Russia used Facebook ads in 2016 to both encourage and inflame identity politics in America as part of its cyber-operation against the U.S., according to new reports.
Previous media coverage on Russian influence operations within the United States has overwhelmingly focused on reported attempts to stir up America’s political right-wing, but new reporting indicates that Russia also sought to promote the identity-focused politics that currently dominates America’s political Left. (RELATED: Anti-Trump ‘Resistance’ Groups Spreading North Korean Propaganda)
Russian accounts targeted Baltimore and Ferguson — both hubs of racial activism — with pro-Black Lives Matter messaging, CNN reported this week. The Washington Post reported that the Russian ads promoted other “African American rights groups” in addition to Black Lives Matter.
Then, on Thursday night, CNN reported that popular black activist accounts operating on Facebook and Twitter under the name “Blacktivist” were linked to the Russian government. Blacktivist accounts frequently stoked racial outrage about police shootings and mass incarceration of black men.
Read more at The Daily Caller.
