NEW REPORT: #Russia’s massive 2016 #disinformation warfare operation used every major social media platform to deliver words, images & videos targeted to voter interests to help elect Trump—AND worked even harder after the election to support him in office washingtonpost.com/technology/201…
NEW Report: Russia's Internet Research Agency—charged w/ criminal offenses in the 2016 campaign—"sliced Americans into key interest groups for targeted messaging. These efforts shifted over time, peaking at key political moments, such as presidential debates or party conventions" 
Computational Propaganda Report on Russia's 2016 election disruption operation: ALL the messaging clearly sought to benefit Republicans & specifically Trump. Targeted Right-wing voters to encourage them to back Trump. Distracted, confused & discouraged others from voting at all.
New Senate commissioned comprehensive report on Russian 2016 election op makes clear: 1) Russia's massive disinformation worked across platforms to help Trump, 2) Tech companies missed it, 3) pro-Trump propaganda ramped up AFTER election, esp YouTube 4) Tech still dragging feet.
NEW Report to Senate #2: Russian influence campaign made extraordinary effort to target African-Americans, used an array of tactics to suppress Democratic turnout, unleashed a blizzard of posts on Instagram that rivaled or exceeded its Facebook operations nytimes.com/2018/12/17/us/…
🚨“Active and ongoing interference operations remain on several platforms.” Senate report adds new details of the energy and imagination of Russia’s ONGOING propaganda campaign to sway American opinion and divide the country—particularly along racial lines—long a Soviet goal.
#Russia’s “disproportionate pursuit”: “The most prolific I.R.A. efforts on Facebook and Instagram specifically targeted black American communities and appear to have been focused on developing black audiences and recruiting black Americans as assets.” #disinformation #propaganda
One example shows Russian operators’ psych tactics to “build an audience” first with benign messages then switch up to final toxic ones: @army_of_jesus_ began posting Muppet Show images in 2015, then shifted to The Simpsons. By early 2016, Trump was Jesus and Hillary was Satan.
Trump’s “meteoric rise” was a Russian operation from day one: Often missed in other analyses, the new reports show Russia’s operators were working for Trump EARLY—in the PRIMARIES against Republican rivals in the presidential race, then in the general election, then as president.
While Russia exploited our preexisting problems on an enormous scale (187 million Instagram engagements alone), US tech companies misrepresented what happened, falsely telling Congress specific groups weren’t targeted and that the Russian operation didn’t seek to suppress voters.
🚨These reports should refocus us on Russia’s election attack & the fact that the sitting POTUS stills covers it up. He’s led NO govt effort against the ongoing threat. Instead he poisons Americans against the investigators—FBI, DOJ, Mueller. Innocent people don’t hide the truth.
Russian disinformation in 2016 was worse than you thought. Nearly 1/2 of Russia's info warfare campaign went into suppressing the Black vote. And in fact, the African American vote declined in 2016. msnbc.com/ali-velshi/wat…
