The US has cracked down on perceived Russian interference in the upcoming election – here’s what you need to know.
The Biden administration sanctioned the top editor of Russian state media network RT and nine others yesterday over what it called attempts to interfere in the November presidential election.
The US Treasury department said RT’s editor-in-chief, Margarita Simonovna Simonyan, and others associated with the network had covertly recruited YouTubers and right-wing commentators to sway US public opinion and spread pro-Kremlin messages.
The US has also charged two RT employees, Konstantin Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva, accusing them of an alleged £7.6m plan to pay another company to meddle in American politics by posting videos to TikTok, Instagram, X and YouTube.
Separately, the FBI asked the court for permission to seize 32 internet domains the US government said were involved in “malign foreign influence” efforts, including attempts to undermine public support for US aid to Ukraine in its war with Russia.
The Kremlin has repeatedly denied interfering in US elections.
However, late Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, who founded the Wagner mercenary group and was accused of running Russian “troll farms”, said in 2022: “We have interfered, we are interfering, and we will continue to interfere.”
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