Russia-paid influencers, trolls step up efforts to influence U.S. election

(Washington Post) Russia’s attempts to influence the 2024 election in favor of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump are accelerating, federal officials and researchers say, adding to a sea of misinformation about immigration and his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, despite U.S. efforts to blunt the onslaught with indictments, seizures and public warnings.

After a group of prominent far-right influencers was exposed last month for taking money provided by Russian state media figures, they continued to promote falsehoods to their large followings, including debunked claims about Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, eating pets.

Those tales originated with locals gossiping and were amplified online by figures on the American right, and eventually by Trump. But researchers say Russian actors have piled on with even more exaggerated claims intended to scare more citizens about immigration and race, even after two Russian nationals were charged in early September with laundering money to covertly influence public opinion.

The U.S. government’s seizure of 32 web domains hosting fake Fox News and Washington Post stories similarly did not put an end to that separate Russian caper, researchers say. The automated accounts that spread links to those stories are now sharing links to new “doppelganger” articles on faked versions of established outlets, including some asserting the Secret Service’s “criminal connivance” in the latest apparent attempt to kill Trump.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/russia-paid-influencers-trolls-step-200257288.html?.tsrc=daily_mail&segment_id=DY_VTO&ncid=crm_19908-1202929-20241006-0&bt_user_id=ql1UFiORrt%2F0YW93kKEK6EoWH%2BlVokJYsqwfIgzOTCtU7idwBn%2F2qInOXaYAqyGn&bt_ts=1728213870994