Weāre taking steps to protect against future interference in our political conversation by state-sponsored propaganda campaigns
Weāre all grappling with the influence that state-sponsored disinformation campaigns can have on our political conversationsāand how wide-spread that interference turned out to be. So please take a moment to read this, think about it, and talk about it.
Last fall, we uncovered 84 Tumblr accounts linked to the Russian government through the Internet Research Agency, or IRA. These accounts were being used as part of a disinformation campaign leading up to the 2016 U.S. election. After uncovering the activity, we notified law enforcement, terminated the accounts, and deleted their original posts. Behind the scenes, we worked with the Department of Justice, and the information we provided helped indict 13 people who worked for the IRA.
Now that the investigations are done, we want to let you know how weāre going to help protect Tumblr in the future and what you can do to help.
Hereās what we know about these accounts
The IRA employs more than 1,000 people who engage in electronic disinformation and propaganda campaigns around the world using phony social media accounts. Their goal is to sow division and discontent in the countries they target. What makes them so difficult to spot is that theyāre not spambots. Theyāre real people who get trained and paid to spread propaganda.
As far as we can tell, the IRA-linked accounts were only focused on spreading disinformation in the U.S., and they only posted organic content. We didnāt find any indication that they ran ads.
Remember, the IRA and other state-sponsored disinformation campaigns play off our zero-sum politics. They want to drive a wedge between us so that we spend our time fighting with each other instead of building towards the future. Weāll be watching for signs of future activity, but the best defense is knowing how they operate and how to judge the content you see.
What weāre doing in response to the interference
First, weāll be emailing anyone who liked, reblogged, replied to, or followed an IRA-linked account with the list of usernames they engaged with.
Second, weāre going to start keeping a public record of usernames weāve linked to the IRA or other state-sponsored disinformation campaigns. Weāre committed to transparency and want you to know everything that we know.
Weāve decided to leave up any reblog chains that might be on your Tumblrsāyou can choose to leave them or delete them. Weāre letting you decide because the reblog chains contain posts created by real Tumblr users, often challenging or debunking the false and incideniary claims in the IRA-linked original post. Removing those authentic posts without your consent would encroach on your free speechāand there have been enough disruptions to our conversations as it is.
What weāre doing to stop future disinformation campaigns
Youāve probably read that U.S. intelligence officials expect foreign agents to try similar propaganda campaigns in the future. Weāll be monitoring Tumblr for signs of state-sponsored disinformation campaigns, and if we see anything we willā¦
Terminate the accounts and remove their original posts.
Notify you if we determine that youāve liked, reblogged, replied to, or followed a propaganda account.
Add the username to the public record.
There are also things you can do to help stop the spread of disinformation and propaganda.
Be aware that people want to manipulate the conversation. Knowing that disinformation and propaganda accounts are out there makes it harder for them to operate. The News Literacy Project has this handy checklist for spotting their tricks.
Be skeptical of things you read. Disinformation campaigns work because they know people donāt fact check. Look for reliable sources, and double-check that the source really says the same thing as the post. You can also check Snopes and Politifact.Ā Both are award-winning resources and usually have the latest viral claim fact checked on the front page.Ā
Correct the record. When you see people spreading misinformationāeven unintentionallyāpolitely say something in a reblog or reply. If itās your friend, send them a message to let them know.
One last note: Please vote.
Transparency wonāt mean a thing if we donāt participate in the process. Whatever your political stance, voting ensures a government that represents your interests. For our U.S. users: You can register online or by mail, and many states are holding primaries right now.
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