The New York Times: Fake Americans Used to Influence Election

Cybersecurity analysts suspect that Russian hackers created a large numbers of fictional social media accounts posing as US voters. This was followed by DCLeaks, a website designed to selectively target US candidate to channel outrage about candidates, particularly presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. “The Russian information attack on the election did not stop with the hacking and leaking of Democratic emails or the fire hose of stories, true, false and in between, that battered Mrs. Clinton on Russian outlets like RT and Sputnik,” reports Scott Shane for the New York Times. “Far less splashy, and far more difficult to trace, was Russia’s experimentation on Facebook and Twitter, the American companies that essentially invented the tools of social media and, in this case, did not stop them from being turned into engines of deception and propaganda.” Some accounts were used to purchase advertising to target voters susceptible to propaganda. The New York Times investigation suggests that understanding the attacks could be crucial to preventing future election interference. The fake accounts and outrage are eroding trust in online communications – but can be detected by repeated and hostile messages, difficulties with the English language as well as minimal personal posts, sophistication or understanding of US politics. – YaleGlobal