The United States is providing a reward of up to $10 million for information that helps prevent or disrupts foreign election interference linked to the Russian state-sponsored Rybar media organization, the U.S. State Department announced. Rybar and its employees are accused of using social media to meddle in the upcoming U.S. presidential election.
The established bounty comes as the U.S. continues to crackdown on supposed Russian election interference.
On Sept. 4, amid the presidential election campaign period, the U.S. announced sanctions against high-profile Russian propagandists like Margarita Simonyan and seized 32 internet domains linked to Kremlin propaganda campaigns.
Rybar LLC, founded by the now deceased founder of Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, is a state-funded Russian media organization that is contracted by Russian state-owned arms manufacturer Rostec, according to the State Department's Rewards for Justice program.
Rybar's employees manage multiple social media channels synonymous with conservative movements in the United States, including the #HOLDTHELINE and #STANDWTHTEXAS social media channels.
Ahead of the 2024 presidential election, Ryabr created the "TEXASvsUSA" channel on social media platform X, intended to "exploit the issue of undocumented immigrants crossing the Texas border," the State Department said.
Through the use of its latest social media channel, the State Department alleges that Rybar seeks "to sow discord, promote social division, stoke partisan and racial discord, and encourage hate and violence in the United States."
Rybar and its employees are included among a list of 8 individuals or entities that the State Department lists as having rewards associated with their capture.
Russia has been accused of 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.
Trump is running for president a third time, and will face off against Vice President Kamala Harris in November. U.S. intelligence officials said they "have not observed a shift in Russia's preferences for the presidential race from past elections."
Abbey Fenbert
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