Tag: Russian bots

After Florida School Shooting, Russian ‘Bot’ Army Pounced

The following article by Sheera Frenkel and Daisuke Wakabayashi was posted on the New York Times website February 19, 2018:

A weekend gun control rally in Fort Lauderdale, FL. One hour after news of the school shooting in nearby Parkland spread, Twitter accounts that researchers have linked to Russia shifted their focus to the gun control debate. Credit Saul Martinez, The New York Times

SAN FRANCISCO — One hour after news broke about the school shooting in Florida last week, Twitter accounts suspected of having links to Russia released hundreds of posts taking up the gun control debate.

The accounts addressed the news with the speed of a cable news network. Some adopted the hashtag #guncontrolnow. Others used #gunreformnow and #Parklandshooting. Earlier on Wednesday, before the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., many of those accounts had been focused on the investigation by the special counsel Robert S. Mueller III into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

“This is pretty typical for them, to hop on breaking news like this,” said Jonathon Morgan, chief executive of New Knowledge, a company that tracks online disinformation campaigns. “The bots focus on anything that is divisive for Americans. Almost systematically.” Continue reading “After Florida School Shooting, Russian ‘Bot’ Army Pounced”

Top Democrats warn of ‘ongoing attack by the Russian government’ amid push to publish classified memo

The following article by Karoun Demirjian, Josh Dawsey and Craig Timberg was posted on the Washington Post website January 23, 2018:

People walk on Red Square past the Kremlin in December. (Yuri Kadobnov/AFP/Getty Images)

Top Democrats on Tuesday called on Facebook and Twitter to investigate what lawmakers said are Russian efforts to promote the release of a classified Republican memo criticizing the FBI probe of Russia’s meddling in the 2016 campaign.

Hashtags such as “#ReleaseTheMemo” have been trending on Twitter in recent days, and accounts affiliated with Russian influence efforts have been supporting this campaign, according to the Alliance for Securing Democracy, a U.S.-based group that examines efforts by Russia and other nations to interfere in democratic institutions. Continue reading “Top Democrats warn of ‘ongoing attack by the Russian government’ amid push to publish classified memo”