Meta says Russia-based online influence campaigns would focus on weakening the West’s support for the Eastern European country.
From: Politico BY MARK SCOTT
Online influence campaigns tied to Russia are expected to promote Western politicians’ opposition to ongoing support for Ukraine ahead of an upcoming election in the United States, according to a report published by Meta on Thursday.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine more than two years ago, Moscow has bombarded global social media networks with covert efforts to undermine the West’s support for Kyiv. It has also elevated speeches from national lawmakers from France to Canada who argue the tens of billions of dollars provided to Ukraine would have been better spent at home.
Ahead of the November presidential election in the U.S., where Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance and other leading Republican lawmakers have openly challenged Washington’s financial support for Ukraine, Meta said that Russia-based influence operations would likely piggyback onto these domestic messages for their own political gain.
The tech giant made clear, however, that there were no ties between such U.S. politicians and Russian actors seeking to use lawmakers’ comments to foment division ahead of November’s vote.
“We should expect to see Russian attempts to target election-related debates, particularly when they touch on support for Ukraine,” David Agranovich, a security policy director at Meta, told reporters Wednesday. The “trend is more about the subject, namely, countering support for Ukraine, than it is about any particular party.”
The Kremlin has grown increasingly sophisticated in targeting Western audiences with digital interference over the last decade, though its overall effect on how people vote remains unclear….
Voice of Ukraine 