouTube videos on Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, Twitter, petitions websites Change.org & Avaaz, and even LiveJournal.

In 7 languages.

@Meta As Meta blocked the fake websites, #Russia set up new ones, suggesting "persistence & continuous investment in this activity across the internet." They operated in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Ukrainian. Russian embassies amplified some content on Facebook.

@Meta #Russia's large complex op was a combination of sophistication & brute force: Spoofed websites & many languages showed technical & linguistic investment. But also had crude ads & detectable fake accts. Together, "an attempted smash-and-grab against the information environment."

@Meta Russia's anti-Ukraine op:
▪️Facebook: 1,633 accounts, 703 Pages, 1 Group
▪️Instagram: 29 accounts
▪️Advertising: $105,000 in spent on ads on Facebook and Instagram, in US dollars & Euros

It's infuriating that Russia can still buy ads on Facebook/Insta after 2016. WTF imho.

@Meta #Russia built an echo chamber of fake mini-brands across the internet to post, re-share, like anti-#Ukraine content in 7 languages. Accounts on different platforms made each look more legitimate & amplified each other. Fake engagement, layers of fake entities boosting each other.

@Meta Russian op: Petition in German on change[.]org demanded Germany stop its “unacceptable generosity” toward Ukraine's refugees. Content said sanctions on Russia caused rising prices & accused Ukrainian migrants of theft, vandalism, prostitution, violence, not paying for train tix🤦🏻‍♀️

@Meta This is nuts: Pages of Russian diplomatic missions in Malaysia, Sweden, Hungary, Slovakia & Bangladesh shared links to the fake sites.

#Russia's embassies are just grotesque #propaganda operations (& grotesque espionage ops). There's gotta be a better way to deal w/ them online.

@Meta By July Russia's focus was Germany—trying desperately to get Germans NOT to support Ukraine. Fake 🇷🇺websites spoofed 🇩🇪mainstream news orgs & portrayed Ukraine govt & armed forces as criminal & corrupt, Russia as victim of Western aggression, sanctions as perilous to Europeans.🙄

@Meta #Russia's fake news sites mixed real content w/ disinformation. Copying the appearance of the Guardian—EVEN its cookie
acceptance page—they posted an article accusing Ukraine of staging the #Bucha massacre, using a real Guardian photo & timestamp of the actual Guardian article.😡

@Meta Russia's operation coordinated across many languages, publishing fake about Bucha on the same day in English on fake Guardian site, in Italian on fake ANSA site, in German on fake Spiegel site. It also appeared in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Chinese on rrn[.]world.

@Meta Meta says #Russia's op was more indirect on sanctions, but um not very. Videos would start out focusing on economic problems but end by linking them to EU sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine: “For the good of Germany, the sanctions against
Russia must be lifted.”