In light of the recent US DOJ investigation of Russian influence peddlers paying an estimated $10 million for videos and opinion pieces from Tenet Media (https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-rt-employees-indicted-covertly-funding-and-directing-us-company-published-thousands) it seems that there are more than a few idiots peddling Russian Propaganda on social media platforms, and they ARE on the far right of the political spectrum. This begs the question about why Russia finds conservatives a particularly fertile ground for misinformation.
It seems that conservatives, whether they are in the Republican Party in the US, or in the Conservative Party in Canada, are the ones who use and spread the same talking points as Russian media. RT (Russia Today) used to try to pawn itself off in western media as just another media outlet, and reporters, recruited in the US and Canada thought, in the beginning (prior to the Ukraine Invasion), that they were doing "journalism" (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/12/business/rt-america-russian-tv.html). However, as the sanctions over the Russian invasion of Ukraine (Crimea - 2014) spread, by 2017 RT found itself on the US list of oersona non grata. And the US steps at making RT a pariah in the mediascape of the West increased after the second invasion of Ukraine in 2022, to the point where, a few days ago, " the U.S. went a step beyond sanctions. U.S. prosecutors indicted two RT employees who they say ran a large-scale influence operation, laundering nearly $10 million through shell companies to fund and direct a company in Tennessee that published thousands of English-language videos on TikTok, Instagram, X and YouTube. Using fake personas, Elena Mikhaylovna Afanasyeva and Kostiantyn Kalashnikov, employees of RT, edited, posted and directed videos created by U.S. commentators, the indictment said. " (https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/dc-studio-indictment-russia-funded-media-outlet-seeded-propaganda-us-rcna169571)
Russia Today, Putin's propaganda outlet to the west, tried to rebrand itself to the more innocuous RT, but the disguise was but a thinly veiled attempt to purloin journalistic credibility to advance Putin's talking points to the west. And this effort was fairly successful. From its inception in 2005 to the RT America (2010) , RT UK in 2014 , RT France (2017), Russia seemed to be gaining acceptance in the West, though skeptics were sounding alarms throughout this period of expansion. Russia's war on Ukraine dramatically changed the fortunes of RT.
"RT was banned in Ukraine in 2014 after Russia's annexation of Crimea;[75] Latvia and Lithuania implemented similar bans in 2020.[76][77] Germany banned RT DE in February 2022.[78] During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the European Union and Canada formally banned RT and independent service providers in over 10 countries suspended broadcasts of RT.[79][80][81] Social media websites followed by blocking external links to RT's website and restricting access to RT's content.[82][83] Microsoft removed RT from their app store and de-ranked their search results on Bing,[84][85] while Apple removed the RT app from all countries except for Russia.[86] However, RT content continues to be laundered through third-party sites.[87]" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RT_(TV_network)
It is the last line in the quote from Wikipedia that caught my eye, in light of the US DOJ of the 2 Russian RT employees. It seems that RT recognized its brand name recognition problem and tried to buy its way into western media through purchasing articles and videos generated by US and Canadian content generators. The latest DOJ filing does not list Tenet Media, but it is clear who is being referred to in the indictment as the "YouTube influencers" were listed (not accused though) : "Tenet Media’s six main influencers, Tim Pool, Dave Rubin, Benny Johnson, Lauren Southern, Tayler Hansen and Matt Christiansen, have more than 7 million subscribers on YouTube and more than 7 million followers on X." (https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/doj-right-wing-influencers-like-tim-pool-benny-johnson-helped-spread-russian-disinformation-on-youtube-x/5766158/?os=android&ref=app). The clue that it was Tenet media was in the DOJ's language which could be searched on the internet and located in Tenet's home page: "The indictment focuses on a far-right media outlet based in Tennessee describing itself as a “network of heterodox commentators that focus on Western political and cultural issues” – American media outlets have since independently confirmed the outlet is Tenet Media." (from the PresProgress.ca article listed below)
Of course there is a connection to Canadian conservatives as a Canadian-based influencer known as Kat Kanada (really a Russian - Katrina Panova) who seemed to be in a position to spread Russian talking points to conservatives in Canada (https://pressprogress.ca/far-right-media-outlet-linked-to-secret-russian-influence-campaign-produced-50-videos-focused-on-canada/)
It seems apparent that the whole, "The west is broken," " The US is Broken", " Canada is broken" shtick is nothing but Putin's propaganda. There are things to improve in both the US and Canada, but what else is new. The alarmist, fear-stoking, rage-baiting of anti-government, anti-institutions, anti-progressive, anti-LGBTQ2SIA, anti-democratic, anti-science, anti-vaxx, racist, pro-authoritarian videos and opinions really are just Russia trying to sow chaos in the west.
Some of us have been crying in the media wilderness for years that this is so. For me, it always came down to my belief that if anyone is repeating the same language (words and phrases) that RT and Russian propaganda outlets in general put forward, they are likely being played. Some are played willingly and knowingly, some are played unknowingly. Either way, these people are taking Russian money to do their dirty work. Both sow seeds of violence and anger, and that is exactly what we have in both the US and Canada, as we can see on any given day, on nearly any given media outlet, where discord is promoted and blamed on progressives or liberals.
Listen to the words. Listen to the tone. Listen to the generalizations and absence of details. Listen to the sense of being a victim of change, and that change is not good. Listen for Christian victimization (They're taking God out of our - school, community, culture, country etc). These are some of the indicators of people being played. Unfortunately, so far as I can see, most, if not all, are conservatives who have been duped. Far-right media have been duped. Conspiracy theorists and Christian Nationalists have been duped. Everyone of us who have not done our due diligence regarding the media we consume are vulnerable. Be careful what you click, like, share and subscribe to. Keep an open mind and look for evidence of any claim, evidence that undoubtedly, will need to be proven in a court. Facts matter.
I will be following the DOJ's prosecution of this case with curiosity and hope.
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