30 GENIUS INTERVIEW Nina Jankowicz
of one ideology – it’s to create chaos so that we’re focused on our own internal problems and not paying as much attention to Russia’s adventurism abroad. Every nation has influence campaigns. That will never go away. But in this case we’re talking about it being farmed out to a nominally non-governmental agency – in this case, the Internet Research Agency (IRA) – to create this air of plausible deniability. Then they go out and impersonate Americans to intervene in our democratic discourse. We also have politicians in the United States who openly invite that influence and amplify those narratives. Russian foreign policy is about impersonating people online and trying to target people with narratives that are not only untrue, but also inflame the most difficult parts of American discourse. Disinformation is usually grounded in a kernel of truth. It targets the fissures in our society, like racism or economic disparity. People have very visceral emotional reactions to those things, and that’s why it works – and why it’s so difficult to counter.
IF THERE’S ONE THING TO UNDERSTAND ABOUT ONLINE DISINFORMATION, IT’S THAT THESE TOOLS ARE DEMOCRATISED AND THAT ANYBODY CAN USE THEM
FEED: So, how do these disinformation teams operate?
NINA JANKOWICZ: The IRA used to be in a five- storey building in St Petersburg – although they’ve since moved, so I’m not sure how many stories it is now. It was uncovered by a bunch of Russian journalists who talked to whistle-blowers from within the organisation. Originally there was a Ukraine unit, where they tested techniques that were later employed in the US, spamming comment boards and creating fake accounts on VKontakte – the Russian version of Facebook – and using other social media networks and creating fake news sites. That was stage one, in 2014. As all this was going on, they started the US unit, which involved hiring young people for a lot of money – something like $900 a month, which in Russian terms, particularly after sanctions, was a lot. Usually they were folks with a journalism background with a good knowledge of English and American culture. There were a bunch of units within the America team. Some were focused on fake Twitter accounts, some made memes. They employed two black men who made YouTube videos, which was very successful. This was back when the Black Lives Matter movement was first starting. They had a lot of money to throw at things. It’s not a very strategic communications plan, they’re just throwing spaghetti at the wall, seeing what sticks and redirecting resources. People know that Russia bought some ads through the Internet Research Agency – $100,000 worth. But it was clear that there was a lot of organic engagement, too. They were creating communities that started out by using positive messaging. There was a Facebook page called ‘Being Patriotic’ that was a right-wing, jingoistic page, very pro American. My favourite example from that page was a post of a
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