The Internet Research Agency, a well-researched Russian company in St. Petersburg whose function is to spread pro-Russian propaganda and sow political discord in nations perceived as hostile to Russia.

The secretive firm is bankrolled by Yevgeny Prigozhin, CNN reported, a Russian oligarch who is a close ally of President Vladimir Putin.

…”Our task was to set Americans against their own government: to provoke unrest and discontent, and to lower Obama’s support ratings.”

…The Russian desk, which was primarily made up of bots and trolls, used fake social-media accounts to flood the internet with pro-Trump agitprop and made-up news throughout the US presidential campaign, especially in the days leading up to the November election.

…The foreign desk …[was] geared toward understanding the “nuances” of American politics to “rock the boat” on divisive issues like gun control and LGBT rights.

…An entire department, the “Department of Provocations,” was dedicated to that goal: Its primary objective was to disseminate fake news and sow discord in the West.

…[They even] went one step further by organizing events, rallies, and protests. The Internet Research Agency hired 100 American activists over the internet to hold 40 rallies across different US cities. Those people did not know they were working for a Russian organization, according to the investigation.

…In 2016 Russia’s propaganda network on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter could have reached 30 million people a week, and a Columbia University social-media analyst published research that found that Russian propaganda may have been shared billions of times on Facebook alone.

New details about a ‘troll farm’ shed light on Russia’s election meddling – Business Insider

hmmm