Thursday 19 September 2024

Russian election interference is being laid bare

The full extent of Russia's brazen interference in electoral systems globally is becoming clearer by the day. After the 277-page FBI affidavit setting out the way the Kremlin system worked, newly leaked files reveal examples of how fake news is manufactured and amplified in Russian troll factories to meddle in US and European elections. You can see this in a report published by VSquare, a website set up by a group of independent investigative journalists from the four Visegrád countries, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia.  The files show how employees of the Russian firm SDA were instructed to create false narratives by making comments on fake stories.

“Write a comment from a 38-year-old German woman, who believes Germany is losing its main source of income: industry and a strong economy – we must stop wasting money on Ukraine and return to cheap Russian energy!.” one document instructed. 

Another was told to: “Write a 400-character comment from a 38-year-old American woman, who believes military aid to Ukraine and Israel should be cut. Zelensky is wasting taxpayers’ money!”

For Polish audiences: “Write a 400-character comment from a 38-year-old Polish woman, who believes the government is to blame for the country’s rise in food prices. Poland is flirting with Ukraine, it has allowed a million Ukrainian migrants to settle in Poland taking jobs and receiving benefits, it can’t even solve the Ukrainian grain issue to protect its farmers! As a result, ordinary citizens who love this country and pay taxes suffer. This is not good for anything!”

I then noticed a tweet that seemed to indicate Microsoft had found examples of how Russia has created false videos aimed at the Harris/Walz campaign purportedly showing Democrat activists in America beating up one of Donald Trump’s MAGA supporters and another apparently exposing  Kamala Harris being involved in a hit and run. Neither story has a grain of truth. 

I checked this on the Microsoft website to make sure, since you never know what’s true or false these days. It turns out to be right. Microsoft has a Threat Analysis Centre which has been following what they call "Russian actors" referred to as Storm 1516 and Storm 1679.

"Storm-1516, identified by news reports as a Kremlin-aligned troll farm, produced and disseminated two inauthentic videos, each generating millions of views. One video depicted an attack by alleged Harris supporters on a supposed Trump rally attendee, while another used an on-screen actor to fabricate false claims about Harris’s involvement in a hit-and-run accident. This second video was laundered through a website masquerading as a local San Francisco media outlet — which was only created days beforehand." 

The videos are here:

I assume Western governments aren't always truthful but I don't believe any go to such incredible lengths or spend so much money on creating an entirely false reality for Russian or Chinese audiences, mainly because they don't need to even if they thought they could get away with it.  The sheer extent of this hybrid war on Western values is almost incredible.

These 'videos' are taken down quickly but not before they've been seen by millions of gullible MAGA devotees and their work is done. 

But Putin is hardly working to fix the election in Trump's favour without the inside help of the Republican Party.

The Guardian claims Republicans in Georgia are already at work behind the scenes to call into question the results of November’s election. This is before a single vote is cast. They are said to be pushing through rules and procedures favored by the election denial movement.

In Congress, Republicans are desperately trying to get something known as the SAVE Act (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility) through the House of Representatives but will almost certainly fail. The SAVE Act requires voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship at the time of registration for federal elections, making it harder for poorer Democrat Party voters to cast their ballot.

If they can't get it into law, Trump is urging Senators to shut down the American government by refusing to pass the funding legislation required by 30 September, meaning the Biden administration would just run out of money. 

This 'continuing resolution' is a device that allows US governments to continue spending at the old level before a new budget is approved. Trump wants even that blocked, which would result in the salaries of government employees going unpaid.  Some cynics see the SAVE Act as a means to allow presidents to get involved in federal elections in a way that they aren't at the moment. 

The year's presidential campaign looks like it will not only be the most important and momentous in our lifetime but, because of that, it will also be the most angry, dishonest, and disputed in history. And for that, you can blame one man, Vladimir Putin.

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