WASHINGTON, Oct 20 (Reuters) - The United States on Friday released a U.S. intelligence assessment sent to more than 100 countries that found Moscow is using spies, social media and Russian state-run media to erode public faith in the integrity of democratic elections worldwide.
"This is a global phenomenon," said the assessment. "Our information indicates that senior Russian government officials, including the Kremlin, see value in this type of influence operation and perceive it to be effective."
A senior State Department official, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity, said that Russia was encouraged to intensify its election influence operations by its success in amplifying disinformation about the 2020 U.S. election and the COVID-19 pandemic.
I mean, yeah. But as it turns out, so do we. If you have a chance, read The Jakarta Method, it's a real eye opener. The CIA bastards that brought slavery back to Guatemala and overthrew the democratically elected government there (either at the behest of United Fruit or because we just really think slavery is cool) did a fucking jig because they were so pleased with themselves. You're fooling yourself if you think Russia is the only player in the game (and they ARE playing this game) promoting insane right-wing authoritarianism; I could just about guarantee we're doing the very same.
That's true, but whataboutism is a tried and true tactic to deflect attention from Russia. We can do both. Fuck Russia for doing this now, and we should fuck ourselves/hold ourselves accountable and advocate for better transparency.
But this is an article about Russia, now's not the time for tangents.
We know. Not now.