Minutes before the appointed hour, it seemed as if Sunday’s anti-Vladimir Putin protests could prove a dud. In central Moscow, the biggest spectacle was a man dressed up as Josef Stalin. In polar Murmansk, just a handful of people milled about under a giant New Year’s tree while children played nearby. But in the ensuing minutes, as the crowds swelled, Washington Post reporters in the Russian capital and above the Arctic Circle witnessed what makes opposition politician Alexei Navalny a force in modern Russia: his ability to mobilize thousands of people across the country into risking arrest to oppose President Putin.Navalny’s opposition movement, which grew out of his internet-driven anti-corruption campaign, still may be far too weak to pose a real threat to the Putin government. But it’s virtually the only one that can deliver street protests — not just in Moscow but in remote reaches of Russia’s 11 time zones. As the crowd grew in Moscow, a walk … [Read more...] about Russians’ protests against Vladimir Putin not huge, but widespread
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Here are some of the questionable tweets that Twitter says were linked to the Russian government during the 2016 US election
Twitter’s internal review of the activity on its platform during the 2016 US presidential election led to the identification and suspension of accounts that were “potentially connected to a propaganda effort by a Russian government-linked organization,” according to a blog post from the company. Twitter identified an organization it said took park in propaganda efforts; the Internet Research Agency (IRA) – also referred to as Russia’s “troll army.” Twitter said it emailed notifications to 677,775 users who interacted with tweets originating from IRA during the election period. The social-media platform also said that it identified automated Russia-based accounts during the course of its investigation. Although Twitter alleges that the number of Russian-linked accounts that tweeted election-related content during the election represented a small fraction of the total accounts on Twitter, it acknowledged that “any such … [Read more...] about Here are some of the questionable tweets that Twitter says were linked to the Russian government during the 2016 US election
Twitter finds 1,062 more accounts linked to Russian agency accused of meddling in U.S. election
Twitter Inc. said it found another 1,062 accounts linked to the Russian government-backed Internet Research Agency accused of trying to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election.The social media company said it’s emailing notifications to 677,775 people in the U.S. who followed one of these accounts or retweeted or liked a tweet from these accounts during the election period, according to a blog post Friday. That’s almost 1 per cent of Twitter’s 69 million monthly active users in the U.S. The new IRA accounts are in addition to 2,752 accounts Twitter found and disclosed last year.All the IRA-related accounts have been suspended and the company is sharing information about them with congressional investigators who are reviewing potential manipulation in the 2016 election. During the time period Twitter investigated, the 3,814 identified IRA-linked accounts posted 175,993 Tweets, about 8.4 per cent of which were election-related. Read more: Under pressure from … [Read more...] about Twitter finds 1,062 more accounts linked to Russian agency accused of meddling in U.S. election
Twitter is emailing 677,775 people in the US who interacted with Russian propaganda in the 2016 election
Twitter will email 677,775 users in the US to let them know that they interacted with Russian propaganda during the 2016 US presidential election. All of those users either followed an account, liked or retweeted content associated with the Internet Research Agency (IRA) – an organization associated with Russian propaganda efforts. In total, Twitter believes there were 3,814 unique accounts run by the IRA. Twitter will email 677,775 people in the United States to let them know that they interacted with Russian propaganda during the 2016 presidential election, the company said in a blog post Friday. Emails will go out to anyone who followed an account, retweeted, or liked a Tweet put out by the Internet Research Agency (IRA), an organization believed to be connected to Russian government propaganda efforts. Twitter’s role in Russian election propaganda has been well known since fall, when the company … [Read more...] about Twitter is emailing 677,775 people in the US who interacted with Russian propaganda in the 2016 election
McMaster: US has seen signs of Russian ‘subversion and disinformation’ in upcoming Mexican election
National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster said in mid-December that the US had seen signs of Russia interference in Mexico’s upcoming presidential election. Analysts and officials have warned for some time about the potential for Russian attempts to influence the result of that vote. Such interference would likely be part of an effort to undermine Western countries and US influence around the world. The US has seen “initial signs” of Russian “subversion and disinformation and propaganda” in Mexico’s presidential campaign, according to National Security Adviser Gen. H.R. McMaster McMaster made the comments when asked about Russia during a mid-December event at the Jamestown Foundation in Washington, DC, according to Mexican magazine Reforma. “For example, with Russia we are concerned, increasingly concerned, with these sophisticated campaigns of subversion and disinformation and … [Read more...] about McMaster: US has seen signs of Russian ‘subversion and disinformation’ in upcoming Mexican election