US accuses Russia of using state news outlet to spread disinformation ahead of election
Visit our website:
http://www.france24.com
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English
Follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/France24_en
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00The Russian state media channel RT was dropped by its American distributors shortly after
00:06Moscow launched its full-scale war in Ukraine in 2022.
00:11But the Justice Department says despite that, the outlet has continued to spread misinformation
00:16to American voters.
00:18On Wednesday, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the indictments of two former RT
00:23employees.
00:24We allege that as part of that effort, RT and its employees, including the defendants,
00:30implemented a nearly $10 million scheme to fund and direct a Tennessee-based company
00:36to publish and disseminate content deemed favorable to the Russian government.
00:41U.S. officials say the scheme involves social media influencers who publish nearly 2,000
00:46videos containing Russian propaganda, some of which have garnered millions of views on
00:52YouTube.
00:53American spy agencies say the Kremlin's goal is to promote Donald Trump over Kamala Harris
00:58because of Trump's skepticism of U.S. support for Ukraine.
01:02The Justice Department also said it seized 32 Internet domains used by the Kremlin to
01:08spread misinformation.
01:10These websites were designed to appear to American readers as if they were major U.S.
01:16news sites like the Washington Post or Fox News.
01:20But in fact, they were fake sites.
01:23In addition to the indicted RT employees, the Treasury Department has sanctioned the
01:27editor-in-chief of the channel, Margarita Simonyan.
01:31The Kremlin's objective is not new.
01:33In 2016, the Justice Department charged Russians with hacking computers and releasing information
01:39to damage the campaign of Hillary Clinton and to help elect Donald Trump.
01:43The Kremlin launched a similar effort to help Trump in the run-up to the 2020 election.
01:50She's rolling out a