Russian propaganda effort helped spread ‘fake news’ during election, experts say

Washington Post ^ | 11-24-16 | Craig Timburg

[bigbob]

The flood of “fake news” this election season got support from a sophisticated Russian propaganda campaign that created and spread misleading articles online with the goal of punishing Democrat Hillary Clinton, helping Republican Donald Trump and undermining faith in American democracy, say independent researchers who tracked the operation.

Russia’s increasingly sophisticated propaganda machinery — including thousands of botnets, teams of paid human “trolls,” and networks of websites and social-media accounts — echoed and amplified right-wing sites across the Internet as they portrayed Clinton as a criminal hiding potentially fatal health problems and preparing to hand control of the nation to a shadowy cabal of global financiers. The effort also sought to heighten the appearance of international tensions and promote fear of looming hostilities with nuclear-armed Russia.

Two teams of independent researchers found that the Russians exploited American-made technology platforms to attack U.S. democracy at a particularly vulnerable moment, as an insurgent candidate harnessed a wide range of grievances to claim the White House. The sophistication of the Russian tactics may complicate efforts by Facebook and Google to crack down on “fake news,” as they have vowed to do after widespread complaints about the problem.

There is no way to know whether the Russian campaign proved decisive in electing Trump, but researchers portray it as part of a broadly effective strategy of sowing distrust in U.S. democracy and its leaders. The tactics included penetrating the computers of election officials in several states and releasing troves of hacked emails that embarrassed Clinton in the final months of her campaign.

[politicianslie]

WHERE is Megan Kelley? Fox news is loaded with DNC loving presstitutes and she is surely a front page liar too.

[bert]

There is no Russian Boogeyman...... he is a mental construct solely to have a whipping boy

[Steve_Seattle]

The MSM outlets thus should tell this to their advertisers: “We are cutting our advertising rates by 90% because the recent election showed that our anti-Trump message was ignored and drowned-out by a few tiny websites that no one ever heard of. In all honesty, we suggest you direct your advertising dollars to alt-right websites because your message will receive broader distribution through them than it would through us.”

[Steve_Seattle]

So, these researchers and the MSM are accusing the Russians of undermining "faith in democracy" and basically electing our president by floating false news stories in social media? That is supposed to restore our faith in democracy? The twisted logic amazes me.

And a few allegedly false themes in social media overwhelmed the constant barrage of anti-Trump stories emanating from the MSM? They should tell that - "nobody pays any attention to us" - to their advertisers.

[Publius]

The purpose of this article is to provide support and context for the charge that the Russians interfered in our election, and thus the election should be overturned.

This is also in support of the whole Jill Stein recount effort that is being funded from overseas. They are attempting to build a case for recounts, assigning states to Hillary and overturning the election.

If this effort fails, it still supports the Mainstream Media meme that Trump's victory is illegitimate and that he is not the "real" president.

[hawg-farmer - FR..October 1998]

experts say. HAHAHA

[Steve_Seattle]

"If this effort fails, it still supports the Mainstream Media meme that Trump's victory is illegitimate and that he is not the "real" president."

Right. If "the Russians elected the president" through the spreading of "fake news" (the subtext of the story), then the president is illegitimate, virtually a traitor or foreign agent, and sick minds might conclude that he could/should be removed by any means necessary, up to and including assassination.

I actually think that the MSM are encouraging assassination; they NEVER speak out against any of the "assassinate Trump" talk, never tell people to cool off. Instead, they fan the flames.

[Publius]

It also serves another purpose.

It creates the meme that Trump is the illegitimate president of the racists who live in the boonies thanks to Russian interference, while Hillary is the president of the good, sound people of the cities, and thus the "real" president. It creates a post-election political platform for her or Obama. It also creates an opportunity for the cities to defy President Trump on issues such as sanctuary cities and build a case for such defiance.

[Freedom56v2]

Is this the CNN reporter who stated that citizens should not be looking at Wikileak emails because they were hacked—instead they should wait and listen to the news networks’ analysis...

[Luke21]

Just like the “experts” who want recounts. And these “experts” whoever the hell they are, always agree with the libs.

[Freedom56v2]

You are hitting nail on the head...
This discussion is very important—perhaps should even be separate thread topic!

[timestax]

ping