Russia’s meddling in the U.S. presidential elections is “more sophisticated” than before, U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told Voice of America’s Russian service on Sept. 7.
According to him, Russia is using artificial intelligence and funding companies in the U.S., including an unnamed Tennessee-based company, identified by the media as far-right propaganda outlet Tenet Media.
“It's not just about Russian bots, trolls, and fake personas in social networks, although that's part of it too, but they've become much more sophisticated," Kirby said.
He claimed there is “no doubt” the Kremlin is using propaganda and disinformation to “sow discord” among the U.S. population. He urged citizens to take the threats seriously.
Kirby’s comments come as the U.S. launched a crackdown on Russian propaganda machines on Sept. 4, particularly state media RT, formerly Russia Today, and its subsidiaries. Washington seized 32 internet domains and imposed sanctions on RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan, RT Deputy Editor-in-Chief Elizaveta Brodskaia, and Director of the RT English-Language Andrey Kiyashko.
The U.S. has nicknamed Russia’s propaganda operation “Doppelganger” and initially warned of a disinformation campaign in July. An internal planning document stated that the Russian government's goal is to "secure Russia's preferred outcome in the election," U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said.
According to a senior U.S. intelligence official, the Kremlin is pushing U.S. voters toward presidential candidate Donald Trump, Reuters reported. Russia has previously been accused of election meddling and using social media disinformation, bot farms, and other means to back Donald Trump against his Democratic opponents – Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden – during the 2016 and 2020 elections.
"We will allow investigators to discover the facts as they are received and will take appropriate measures,” Kirby said.
Dmytro Basmat
(Updated: )
