U.S. announces plan to counter Russian influence ahead of 2024 election
The United States on Wednesday announced a broad effort to push back on Russian influence campaigns in the 2024 election, trying to curb the Kremlin’s use of state-run media and fake news sites to sway American voters.
The actions include sanctions, indictments and seizing of web domains that U.S. officials say the Kremlin uses to spread propaganda and disinformation about Ukraine, which Russia invaded more than two years ago.
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland on Wednesday announced actions by the Justice Department, including the indictment of two Russian employees of RT, the state-owned broadcaster, who used a company in Tennessee to spread content, and the takedown of a Russian malign influence campaign known as Doppelganger.
“The American people are entitled to know when a foreign power engages in political activities or seeks to influence public discourse,” Mr. Garland said.
The Treasury Department sanctioned ANO Dialog, a Russian nonprofit that helps run the Doppleganger network, as well as the editor in chief of RT, Margarita S. Simonyan, and her deputies.
The State Department has offered a $10 million reward for information pertaining to foreign interference in an American election and sanctioned five Russian state-funded news outlets, including RT, Ruptly and Sputnik.
American officials have been stepping up their warnings about Russian election influence efforts. American spy agencies have assessed that the Kremlin favors former President Donald J. Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris in the November contest, seeing him as more skeptical of U.S. support for Ukraine.
Mr. Garland said the charges announced on Wednesday were not the end of the case: “The investigation is ongoing.”
The Justice Department and the F.B.I. have also been investigating a handful of Americans accused of knowingly spreading false Kremlin narratives. But officials have emphasized they are not aiming to curb free speech. Americans who merely repeat or spread stories they see on Russian state media are not being investigated as part of the efforts, officials said. [Continue reading…]