• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Wednesday, November 29, 2023
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home Featured

Russian Troll Farm Aimed to Discourage Black US Voters [Study]

Staff Writer by Staff Writer
12/19/18
in Featured, National
A Russian church

Photo: Mladen Antonov, AFP

87
SHARES
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

The Russian troll farm that disrupted the 2016 U.S. presidential election sought particularly to demoralize African-Americans and discourage them from voting, according to a comprehensive new report for the Senate.

The primary goal of the St. Petersburg-based Internet Research Agency (IRA) was to deepen divisions in U.S. society and convince Democrat-favoring liberals — including Latinos, youths and the LGBTQ community — not to vote, the report said.

But the most extensive analysis yet of thousands of IRA ads and posts across social media platforms in 2015-2017 showed a special emphasis on provoking the anger of black Americans so that they would stay home on election day.

The IRA-created account “Blacktivist” sent out messages on the Democratic candidate such as: “No lives matter to Hillary Clinton. Only votes matter to Hillary Clinton.”

Another IRA account, “Black Matters,” posted on Facebook: “Cops kill black kids. Are you sure that your son won’t be the next?”

“It is evident that the campaigns sought to demobilize African Americans, LGBT, and liberal voters,” said the report by the Computational Propaganda Project at Oxford University and social media specialists Graphika.

“These campaigns pushed a message that the best way to advance the cause of the African American community was to boycott the election and focus on other issues instead.”

This is why it infuriates me when our community ignores the Russia investigation. Black voters were a key target of this misinformation and manipulation effort by Russia. Race is the most reliable source of division in American politics. https://t.co/7tt39waYsJ

— Sherrilyn Ifill (@Sifill_LDF) December 17, 2018

Separately, a portion of the 3,841 IRA accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube studied by the researchers sought to provoke Republican-leaning white Americans to get out and vote.

While the study did not draw any lines between the IRA propaganda and the election results — Republican Donald Trump stunned Clinton to take the White House — post-election data suggests some impact.

According to the Pew Research Center, white voter turnout surged in 2016 while black turnout sank by five percentage points, to 59.6 percent, from four years earlier.

The IRA was set up by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a businessman close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, as a domestic social media propaganda operation.

With Troll Farms Flourishing in Russia, Is There a Way to Fight Fake News?

The study showed the IRA U.S. campaign began in 2015, aiming to mobilize conservative voters, with no specific backing for Trump at the time.

But as the then-candidate gained support, and especially when he drove his anti-immigrant message, the IRA posts turned in his favor.

The IRA had “coherent teams,” formed around specific ideologies such as gun rights and LGBTQ issues, that directed posts using user profile data provided by advertising arms of the social media companies.

In light of Russia news, it's worth noting black turnout declined in 2016 for 1st time in 20 yrs, falling to 59.6% after reaching record 66.6% in 2012. That 7-point decline is the largest on record for blacks. No. of black voters also fell by about 765,000 https://t.co/PBUEJEv1hO

— (((JonathanWeisman))) (@jonathanweisman) December 17, 2018

Share3Tweet
Staff Writer

Staff Writer

AFP with The Globe Post

Related Posts

Ukraine war
National

NATO Chief Says ‘No Alternative’ to Helping Ukraine Stop Putin

by Staff Writer
November 27, 2023
Migrants stranded at the Finland border
Refugees

Russia Warns of a ‘Crisis’ at Arctic Border With Finland

by Staff Writer
November 22, 2023
Pro-Trump protester in front of Capitol Hill.
Opinion

The Ominous (and Irresponsible) Chatter of a Civil War 

by Stephen J. Lyons
September 4, 2023
An elderly woman pulls a trolley bag past a destroyed building in Bakhmut in Ukraine's Donetsk
World

Sweden Pledges Over $500M to Rebuild Ukraine

by Staff Writer
July 17, 2023
President Donald Trump in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House.
Opinion

Boxing Day Comes to South Florida

by Stephen J. Lyons
July 5, 2023
Ursula von der Leyen
World

EU Asks Member States for €50B to Support Ukraine

by Staff Writer
June 20, 2023
Next Post
Health Care Protest

About 3 in 10 Americans Delayed Medical Treatment Due to Cost in 2018

Anti-carbon tax protesters in front of Parliament House in Canberra on in August 2011

Taking Care of Environment Shouldn’t Be Expensive

Recommended

Dutch politician Geert Wilders

Xenophobia in the Netherlands? Unpacking the PVV’s Surprising Success

November 28, 2023
Ukraine war

NATO Chief Says ‘No Alternative’ to Helping Ukraine Stop Putin

November 27, 2023
Migrants stranded at the Finland border

Russia Warns of a ‘Crisis’ at Arctic Border With Finland

November 22, 2023
People march against climate change in Bordeaux, southwestern France, on October 13, 2018.

Earth to Warm Up to 2.9C Even With Current Climate Pledges: UN

November 20, 2023
A woman in Singapore checks her mobile

Singapore and Indonesia Launch Cross-Border QR-Code Payments

November 17, 2023
This illustration picture shows the AI (Artificial Intelligence) smartphone app ChatGPT surrounded by other AI Apps in Vaasa, on June 6, 2023

AI Images of White Faces Are Now ‘Hyper-Real’: Study

November 13, 2023

Opinion

Dutch politician Geert Wilders

Xenophobia in the Netherlands? Unpacking the PVV’s Surprising Success

November 28, 2023
Afghan refugees

The Blessed and Cursed Randomness of Our Lives

October 25, 2023
Joe Biden

The ‘Polycrisis’ Challenge: Biden’s Vision for Global Problem-Solving

September 26, 2023
Pro-Trump protester in front of Capitol Hill.

The Ominous (and Irresponsible) Chatter of a Civil War 

September 4, 2023
A bamboo-based design raises family homes safely above water levels to cope with raising water levels in Bangladesh.

The West Owes Climate Refugees Reparations Now

August 14, 2023
President Donald Trump in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House.

Boxing Day Comes to South Florida

July 5, 2023
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post