Russian political map

A watchdog group posed as a group of infamous Russian internet trolls to find out how effectively Google was at combatting foreign agents from buying “politically divisive ads.” The group bought the ads using rubles and a Russian-based IP address and used similar language and images as were allegedly used by Russian operatives to influence the 2016 US presidential elections. According to the watchdog group, Google did nothing to stop them. Google, for its part, is blasting the watchdog group for its ties to Oracle, a major rival to the company. A watchdog group said Tuesday that it posed as a “Russian Troll farm” and bought “politically divisive ads” on Google, and the search giant did nothing to thwart the effort – suggesting, says the watchdog group, that the search company hasn’t done enough to prevent foreign agents from influencing US elections. Campaign for Accountability (“CfA”), which identifies itself as a … [Read more...] about A watchdog group pretended to be Russian and bought ‘divisive’ Google ads — now, Google is blasting the group for its ties to Oracle

Russia was behind an enormous effort to influence politics in the US and the UK, but was Australia targeted too? In this series Hacking #auspol we explore how covert foreign influence operates in Australia, and what we can do about it. New evidence shows that the infamous Russian “troll factory”, the Internet Research Agency (IRA), targeted Australian politics on social media between 2015 and 2017 – and that other Russian outlets may continue to conduct influence operations. Russian intervention in the 2016 US election has generated considerable attention around the world. But while that attack was unprecedented in scope, Russia is not the only perpetrator of foreign influence, and the United States is not the only target. The recent passage of legislation by the Australian Parliament targeting foreign lobbyists and strengthening regulations around espionage are a response to growing concerns about foreign influence operations in Australia. Weaponized information … [Read more...] about Russian Twitter trolls have been targeting Australian politics during by-elections and budgets