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U.S. to Accuse Russia of Using Its State Media to Influence 2024 Election

13 points by howard941 2y ago

blackeyeblitzar 2y ago
Sorry but I am far more skeptical of domestic government agencies making vague claims of interference than I am of ideas being exchanged out in the open. We saw how wrong agencies were on prior accusations of Russian interference and on issues like the lab leak theory. This new effort looks like a way to block access to RT. But then why stop there. What about NPR or BBC or Al Jazeera? These are all state funded news media with influence on our elections. It’s arbitrary suppression of speech and press, nothing more. Not to mention, interference in speech that helps one candidate - as the article indicates - is direct interference in our political process. > Attorney General Merrick B. Garland on Wednesday announced actions by the Justice Department, including the indictment of two Russian employees of RT, the state-owned broadcaster, who used a company in Tennessee to spread content, and the takedown of a Russian malign influence campaign known as Doppelganger. > “The American people are entitled to know when a foreign power engages in political activities or seeks to influence public discourse,” Mr. Garland said. Are they entitled to know that? Why does it matter when a foreign power is involved? Domestic powers interfere in public discourse to a much greater extent - for example tech companies through their vast moderation and censorship schemes, and compliance with the Biden administration’s unconstitutional demands for censorship of speech. Their corruption of elections - for example on controversial topics like BLM or Hunter Biden or COVID - is far worse. > The actions include sanctions, indictments and seizing of web domains that U.S. officials say the Kremlin uses to spread propaganda and disinformation about Ukraine, which Russia invaded more than two years ago. There is just as much propaganda and disinformation from the EU and America on this issue. How many of these countries or their news media acknowledge the illegal and unconstitutional coup in Ukraine in 2014, which ousted a pro Russia democratically elected president through force? If you even mention this on places like Reddit you’ll get banned. But the only way to properly evaluate a complex issue like this is to be able to hear all sides. Which is why RT and other sources should be available and not attacked in this way.
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 2y ago
  [flagged]
- mopsi 2y ago
  > How many of these countries or their news media acknowledge the illegal and unconstitutional coup in Ukraine in 2014, which ousted a pro Russia democratically elected president through force? There was no such thing. This "pro Russia democratically elected president" got over 100 protesters killed and with the help of Russian secret services, ran away from Ukraine after realizing that he had lost all political support in the country and would be facing jailtime. Ukrainian parliament assembled and with 328-vs-0 votes set a date for new elections, which were held soon thereafter, and results of which have been recognized by everyone, including Russia (albeit after a small delay). The loss of political support of this "democratically elected president" is best exemplified by the fact that not even a single person from his own party voted in support of him. How have you arrived at believing and redistributing complete misinformation?
  - blackeyeblitzar 2y ago
    [flagged]
    - mopsi 2y ago
      > Well, he “ran away” because insurrectionists were trying to kill him. Nope. He ran away because his entire political backing vanished overnight after bodies piled up. His own party disowned him and issued a statement condemning his criminal actions. From that moment on, it was clear that he would be facing criminal prosecution and a long time in jail. He chose to save his skin and run. > It also doesn’t mean anything because there is a constitutional process for impeachment, which was not followed. That makes the 2014 incident a coup. This coup is what triggered the Crimean invasion and eventually, the current conflict. There were several options for solving the crisis that Yanukovych had created. With the support of all political factions, Ukrainian parliament unanimously voted in favor of early elections. There is no reason whatsoever to call early elections a coup. Asking for renewed mandate from the electorate is the polar opposite of a small group overthrowing a government, as coup is commonly understood. As to Russia, if we go by what they've inscribed on the Crimean campaign medal, then they launched the invasion of Crimea when Yanukovych was still in office: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medal_%22For_the_Return_of_Crimea%22 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medal_%22For_the_Return_of_Cri...
JohnMakin 2y ago
> The Justice Department and the F.B.I. have also been investigating a handful of Americans accused of knowingly spreading false Kremlin narratives. But officials have emphasized that they are not aiming to curb free speech. Americans who merely repeat or spread stories they see on Russian state media are not being investigated as part of the efforts, officials said. Here's the exact thing. If I, as an American citizen, want to spread misinformation about an election on the internet, as far as I am aware, this is my absolute right, and not a crime. The only reason Russia has been so effective at this is because they're using our own networks against us - the right people to "investigate" here are not american citizens, but the mega corporations that give a platform to foreign influence campaigns. The funny thing is, a lot of the time the Russian "misinformation" is just parroting stuff straight from the Trump campaign. We call it "misinformation" when it's a foreign government, but if a politician does it, it's "campaigning." I am absolutely not arguing in favor of propaganda and misinformation, but I do take quite a bit of umbrage at American citizens being "investigated" for repeating Kremlin narratives, which don't really differ too far from Trump campaign narratives these days. edit: the americans investigated here appeared on russian television networks. Probably a bit more than what I am talking about, but I hate the idea of this on its face.

13 points by howard941 2y ago

Sorry but I am far more skeptical of domestic government agencies making vague claims of interference than I am of ideas being exchanged out in the open. We saw how wrong agencies were on prior accusations of Russian interference and on issues like the lab leak theory. This new effort looks like a way to block access to RT. But then why stop there. What about NPR or BBC or Al Jazeera? These are all state funded news media with influence on our elections. It’s arbitrary suppression of speech and press, nothing more. Not to mention, interference in speech that helps one candidate - as the article indicates - is direct interference in our political process. > Attorney General Merrick B. Garland on Wednesday announced actions by the Justice Department, including the indictment of two Russian employees of RT, the state-owned broadcaster, who used a company in Tennessee to spread content, and the takedown of a Russian malign influence campaign known as Doppelganger. > “The American people are entitled to know when a foreign power engages in political activities or seeks to influence public discourse,” Mr. Garland said. Are they entitled to know that? Why does it matter when a foreign power is involved? Domestic powers interfere in public discourse to a much greater extent - for example tech companies through their vast moderation and censorship schemes, and compliance with the Biden administration’s unconstitutional demands for censorship of speech. Their corruption of elections - for example on controversial topics like BLM or Hunter Biden or COVID - is far worse. > The actions include sanctions, indictments and seizing of web domains that U.S. officials say the Kremlin uses to spread propaganda and disinformation about Ukraine, which Russia invaded more than two years ago. There is just as much propaganda and disinformation from the EU and America on this issue. How many of these countries or their news media acknowledge the illegal and unconstitutional coup in Ukraine in 2014, which ousted a pro Russia democratically elected president through force? If you even mention this on places like Reddit you’ll get banned. But the only way to properly evaluate a complex issue like this is to be able to hear all sides. Which is why RT and other sources should be available and not attacked in this way.

2OEH8eoCRo0 2y ago
[flagged]
mopsi 2y ago
> How many of these countries or their news media acknowledge the illegal and unconstitutional coup in Ukraine in 2014, which ousted a pro Russia democratically elected president through force? There was no such thing. This "pro Russia democratically elected president" got over 100 protesters killed and with the help of Russian secret services, ran away from Ukraine after realizing that he had lost all political support in the country and would be facing jailtime. Ukrainian parliament assembled and with 328-vs-0 votes set a date for new elections, which were held soon thereafter, and results of which have been recognized by everyone, including Russia (albeit after a small delay). The loss of political support of this "democratically elected president" is best exemplified by the fact that not even a single person from his own party voted in support of him. How have you arrived at believing and redistributing complete misinformation?
- blackeyeblitzar 2y ago
  [flagged]
  - mopsi 2y ago
    > Well, he “ran away” because insurrectionists were trying to kill him. Nope. He ran away because his entire political backing vanished overnight after bodies piled up. His own party disowned him and issued a statement condemning his criminal actions. From that moment on, it was clear that he would be facing criminal prosecution and a long time in jail. He chose to save his skin and run. > It also doesn’t mean anything because there is a constitutional process for impeachment, which was not followed. That makes the 2014 incident a coup. This coup is what triggered the Crimean invasion and eventually, the current conflict. There were several options for solving the crisis that Yanukovych had created. With the support of all political factions, Ukrainian parliament unanimously voted in favor of early elections. There is no reason whatsoever to call early elections a coup. Asking for renewed mandate from the electorate is the polar opposite of a small group overthrowing a government, as coup is commonly understood. As to Russia, if we go by what they've inscribed on the Crimean campaign medal, then they launched the invasion of Crimea when Yanukovych was still in office: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medal_%22For_the_Return_of_Crimea%22 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medal_%22For_the_Return_of_Cri...

JohnMakin 2y ago

> The Justice Department and the F.B.I. have also been investigating a handful of Americans accused of knowingly spreading false Kremlin narratives. But officials have emphasized that they are not aiming to curb free speech. Americans who merely repeat or spread stories they see on Russian state media are not being investigated as part of the efforts, officials said. Here's the exact thing. If I, as an American citizen, want to spread misinformation about an election on the internet, as far as I am aware, this is my absolute right, and not a crime. The only reason Russia has been so effective at this is because they're using our own networks against us - the right people to "investigate" here are not american citizens, but the mega corporations that give a platform to foreign influence campaigns. The funny thing is, a lot of the time the Russian "misinformation" is just parroting stuff straight from the Trump campaign. We call it "misinformation" when it's a foreign government, but if a politician does it, it's "campaigning." I am absolutely not arguing in favor of propaganda and misinformation, but I do take quite a bit of umbrage at American citizens being "investigated" for repeating Kremlin narratives, which don't really differ too far from Trump campaign narratives these days. edit: the americans investigated here appeared on russian television networks. Probably a bit more than what I am talking about, but I hate the idea of this on its face.