We Made It Easy for the Russians
You have to give the Volga Bagmen credit. They planned the ratfcking of the 2016 presidential election impeccably. Over the weekend, the Washington Post got its hands on a draft report prepared for the Senate Intelligence Committee based on data obtained from major tech companies. The report states very plainly that the Russian government designed this sweeping program specifically to help the Trump campaign, and that it was based on a thoroughgoing analysis of how easily Americans can be duped when it comes to electing a president*.
The report, a draft of which was obtained by The Washington Post, is the first to study the millions of posts provided by major technology firms to the Senate Intelligence Committee, led by Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), its chairman, and Sen. Mark Warner (Va.), its ranking Democrat. The bipartisan panel hasn’t said whether it endorses the findings. It plans to release it publicly along with another study later this week.
The research - by Oxford University’s Computational Propaganda Project and Graphika, a network analysis firm - offers new details of how Russians working at the Internet Research Agency, which U.S. officials have charged with criminal offenses for interfering 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, the report found.
“What is clear is that all of the messaging clearly sought to benefit the Republican Party - and specifically Donald Trump,” the report says. “Trump is mentioned most in campaigns targeting conservatives and right-wing voters, where the messaging encouraged these groups to support his campaign. The main groups that could challenge Trump were then provided messaging that sought to confuse, distract and ultimately discourage members from voting.”
And the versatility of the ratfcking was vast and thorough. They worked the gun-toting neo-Confederate right-the NRA functioned pretty much as a front group-as well as targeting African-American communities with disinformation regarding how to vote, and whether their votes mattered anyway.
The Russians aimed particular energy at activating conservatives on issues such as gun rights and immigration, while sapping the political clout of left-leaning African American voters by undermining their faith in elections and spreading misleading information about how to vote. Many other groups - Latinos, Muslims, Christians, gay men and women, liberals, Southerners, veterans - got at least some attention from Russians operating thousands of social media accounts.
We should pause here to congratulate two decades of conservative voter suppression directed toward minority communities. All the Russians had to do in 2016 was build on the foundation already poured in places like Wisconsin, Kansas, and the newly insane state of North Carolina. Kris Kobach probably should be awarded whatever they're calling the Order of Lenin now.
Also, if we're serious about doing something about the problem in the future, we probably ought to have better watchdogs in both the public and private sectors.
Researchers also noted that the data includes evidence of sloppiness by the Russians that could have led to earlier detection, including the use of Russia’s currency, the ruble, to buy ads and Russian phone numbers for contact information. The operatives also left behind technical signatures in computerized logs, such as Internet addresses in St. Petersburg, where the IRA was based.
Oh.
But the obvious tragedy in this report, besides the walking tragedy that is Camp Runamuck, is that the Russians had so much real-world evidence to manipulate. Consider:
The report found operatives also began buying Google ads to promote the “BlackMatters US” website with provocative messages such as, “Cops kill black kids. Are you sure that your son won’t be the next?” The related Twitter account, meanwhile, complained about the suspension of the Facebook page, accusing the tech company of “supporting white supremacy.”
We should fix our elections. Part of that job has to be fixing the aspects of the country that made the ratfckers' stories so believable.
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