NYTimes | Russia continues to use a network of
proxy websites to spread pro-Kremlin disinformation and propaganda in
the United States and other parts of the West, according to a State Department report released on Wednesday.
The
report is one of the most detailed explanations yet from the Trump
administration on how Russia disseminates disinformation, but it largely
avoids discussing how Moscow is trying to influence the current
campaign. Even as Democrats on Capitol Hill have urged the American
government to declassify more information on Russia’s efforts to
interfere with the election, President Trump has repeatedly told
officials such disclosures are unwelcome.
Most
of the report focuses on an ecosystem of websites, many of them fringe
or conspiracy minded, that Russia has used or directed to spread
propaganda on a variety of topics. Those include an online journal
called the Strategic Culture Foundation and other sites, like the
Canada-based Global Research. The document builds on information disclosed last week by American officials about Russian intelligence’s control of various propaganda sites.
Secretary
of State Mike Pompeo, who announced the release of the report on
Wednesday, said the State Department would offer rewards of up to $10
million for information to help identify any person who, acting at the
direction of a foreign government, tries to hack into election or
campaign infrastructure.
The report was prepared by the
department’s Global Engagement Center, whose mandate is only to examine
propaganda efforts outside the United States.
The
report states that the Strategic Culture Foundation is directed by
Russia’s foreign intelligence service, the S.V.R., and stands as “a
prime example of longstanding Russian tactics to conceal direct state
involvement in disinformation and propaganda outlets.” The organization
publishes a wide variety of fringe voices and conspiracy theories in
English, while trying to obscure its Russian government sponsorship.
