Russia is well known for its strong governmental regulations on media. Russian journalists risk their lives in attempting to expose any kind of corruption in sensitive topics including the nation's political dynamics. Russian media is constantly criticized by other countries with less regulated media systems. It is challenging to find any Russian media sources criticizing their own country because, "laws allow the authorities to block websites without explanation, require popular bloggers to register with the mass media regulator Roskomnadzor and demand that internet companies give the authorities access to users' information." Common punishment for not abiding by these rules is prison time. Recent attempts to shift political attitudes have shown the governments desire to not only persuade their own peoples perspectives, but that of other nations around the globe.
The Kremlin, headed by Vladimir Putin, has recently attempted more fake news stories in efforts to persuade American political opinion. The Daily Beast discovered that the 2016 Facebook event "Citizens before refugees" (pictured on the left) was hosted by "SecuredBorders," a Russian backed U.S. anti-immigration community. The page followed by 133,000 members was soon taken down by the social media platform. Following the three hour long event planned to be hosted at the City Council Chambers, Breitbart, a far-right news network, posted a great number of stories bashing the refugee population of Twin Falls including “Twin Falls Rape Special Report: Why Are the Refugees Moving In?” This was a false story denied by Twin Falls County Prosecutor Grant Loebs. Other Russian influenced pro-Trump outlets such as InfoWars and WorldNetDaily also published stories calling for action to change the areas legislation to deny refugee citizens.
Earlier this week, it was revealed by Facebook that Russia used fake identities and thousands of ads, seen by 23-70 million people, in attempt to shape U.S. political views before and after the 2016 election. This is an example of how Russian lawmakers used social media to interfere in the political discourse of other countries. However, the government controlled Russian news media outlet Sputnik, “Russia has repeatedly denied accusations that it interfered in the vote.”
Several different U.S. media outlets detailed the January 2017 FBI intelligence report claiming that “Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the U.S. presidential election.” Russian news outlets Sputnik and RT are under fire for serving as a "platform for Kremlin messaging to Russian and international audiences." Both of these outlets operate on U.S. soil and could have some interference shown in the above Facebook events. This report also touches on the idea that new regulations need to be put in place for media propaganda used by Russia on other nations.