It looks like this is where I left off.
June 20, 2019
Page 24
IRA employees also acknowledged that their work focused on influencing the U.S. presidential election. Harm to Ongoing Matter
Page 24 of the report and page 32 on the PDF
3. U.S. Operations Through Facebook
Many IRA operations used Facebook accounts created and operated by it's specialists.3. U.S. Operations Through Facebook. Harm to Ongoing Matter
Facebook's ability to maintain a leak proof company is impressive. Mark Zuckerberg has met with nearly every leader of countries in the world. He is received well and has to deal with people like the censors in China that won't allow full content to be shown. But, I believe he never thought these leaders would ultimately stab him in the back and use Facebook for espionage that attacks the sovereignty of First World country, right there in plain sight.
November 15, 2018
By Katie Steinmetz
About 38 minutes into a conference call (click here) with reporters on Thursday, Mark Zuckerberg asked for more.
“I think we should probably take a bunch more questions,” the embattled Facebook CEO said, despite the fact that the call was scheduled to end a few minutes later.
The day after an investigation by The New York Times called Zuckerberg’s leadership into question — and accused the company of concealing damaging information from the public — it was evident that he is pursuing a painstaking approach to crisis management: more transparency. Among the revelations was that Facebook hired an opposition-research firm that uses a right-leaning news site to go after clients’ “enemies,” and that the company previously tried to downplay the existence of Russian meddling on the platform....
How does a country like the USA tell a top flight young executive he needs to do better in protecting from such uses of his media organization? On one hand Zuckerberg has wowed the world with his cyber empire and on the other hand, that same cyber empire is attacking the very freedoms that allow him to operate Facebook.
It has been quite a journey for Zuckerberg and the USA as well as the countries of The West. Never in anyone's wildest imagination did they believe when Facebook first began it's open source communication experiment that in 2016 it would become a threat to freedom and democracy.
Facebook, in the wrong hands, has become a propaganda tool that hurts people in the free world.
Footnote 53 Harm to Ongoing Matter
Footnote 54 Harm to Ongoing Matter
IRA Facebook groups active during the 2016 campaign covered a range of political issues and included purported conservative groups (with names such as "Being Patriotic," "Stop All Immigrants," "Secured Borders," and "Tea Party News"), purported Black social justice groups ("Black Matters," "Blacktivist," and "Don't Shoot Us"), LGBTQ groups ("LGBT United"), and religious groups ("United Muslims of America").
There has to be a sense of violation by the people involved with real conservative groups. "Tea Party News" is a direct spin off by Russians attempting to remove freedom from the Tea Party. "Stop All Immigrants" is exactly what Trump is attempting to do. There is no feeling of violation by the White House regarding the findings in this report?
This is not a political document, yet the political right in the USA seems impervious to the audacity of actions of Russia in the 2016 elections. I find that odd.
FOR GOD SAKE'S THIS IS THE COUNTRY THAT WAS ATTACKED! NO ONE HAS STRONG FEELINGS ABOUT THESE FINDINGS?
Where are the Koch Brothers? These are their political organizations. These groups are organized with Koch money and I suppose it is okay for Russians' to simply spinoff propaganda campaigns to achieve a goal and a completely covert agenda, that the USA may still not understand.
No one in the political right wing cares about that?
Throughout 2016, IRA accounts published an increasing number of materials supporting
the Trump Campaign and opposing the Clinton Campaign. For example, on May 31, 2016, the
operational account "Matt Skiber" began to privately message dozens of pro-Trump Facebook
groups asking them to help plan a "pro-Trump rally near Trump Tower." 55
"How Russian Trolls Crept into the Trump Campaign's Facebook Messages" (click here)
The Russians, not the Kochs, were organizing rallies. That doesn't matter? No one in the right wing political spectrum bothered to ask, "Who is doing all this?" Why? All of a sudden there is some kind of wealthy benefactor to right wing political groups and no one asks any questions?
To reach larger U.S. audiences, the IRA purchased advertisements from Facebook that
promoted the IRA groups on the newsfeeds of U.S. audience members. According to Facebook,
the IRA purchased over 3,500 advertisements, and the expenditures totaled approximately
$100,000.56
Not bad, $100,000 comes into the political scene in the USA and no one bothers to understand it. 3500 ads. 3500 ads. That is a lot of ads. And the most darn thing about it is that they all led back to the Russian IRA accounts. New names, new identities and no one on the political right even once paused that they were seeing the competition that was unidentifiable in their realm. Never once? 3500 ads and $100,000 is hardly covert. I find that strange. See if I was promoting a candidate or an issue and all of a sudden new ads show up that parallel my efforts, I sure would want to know who was trying to take control of my efforts. Who was the competition and could they cause harm to my candidate or my issue? Yet, never once did the political right wing question any of it.
During the U.S. presidential campaign, many IRA-purchased advertisements explicitly
supported or opposed a presidential candidate or promoted U.S. rallies organized by the IRA
( discussed below). As early as March 2016, the IRA purchased advertisements that overtly
opposed the Clinton Campaign. For example, on March 18, 2016, the IRA purchased an
advertisement depicting candidate Clinton and a caption that read in part, "If one day God lets
this liar enter the White House as a president - that day would be a real national tragedy."57
Similarly, on April 6, 2016, the IRA purchased advertisements for its account "Black Matters"
calling for a "flashmob" of U.S. persons to "take a photo with #HillaryClintonForPrison2016 or
#nohillary2016."58 IRA-purchased advertisements featuring Clinton were, with very few
exceptions, negative.59
The rally stuff is such a sore thumb. It sticks out, unlike even campaign ads. The IRA was able to harness Facebook in a way that drove people to rallies. Wow.
Americans aren't thinking about the importance of their own country when they allow this level of covert activity into their politics. This is something everyone needs to worry about. Everyone.
IRA-purchased advertisements referencing candidate Trump largely supported his
campaign. The first known IRA advertisement explicitly endorsing the Trump Campaign was
purchased on April 19, 2016. The IRA bought an advertisement for its Instagram account "Tea
Party News" asking U.S. persons to help them "make a patriotic team of young Trump supporters"
by uploading photos with the hashtag "#KIDS4TRUMP."60 In subsequent months, the IRA
purchased dozens of advertisements supporting the Trump Campaign, predominantly through the
Facebook groups "Being Patriotic," "Stop All Invaders," and "Secured Borders."
The Russian IRA was targeting young minds. The clue about the misguided ads showed up on April 19, 2016 as "Tea Party News." Isn't the Tea Party a protected trademark? The Russian IRA shows up with "Tea Party News" and no one blinked an eye. The Tea Party did not have control of "Tea Party News." That never bothered anyone. And then an assault on children and young minds. No one was the least bit troubled by it.
continued in next entry
