Russia Reactivates Its Trolls and Bots Ahead of Tuesday’s Midterms
New York TimesNov 06, 2022
Kremlin-linked businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, who admitted to founding the private force Wagner Group in September, appeared to confess on Monday that Russia is interfering in US elections ahead of Tuesday's vote, saying "we interfered, we interfere and we will interfere."
His remarks, which haven't been verified, came despite US government cyber agencies stating that they've largely neutralized alleged interfering Russian "troll farms" and major social media platforms after becoming more vigilant about policing suspicious content.
Russia has launched a new disinformation campaign days ahead of the midterm elections, denigrating Biden and Democrats in close races to fuel anger among conservative voters. The Kremlin is doing all it can to ensure a Republican majority in the House and Senate, as this could limit US support to Ukraine and help Russia's war effort.
While the Kremlin has long resorted to election interference — with intelligence showing that it has targeted Americans in every election since 2016 — Moscow knows it doesn't have the power to elect a specific party. When media outlets claim that there's a connection between Putin and the GOP, they are only helping Russia to aggravate polarization among Americans and build distrust in the US.
Though Russia has carried out several activities to interfere in US elections, Kremlin-backed operatives have lost their prominence in promoting discord and dividing American public opinion. Over the past four years, it's US domestic actors such as social media influencers, elected officials, and media outlets that have become the main spreaders of election-related disinformation.
There's a 60% chance that the Republican party will control both the House and the Senate after the 2022 midterm elections, according to the Metaculus prediction community.