Burley
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3970312/Now-experts-accuse-Russia-spreading-fake-news-social-media-swing-election-Trump-tracing-anti-Clinton-stories-Moscow-linked-Twitter-trolls.html
Analysts have accused Russia of sponsoring the spread of 'fake news' on social media accounts to swing the US election for Donald Trump.
Two separate groups have alleged that the Kremlin was behind Twitter and Facebook posts promoting anti-Hillary Clinton stories.
One told The Washington Post how the 'propaganda' was designed to chip away at American voters' faith in democracy.
It comes after widespread claims Vladimir Putin, a vocal Trump supporter, was behind the Democratic National Committee hack which exposed thousands of emails from Clinton's inner circle.
In a blog post titled 'Trolling for Trump: How Russia Is Trying To Destroy Our Democracy', analysts Andrew Weisburd, Clint Watts and JM Berger described how they began tracking social media accounts in 2014 when 'organized trolls' targeted posts which criticized the Russian-supported Syrian government regime.
The trolls worked alongside what the analysts called 'honeypot' accounts - fake profiles of young, attractive women eager to become involved in politics with American users.
Though the original network was Syrian, it was mimicked by Russia, the analysts said, and traces of networks bearing all the same hallmarks were spotted during the election.
'Today, that network is still hard at work, running at peak capacity to destroy Americans’ confidence in their system of government.
'We’ve monitored more than 7,000 social media accounts over the last 30 months and at times engaged directly with them,' the blog post read.
Among 'fake' stories peddled by accounts with links to Moscow was one focused on Clinton's apparent ill health after she fell ill at a 9/11 memorial event in September.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3970312/Now-experts-accuse-Russia-spreading-fake-news-social-media-swing-election-Trump-tracing-anti-Clinton-stories-Moscow-linked-Twitter-trolls.html#ixzz4R1UoShl8
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Analysts have accused Russia of sponsoring the spread of 'fake news' on social media accounts to swing the US election for Donald Trump.
Two separate groups have alleged that the Kremlin was behind Twitter and Facebook posts promoting anti-Hillary Clinton stories.
One told The Washington Post how the 'propaganda' was designed to chip away at American voters' faith in democracy.
It comes after widespread claims Vladimir Putin, a vocal Trump supporter, was behind the Democratic National Committee hack which exposed thousands of emails from Clinton's inner circle.
In a blog post titled 'Trolling for Trump: How Russia Is Trying To Destroy Our Democracy', analysts Andrew Weisburd, Clint Watts and JM Berger described how they began tracking social media accounts in 2014 when 'organized trolls' targeted posts which criticized the Russian-supported Syrian government regime.
The trolls worked alongside what the analysts called 'honeypot' accounts - fake profiles of young, attractive women eager to become involved in politics with American users.
Though the original network was Syrian, it was mimicked by Russia, the analysts said, and traces of networks bearing all the same hallmarks were spotted during the election.
'Today, that network is still hard at work, running at peak capacity to destroy Americans’ confidence in their system of government.
'We’ve monitored more than 7,000 social media accounts over the last 30 months and at times engaged directly with them,' the blog post read.
Among 'fake' stories peddled by accounts with links to Moscow was one focused on Clinton's apparent ill health after she fell ill at a 9/11 memorial event in September.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3970312/Now-experts-accuse-Russia-spreading-fake-news-social-media-swing-election-Trump-tracing-anti-Clinton-stories-Moscow-linked-Twitter-trolls.html#ixzz4R1UoShl8
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook