The report of representatives of the Meta company states that on the eve of the presidential elections in the USA, Russia is spreading information campaigns in support of Western anti-Ukrainian politicians in social networks.
Points of attention
- Russia is actively supporting Western anti-Ukrainian politicians in social networks ahead of the US presidential elections.
- Kremlin bots and propagandists are using social networks to undermine the support of Ukraine's Western partners.
- Tech companies and NGOs are making strides in countering Russian disinformation campaigns on social media.
- Russian influence operations can use disinformation for political purposes, particularly in the US.
- Over the past decade, the Kremlin has been targeting Western audiences through informational propaganda.
What is known about Russia's support of anti-Ukrainian Western politicians through social networks
It is noted that at the beginning of the large-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Kremlin bots and propagandists literally bombarded popular social networks with the aim of undermining the support of Ukraine's Western partners.
This prompted a number of politicians in France, Canada and other Western countries to make statements that spending money on aid to Ukraine is inappropriate.
In the run-up to November's US presidential election, when Republican vice-presidential candidate J.D. Vance and other top Republican lawmakers openly denied Washington's financial support for Ukraine, ... that Russian influence operations are likely to use these internal communications to of its political benefits, - noted in the report of Meta analysts.
How the Russian disinformation campaign could influence the US election
At the same time, analysts emphasize that there is no connection between Russian disinformation and propaganda distributors and American politicians.
We should expect attempts by Russia to target election-related debates, especially when they touch on support for Ukraine. The trend relates more to the topic, namely opposition to support for Ukraine, than to any individual party, - explains Meta's director of security policy, David Agranovych.
According to the report's authors, over the past 10 years, the Kremlin has increasingly subtly targeted Western audiences with informational propaganda, although whether this has an effect on how Western citizens vote in elections remains unclear.
As tech companies, politicians, and civil society groups become more successful at running such campaigns, Russian groups — only some of which are officially attributed to the Russian state — have shifted tactics to promote messages created by domestic politicians and influencers. Previously, they themselves tried to create controversial posts in social networks, - the publication emphasizes.
