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Omaha Steve

(99,070 posts)
Wed Feb 5, 2020, 07:09 PM Feb 2020

FBI director warns of ongoing Russian 'information warfare'

Source: AP

By ERIC TUCKER

WASHINGTON (AP) — FBI Director Chris Wray said Wednesday that Russia is engaged in “information warfare” heading into the 2020 presidential election, though he said law enforcement has not seen ongoing efforts by Russia to target America’s election infrastructure.

Wray told the House Judiciary Committee that Russia, just as it did in 2016, is relying on a covert social media campaign aimed at dividing American public opinion and sowing discord. That effort, which involves fictional personas, bots, social media postings and disinformation, may have an election-year uptick but is also a round-the-clock threat that is in some ways harder to combat than an election system hack, Wray said.

“Unlike a cyberattack on an election infrastructure, that kind of effort — disinformation — in a world where we have a First Amendment and believe strongly in freedom of expression, the FBI is not going to be in the business of being the truth police and monitoring disinformation online,” Wray said.

The FBI and Department of Homeland Security are on alert for election-related cyberactivity like what occurred in 2016, when Russians hacked emails belonging to the Democratic campaign of nominee Hillary Clinton and probed local election systems for vulnerabilities.



FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies during an oversight hearing of the House Judiciary Committee, on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)


Read more: https://apnews.com/e57864ade7bb75dfccf1d42033c82bb9

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ZZenith

(4,110 posts)
2. I read this to mean "Yes, the Russians are fucking with our election infrastructure."
Wed Feb 5, 2020, 07:12 PM
Feb 2020

“(...but we don’t want you to know that.)”

Nikki28

(557 posts)
3. new where is the Senate report
Wed Feb 5, 2020, 07:14 PM
Feb 2020

you know we are long over due from the Senate intelligence to let us know what they know.Probably won't with the stronghold Trump has on the Reb,but at least CR is trying to warn us w/o loosing his job. I feel we are stuck in a twilight zone of doom with the stronghold of the entire corrupt government.

saidsimplesimon

(7,888 posts)
4. Thank you Steve
Wed Feb 5, 2020, 07:14 PM
Feb 2020

While we quibble about the primary, the criminals continue their support of Russian interference in our elections.

bucolic_frolic

(42,673 posts)
7. Yes, often from newbies who post deeply ambiguous in yer face replies
Wed Feb 5, 2020, 08:18 PM
Feb 2020

that cause cognitive dissonance. THAT i believe is their game, to make us doubt ourselves, to weaken our resolve, even make us squabble among one another.

Sapient Donkey

(1,568 posts)
10. At least here on DU the moderation systems seem to root them out pretty quickly
Thu Feb 6, 2020, 02:53 AM
Feb 2020

On places like Twitter on facebook it's pretty much the wild west. I've also noticed that "trolls/bot smelling" accounts on twitter often times call people bots for no apparent reason. Almost as if to discredit the idea that there are trolls and bots sowing discord.

bucolic_frolic

(42,673 posts)
9. When you see it online, when you're being gaslit, take a moment
Wed Feb 5, 2020, 09:35 PM
Feb 2020

if you can to reply respectfully, point it out, ask if it's subterfuge. Give the general public the tools, the reminders, to see it for what it is.

Judi Lynn

(160,217 posts)
12. We will probably be notified that we are commanded to pay very close attention to all information
Thu Feb 6, 2020, 05:25 AM
Feb 2020

from now on, but to refuse to believe what Wray has said, and forget we ever heard it, and NEVER repeat it to anyone, and especially never post it!

olddad65

(599 posts)
13. Don't think for a minute that Russia wasn't invited to do this
Thu Feb 6, 2020, 05:40 AM
Feb 2020

We no longer live in a democracy. We live under the rule of a fascist dictator. Get used to it.

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