John,

On Wednesday, the Department of Justice charged two Russian citizens for a $10 million misinformation campaign designed to sow political division and influence the 2024 election.

The details of the case were alarming: 

According to the DOJ, Russia used fake news websites designed to look like real ones to spread misinformation on the Internet. And with the help of AI and new technology, the convincing fake news spread rapidly, reaching tens of millions of Americans.

It’s the same operation they used in 2016 but on a much larger, more sophisticated scale.

In fact, the fake news was so convincing, famous MAGA-world influencers promoted it on their shows and social media profiles.

We’ll explain more in a minute, but if you’d like to support COURIER’s efforts to combat the lies and fake news right-wingers spread online, can you chip in $25 now?

The DOJ’s indictments revealed what we have known since 2016: right-wing media personalities bear responsibility for the ease and speed with which Russia has been able to spread misinformation and influence our elections.

To put it lightly, MAGA-world is… getting a little defensive. Here’s what we mean: 

• Fox News’ Laura Ingraham accused the DOJ of using the indictments to “lay the ground for more censorship,” before arguing that the real threat to American elections is from the “enemy within.”
• Jesse Watters denied Russia’s influence on the right, claiming the misinformation campaign “didn't change the way they talked on the internet,” and mocked the DOJ, saying “This show tonight has all the earmarks of Russian propaganda.”
• On Newsmax, Chris Plante claimed Democrats were “panicked” at the potential of losing the 2024 election and were resorting to “their playbook… when all else fails: Blame Russia.”

Here’s the thing, John: creating more conspiracies and lies is just fanning the flame of misinformation. And by avoiding introspection and accountability, the right-wing media is helping Russia influence our elections even further.

It’s not just helping Trump win. It’s anti-democratic, and it flies in the face of everything America stands for.

Here at COURIER, we’re committed to correcting conspiracy theories and misinformation online, whether it’s from foreign bad actors or MAGA personalities. We publish fearless, factual news in the places people are most likely to encounter misinformation – on social media news feeds and in email inboxes – to counter misinformation at the source.

To continue doing this important work, we count on donations from supporters like you. Can you chip in $25 today to help us out?

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Thanks,
COURIER