How the Russia-backed disinformation campaign uses Twitter

This appeared in The Millennial Source

Starting with the Iowa caucuses in February, the 2020 US presidential campaign began in earnest, but Russia’s disinformation campaign started far earlier.

In the years after the 2016 election, intelligence officials and data scientists have come to the same conclusion: Russian agents used troll farms to spread discord and deepen divides in America.

While the term “troll” on the internet generally refers to an aggressively antagonistic persona, experts warn that Russian trolls stir the pot by building up alliances, not tearing them down. By capitalizing on the beliefs and biases of social media users, these troll accounts build substantial audiences who unknowingly spread disinformation.

The 2020 presidential campaign

In his testimony to Congress in July 2019, special counsel Robert Mueller gave a stark warning about Russian efforts to undermine US elections: “They’re doing it as we sit here. And they expect to do it during the next campaign.”

Mueller and his team of investigators were appointed to determine if President Donald Trump had coordinated with Russia in its attempts to interfere in the 2016 election.