Russian-linked Facebook accounts called for violence, sowed discord

http://money.cnn.com/2017/10/31/media/russia-facebook-violence/index.html

'Kill them all' -- Russian-linked Facebook accounts called for violence
by Curt Devine @CNNMoney October 31, 2017: 12:31 PM ET

Facebook accounts run by Russian trolls repeatedly called for violence against different social and political groups in the U.S., including police officers, Black Lives Matter activists and undocumented immigrants.

Posts from three now-removed Facebook groups created by the Russian Internet Research Agency suggest Russia sought not only to meddle in U.S. politics but to encourage ideologically opposed groups to act out violently against one another. The posts are part of a database compiled by Jonathan Albright, the research director at Columbia University's Tow Center for Digital Journalism, who tracks and analyzes Russian propaganda.

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Mark R. Jacobson, a Georgetown University professor and expert on Russian influence operations, said Russia strategically seeks to undermine U.S. political cohesion by promoting extremist views within opposing political or social groups, and hoping chaos—and violence -- ensues.

"The Russians don't want groups like Black Lives Matter [and] the Alt-Right to sit there and have discussions and debates about the future of America. They want violent clashes," Jacobson said.

Jacobson noted that, during the Cold War, Russia sought to enhance extremist ideas within the civil rights movement in hopes of sparking race-based warfare in the U.S.

"If we start to see violent rallies... we should start to look for the hidden hand of Russian influence behind it," he said.

Columbia University's Albright said even if only a fraction of the accounts' posts called for physical violence, the overall messaging sought to push audiences toward more radical viewpoints that they would act on.

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"People can be heavily influenced by content online even when they don't know where it comes from," Benesch said. "In these cases, we can't know if anyone was actually influenced toward violence, but this type of speech could increase that risk."

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https://www.buzzfeed.com/janelytvynenko/russian-trolls-targeted-american-teens

Here Are The Ads Russian Trolls Targeted At American Teenagers

Some of the ads released by the House Intelligence Committee targeted teens as young as 13.
Posted on November 1, 2017, at 6:26 p.m.
Jane Lytvynenko
Jane Lytvynenko

The House Intelligence Committee released ads connected to a pro-Russian troll farm today. Along with the ads, the committee released metadata showing that some advertisements were targeted at teenagers as young as 13.

During testimony at the Senate Intelligence Committee, Facebook said at least 146 million Americans saw the ads purchased by the Kremlin-linked troll farm, up from 126 million. The aim was to influence the outcome of the 2016 US presidential election and increase division after it was over.

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