Mod: Originally published by The Times back on March 10, what makes this article especially newsworthy today is just how right they managed to get it.
Russia Trying to Stoke U.S. Racial Tensions Before Election, Officials Say (
The New York Timeslink): The
Russian government has stepped up efforts to inflame racial tensions in the
United States as part of its bid to influence
November’s presidential election, including trying to incite violence by white supremacist groups and to stoke anger among
African-Americans, according to seven
American officials briefed on recent intelligence.
Russia’s lead intelligence agency, the
S.V.R., has apparently gone beyond 2016 methods of interference, when operatives tried to stoke racial animosity by creating fake
Black Lives Matter groups and spreading disinformation to depress black voter turnout. Now,
Russia is also trying to influence white supremacist groups, the officials said; they gave few details, but one official said federal investigators are examining how at least one
neo-Nazi organization with ties to
Russia is funded.
Other
Russian efforts, which
American intelligence agencies have tracked, involve simply prodding white nationalists to more aggressively spread hate messages and amplifying their invective.
Russian operatives are also trying to push black extremist groups toward violence, according to multiple officials, though they did not detail how.
Russia’s more public influence operations, like state-backed news organizations, have continued to push divisive racial narratives, including stories emphasizing allegations of police abuse in the
United States and highlighting racism against
African-Americans within the military.
And as social media companies more vigilantly monitor for foreign activity than they did in 2016,
Russia has also adjusted its methods to evade detection. Rather than disseminate messages as widely as possible, as in 2016,
Russian operatives are using private
Facebook groups, posts on the online message board
4chan and closed chat rooms that are more difficult to monitor, according to intelligence officials.
Russia’s primary goal, according to several officials briefed on the intelligence who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information, is to foster a sense of chaos in the
United States, though its motivations are under debate and difficult to decipher in the absence of high-level intelligence sources inside
Moscow.
Mod: Much more available at the link.sierramadretattler.blogspot.com
