Russian Attempts at American Mind Control Continue

It is high time we accept the fact that the Russian government is engaged in a massive propaganda campaign aimed at getting Americans to fight with each other. It’s been going on for a long time.

After Russian attempts to influence our last presidential election were exposed you might have thought they would back off their social media dis-information campaign. But no.

Even though there are multiple investigations into last year’s Kremlin-inspired campaign to sow American dissent on a wide range of hot-button issues (presumably so voters would be convinced to reject Democratic Party candidates) the Russians are still at it. That’s according to top members of the Senate Intelligence Committee who are worried about the potential chaos Russian propaganda might have on future U.S. elections, like the ones taking place across the country next month and next year.

Here’s a quick primer on their insidious efforts to disrupt America’s social fabric and mold the way we think and interact with each other: Agents of the Kremlin set up countless phony social media sites with attractive sounding names like “Being Patriotic,” “United Muslims of America,” “Defend the 2nd” and “Blacktivist.”  They then glom on to existing posts in which Americans have expressed outrage about the U.S. government, race relations, gun rights, immigration or tax policies and any number of other divisive issues.

The Russian provocateurs fan the flames of our passionate discourse by embellishing the messages and disseminating them to a much wider audience than the original postings would have ever reached.

In other words, the Russians are using our own disagreements against us.  I wonder how many Americans have already been swayed by Russian instigated propaganda and don’t even realize it.

Among the Russian generated posts designed to stoke American anger: a manufactured hoax about Muslim men in Michigan collecting welfare for up to four wives. A Russian sponsored Facebook page with a headline that that read, “Bridgeport cop shot, handcuffed black teen and left him in the street for 6 hours as he bled to death.” And a concocted story from the aforementioned Being Patriotic site erroneously claiming that 50,000 homeless U.S. veterans are starving in the streets while, “liberals want to invite 620,000 refugees” to our country.”

All those stories are untrue but you can bet some internet addicts believed the hate-filled missives and passed them on.

You see the sinister thinking behind the Kremlin’s campaign here? Grab an issue, twist it for maximum negative effect then sit back and watch Americans argue with each other until rage erupts.

Why, you might ask, would a foreign power want to do this? Because Russia realizes today’s wars are no longer fought on a battlefield with guns and tanks. They take place behind a keyboard, on a stage called the world wide web and the best weapon they can employ is one that erodes the common sense of their enemy. The Russians know a divided nation is much easier to defeat than a united one.

This is not new behavior. After World War II the (then) Soviet Union tried to spread its socialist propaganda via Radio Moscow and a newspaper called The Daily Worker. But back then the audience for their pro-communist message was miniscule when compared with today’s worldwide reach of the internet.

Americans loathe censorship and social media thrives on lively give-and-take discussions. But even executives at Facebook, Twitter and Google agree there is a problem here. Facebook now admits that in 2016 it accepted money for more than 3,000 ads purchased by agents connected to the Internet Research Agency. That group has been described as, “a secretive company known for spreading Kremlin-linked propaganda … part of a highly coordinated disinformation campaign that sought to sow chaos and exploit divisive (American) social issues.”

Top officials from Facebook, Twitter and Google are set to testify before Congress early next month to see if there is some way to curb the Kremlin’s continuing campaign against us.

There is no specific U.S. law against what agents of the Russian state are doing. Our First Amendment allows everyone the right to express his or her self. So, it is up to us, the readers, to use our critical thinking skills to identify the hyped Russian posts for what they are – a sick device deigned to get us to turn on each other. This Moscow mind manipulation is yet another important reminder not to believe everything you read on the internet.

It seems that we come together as Americans only after a national crisis like the senseless massacre of innocents in Las Vegas, the hurricane devastation in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico. We squabble about everything these days and say ugly things about other’s opinions. This is just what the Russians are aiming for.

Let’s stop giving it to them.

 

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10 Comments

  1. Diane Dimond on October 16, 2017 at 11:02 am

    Creators Syndicate Reader BeneBeth writes:

    Diane, love you, but I’m going to disagree on this one. I’ve been following politics and political discord for over forty years. This began with the Clintons in the 90’s and has never abated but has escalated. Whenever you think maybe things will be quieter the Clintons pop out another bumper sticker cliché to get the ball rolling again. Democrats have turned into socialists/communists which was especially propagated by Obama. Hating America is a democrat thing, and if they got their ideas from Russia, don’t blame Russia. I’ve been studying WWII Germany for years and their motto was “Keep them worked up, give them something to hate, and keep it simple”. I certainly see the analogy between then and the democrats now.

    • Diane Dimond on October 16, 2017 at 11:02 am

      DD replies:

      I don’t think we disagree that much, BeneBeth.

  2. Diane Dimond on October 16, 2017 at 11:04 am

    Noozhawk Reader Monterey Jack writes:

    Propaganda never stops in the domestic mass media.

    • Diane Dimond on October 16, 2017 at 11:04 am

      Noozhawk Reader MaxWebXperienZ replies:

      Russia couldn’t hold a candle to that garbage conveyor belt that dumps out into our living rooms… I shut it off decades ago and never miss it for a second and I highly recommend that to anybody and everybody that will listen.
      Speaking of Russia, the Democrats are still saying they were hacked. They might have been hacked, they aren’t the brightest bulbs for sure, but it was a disgusted insider that handed the stuff over to Julian Assange. They still play the victim of course, Hillary is claiming she was victimized by anybody and everybody she can think of…

  3. Diane Dimond on October 16, 2017 at 11:05 am

    Noozhawk Reader mcgyvergirl writes:

    Do you have proof? Saying Facebook said it, doesn’t make it true! I personally believe the only people that benefit from us being a divided nation…are the people that own us. How does Russia benefit by the US being divided…are they planning on invading us? Anyone can say anything…it doesn’t make it true! I don’t buy the Russian narrative.

    • Diane Dimond on October 16, 2017 at 11:06 am

      DD replies:

      Really? The United States Congress seems pretty convinced its true. Along with more than a dozen US intelligence agencies.

  4. Diane Dimond on October 16, 2017 at 2:10 pm

    Facebook Friend Sandi Chaykin Teller writes:

    The sad fact is most don’t research anything ! They see a headline and jump.

    • Diane Dimond on October 16, 2017 at 2:10 pm

      Facebook Friend Joya Colucci Lord replies:

      You’re so right, Sandi. Either they see a headline they agree with and share, share, share, or they see one they disagree with and whine, whine, whine.

  5. Diane Dimond on October 16, 2017 at 2:10 pm

    Facebook Friend Stephanie McGowin writes:

    It WASN’T Russia, that made me vote for President President Donald J. Trump. It was Hillary Clinton. She never had my vote.

  6. Diane Dimond on October 19, 2017 at 1:29 pm

    Facebook Friend Ronald Jeffries Tallman writes:

    It’s not so much they helped one party; they set out to hurt one and they certainly did. I followed many right siders, uneducated it seemed to see what they were thinking, prior the election. I couldn’t believe the things they were buying into about Hillary Clinton. The Russians played into the fear that a democratic president would take people’s guns away. We should know congress would have to do. Fake news spread like wildfire, the polls were wrong. Collusion, probably not. Look the other way, likely.

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