US Accuses Russia of Interfering in 2024 Election, Seizes Websites and Sanctions Individuals
Washington, D.C. – The Bidenadministration on Wednesday accused the Russian government of attempting to influence the upcoming US presidential election, announcing a series of actions to counter what it described as a covert disinformation campaign.
The US government alleged that Russian actors have been operating websites and social media accounts to spread propaganda favorable to Moscow’s interests, evencreating fake social media personas to comment on posts and lend credibility to their efforts.
The Russian government and its proxies are actively accelerating the Kremlin’s covert efforts to spread disinformation, said Matthew G. Olsen, Assistant Attorney General forNational Security, in a statement. This seizure vividly illustrates the problem that the US government and private sector partners have been warning about for months: the Russian government and its proxies are actively accelerating the Kremlin’s covert efforts to spread disinformation andamplify false narratives targeting the American public.
One of the alleged influence operations involved RT, the Russian state-controlled media outlet, funding a Tennessee-based company that produced videos on YouTube that garnered millions of views. The Justice Department announced the actions during a special task force meeting on election threats.
In another alleged operation, the Justice Department said the Russian government directed a Russian company to spread propaganda on multiple websites, aiming to reduce support for Ukraine, promote Russian interests, and influence voters in the US presidential election. The US government announced the ongoing seizure of 32 internet domains associated with the influence operation, dubbed Duble, claiming they violated US money laundering and trademark laws.
The US alleged that the influence operation was directed by members of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle, who created media brands or closely mimicked existing ones to spread Russian government propaganda. They also allegedly created fake social media personas of non-Russian citizens to postcomments.
The Treasury Department also sanctioned 10 individuals and two entities allegedly linked to the scheme. The State Department announced a new policy prohibiting the issuance of visas to individuals engaging in covert influence operations on behalf of Kremlin-backed media organizations.
In a separate indictment, the Justice Department accused two employees ofRT of conspiring to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) and engaging in money laundering. In a newly unsealed indictment, the Justice Department alleged that RT provided nearly $10 million in funding to a Tennessee-based online content creation company to produce videos on TikTok, X (formerly Twitter),and YouTube. The unnamed company’s videos on YouTube alone garnered nearly 16 million views since 2023, according to the Justice Department. The videos, while varying in perspective, all focused on topics like immigration and inflation, most of which were targeted at goals openly espoused by the Russian governmentand RT – to amplify domestic divisions in the United States, the Justice Department said.
This is not the first time the US has accused Russia of interfering in elections. After the 2016 election, law enforcement officials indicted Russian agents on charges related to election interference, including computer hacking. In 2020, the Senate Intelligence Committee released a report concluding that President Putin had authorized an influence operation aimed at supporting Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential bid.
The Biden administration used Wednesday’s announcements to warn malicious actors against interfering with US elections. The Justice Department will not tolerate authoritarian regimesseeking to exploit our freedom of thought and communication to advance their own propaganda, Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement announcing the indictment against RT employees. Our investigation into this matter is ongoing.
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