Monash Expert: US accuses Russia of 2024 election interference
Monash University
The Biden administration has accused Russia of carrying out a sustained campaign of disinformation targeted at American voters with the aim of influencing the outcome of November’s presidential elections.
Associate Professor Emma Briant, (Associate Professor of News and Political Communication, Faculty of Arts) says:
“The US Department of Justice indictments today give vital evidence to illustrate how it’s not just bots, trolls and ads we need to worry about in the disinformation wars… this is a classic example of how old school covert intelligence techniques of funnelling money and narratives to unethical distributors have been turned into a complex digital influence industry propelling racist and divisive propaganda through our social media networks under the guise of journalism. While the influencers taking the money are given claims they were duped, they are given deniability by an influence industry hiding in the shadows while they continue doing Russia’s bidding with little regulation stopping them.
“This is a result of Russia ‘privatising’ influence covertly after its outlet RT was taken off-air in many countries. I discuss the transformation of this sprawling Industry in my new book co-edited with Vian Bakir, The Routledge Handbook of the Influence Industry. There is little transparency over these companies and influencers, allowing many to abuse ‘free speech’ arguments and claim they are persecuted while gathering millions of followers on social media platforms, as though Russian handouts of $100k a video aren’t enough. All the while of course real journalists are targeted, suppressed and murdered by Russia and other authoritarian states without a murmur of concern from these ‘free speech warriors’.
“We need more from our governments to clean up this industry, make those actors and networks of companies and individuals behind the lies transparent, and ensure algorithms don’t enable anyone to profit from hate and division while undermining our political debates and elections in this way.”
Read more in Associate Professor Briant’s book here
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18 comments
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Astrid Nova -
nicole livar -
Steve Davis -
Roswell -
Canguro -
Roswell -
Roswell -
Steve Davis -
Roswell -
Canguro -
Steve Davis -
Steve Davis -
Andrew Smith -
Steve Davis -
paul walter -
Clakka -
nicole livar -
A Commentator
Return to home pageI cannot believe that AIM has fallen for this trashy mainstream propaganda and is actually promoting it.
Agree. this is shameful !
Astrid and Nicole, well done and thank you.
This is like the nonsense that dribbles out at The Conversation.
*A blogger elsewhere has noted — “The latest stunt pulled by the Biden Department of Justice to declare all of these sanctions on Russia for alleged interference in the US political system is a level of hypocrisy that is staggering in its magnitude and in its foulness,” Johnson said.
“Let’s be clear about one thing: the one country in the world that has been involved with more interference in the internal political affairs of every other country is the United States. During the reign of President Eisenhower in the 1950s, there were 170 different covert actions carried out against other countries.”
“This year [the US has] allocated almost $4 billion to interfere or meddle in the political affairs of other countries,” he continued. “$315 million of that goes to the National Endowment for Democracy. $300 million is specifically what they call counter-Russian influence. And another $2.9 billion is for ‘democracy’ programs. And these have been used basically to run propaganda, to pay people, to organize ‘democracy’ programs in places like Georgia.”
The US frequently funds pro-Western media and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in foreign countries it targets for regime change to pave the way for a pro-US government to come to power. Author and journalist William Blum documented over 50 examples of significant US interference in other countries since World War II in his classic book Killing Hope, largely based on the shocking revelations of ex-CIA agent Philip Agee.
“I don’t know how many millions of dollars are allocated to the Central Intelligence Agency for additional covert actions designed to plant stories in media, to create electronic media, to influence social networks across the board,” Johnson continued. “It’s the United States that’s meddling. With respect to the entire bogus claim that Russia interfered in the 2016 election, we now know without a doubt that that was a Democrat operation led by Hillary Clinton and her team,” he added.
“Everything we were told about Donald Trump and the Russians was a lie. I was one of the few writing about it at the time to call it out… The notion that RT is manipulating and influencing the presidential election is beyond laughable,” he claimed, noting that the Russian television channel’s app is banned from many app stores in the West while its content has been removed from YouTube and other websites.
“How is a news network that’s not allowed to broadcast and that’s shut [out] of social media in the United States supposed to influence [the election]? … It just goes across the board that they’re going to try to attack any kind of alternative voice in the media.”*
Ahh, yes. The Land of The Free.
Ok, guys, if you have a beef, have it with me.
The AIMN receives about a dozen media releases a day to publish, half of which come to me.
I don’t have time to publish them all, so I generally publish the first few only. None of them are an opinion piece of The AIMN or an admin.
Hey Roswell, I’m going for the Black Angus Scotch fillet 300gm; chips & salad or seasonal vegetables, mashed potato also available. There’s also Black Angus Rump 300gm and Grain Fed T-Bone 400gm, same sides.
What’s your fancy? We can eat at your place or mine, or we can go someplace neutral if preferred, there’s this catty little restaurant called Schrödinger’s Paradox, serves beef but no beef!
I’ll bring the wine… some dark reds, or else a range of cool Rusky voddies. 🙂
Thanks, Canguro, but I’m not much of a drinker these days.
My drink of choice used to be Cooper’s Ale.
Oh, the penny just dropped. 🤦🏻♂️🤣
No problem here Roswell, I love/appreciate the opportunity to vent ! 🙂
All good, Steve. 👍
Steve, you make a good point, quoting Johnson – who is this person – Chalmers?; the gushing torrent of misinformation, black ops, dirty tricks and so on that pour out of the States puts any other countries efforts into the measly stream of a rivulet.
Roswell, as a former crow eater and rusted on Coopers aficionado I salute you sir! Your preference in fine ale is impeccable.
Canguro, I’m guessing that it’s Larry Johnson, ex-CIA analyst.
And I second your motion on Coopers, although I’ll go for the stout.
Hey Roswell, my penny dropped a lot slower than yours!
Gee it’s great gettin’ old.
Unfortunately too many low info ageing anti-imperialists of the left share talking points with RW libertarians inc. many linked to fossil fueled anti-EU & anti-Ukraine Koch – Heritage Foundation and FoxNews presenters….
If any of you bother to bypass your own narcissism, instead of empathy, to pause for thought, your Fox Board, GWPF & ARC Tony Abbott (& advisor) inhabits same ecosystem, in Hungary of PM ‘mini Putin’ Orban inc Heritage linked Danube Inst. and subcontracting for Kremlin propagandists eg. running disinfo into Slovakia, Czechia, Poland and the EU.
Nowadays, why do most Australians sound like RWNJs, or the new Americans?
I’ll die of shock if Andrew Smith ever actually gets around to refuting an argument.
Well played, Roswell.
What an article. And I thought scatology was no longer on the curriculum.
And I couldn’t possibly reveal my menu preferences, as it might provide insight into the creatures of my microbiome.
Although, I can’t resist it, I too have a penchant for a politically incorrect, thumping great beef steak. 😎
From an Independant US media
I saw a reply to me earlier, from SD, but I can’t find it. So I’ll put my answer here.
1/. Economic sanctions are regarded as a diplomatic measure. Did Putin apply sanctions in support of his position?
2/. War and invasions aren’t diplomatic measures. Russia has claimed territory in breach of its written agreement with Ukraine. It has invaded Ukraine in breach of its written agreement with Ukraine.
3/. Viktor Yanukovych was removed from office by a vote of 328 to zero. No Putin apologist ever explains how this is a coup.
4/. Nor do they explain how HUGE public protests against a duplicitous politician breaching a commitment (to seek membership of the EU) and taking the opposite position (seeking to join the Russian trade zone) is a coup.