Hi John,
Last month, the Department of Justice charged two Russian citizens in connection with a $10 million misinformation campaign aimed at sowing division and influencing the 2024 Presidential election.
Unfortunately, even after these criminal indictments, Putin’s attempts to interfere with U.S. elections didn’t stop.
According to The Washington Post, far-right influencers, backed by Russian state media, continued to spread falsehoods to their large audiences. This included debunked claims, such as the bizarre story about Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, eating pets.
In addition to the indictments, the U.S. government seized 32 websites publishing fake news stories—mimicking outlets like Fox News and The Washington Post—in an attempt to disrupt the flow of Russian disinformation. Despite these efforts, Russian bot accounts, now aided by AI, continue to spread “doppelganger” articles on faked versions of established media.
These lies are dangerous:
- Some fake articles insinuated the Secret Service was complicit in assassination attempts against Trump.
- Others spread outright lies about Kamala Harris, alleging she has Alzheimer’s and is pushing puberty blockers due to secret ties to “Big Pharma.”
- A baseless conspiracy about Springfield, Ohio, was amplified by Russian bots, turning a random Facebook post into a viral smear. That lie was then used by Trump and JD Vance to amplify their fear campaign about immigrants.
The Springfield pets lie, and the way Trump and Vance used it, shows just how destructive foreign interference campaigns can be for our elections and communities.
Right-wing politicians are not afraid to weaponize these lies to spread hate and consolidate power.
That’s why COURIER exists—to counteract the harmful impact of misinformation in American elections and to strengthen our democracy. We tackle right-wing conspiracy theories and disinformation where they spread the fastest: online, on social media, and in the inboxes of communities most at risk of encountering these falsehoods. We provide fearless, fact-based local news coverage to fight misinformation at its source. We want to build stronger communities and a better democracy.
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Thank you so much,
COURIER