November 03, 2017
Russia Loves a Shunned U.S. Soldier
The photo shows a service member’s spouse weeping over her husband’s flag-draped casket, under a headline quoting an out of context snippet of Hillary Clinton’s Benghazi testimony: “What Difference Does It Make.” The ad, promoted by an Instagram account named “american.veterans,” displays a caption reading, “Killary Clinton will never understand what it feels like to lose the person you love for the sake of your country.” If you spent much time on social media last fall—especially as a service member or veteran—you may have seen a series of strange, emotional, and personally targeted political ads like this one.
The ads, part of the widespread Russian influence operation to defeat Hillary Clinton, were released this week by the House Intelligence Committee following the testimony of representatives from Facebook, Twitter, and Google. The Russian ad campaign, which in the case of Facebook alone may have reached 146 million Americans, was designed to worsen growing divisions among Americans. The ad-buys were also absurdly economical, costing as little as 0.14 cents per user reached (that’s right, a fraction of a penny). Often targeting both sides of a single issue, the Russian-backed accounts used acerbic rhetoric to inflame tensions and widen divisions over race, religion, and politics.
Read the full op-ed in Slate.
More from CNAS
-
National Security Human Capital Program
A Workforce Strategy for America’s Shipbuilding FutureThe future of American maritime dominance will not be determined solely by the number of ships launched or contracts signed, but rather by the strength and sustainability of t...
By Katherine L. Kuzminski
-
National Security Human Capital Program
Could the U.S. Bring Back the Draft?In this episode of At the Boundary, GNSI’s Dr. Guido Rossi sits down with Katherine Kuzminski, Director of Studies at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), to explore...
By Katherine L. Kuzminski
-
Defense / National Security Human Capital Program / Technology & National Security
Episode 7: The Future Hands Shaping the U.S.’s Unmanned ArsenalHow is the U.S. responding to unmanned innovation across the globe? This episode with Paul Scharre, executive vice president, Stacie Pettyjohn, program director and senior fel...
By Stacie Pettyjohn, Paul Scharre & Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan
-
Defense / National Security Human Capital Program / Transatlantic Security / Technology & National Security
Sharper: America’s EdgeA volatile global security environment requires the United States and its allies to develop new tactics and capabilities to deal with novel global threats. On June 3, policyma...
By Charles Horn