Title: Facebook and Twitter Say Russians Are Again Targeting Americans With Disinformation - The New York Times
Headings: Russians Again Targeting Americans With Disinformation, Facebook and Twitter Say
Russians Again Targeting Americans With Disinformation, Facebook and Twitter Say
Content: The Russian group Internet Research Agency hired Americans to write for the site. Credit...
Facebook
Some American officials are worried about a broad effort by Russian intelligence to use fringe websites, spread conspiracy theories and sow division in the United States. And some of the activity Facebook and Twitter identified Tuesday was just that kind of information laundering. The fake network and site did not reach as big an audience as the group’s efforts in 2016, but the campaign came with a new wrinkle: The Russians hired real Americans to write for the website. The site, called Peace Data, also used personas with computer-generated images to create what looked like a legitimate news organization. The Internet Research Agency was very active in the 2016 presidential election, and a recent bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee report detailed Russian interference in support of Mr. Trump’s election. The group has been a less important part of Russia’s operations this year, according to two American intelligence officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The group’s recently discovered activities on Twitter and Facebook were almost overt, designed to be detected, the officials said. But the Peace Data site appeared to be a more worrying example of “ information laundering, ” a more covert and potentially dangerous effort by Moscow.