TROLLED

Russian Troll Farm Spread More Misinformation Than Previously Known, Says Report

The Internet Research Agency’s work appeared to reach far more people than has previously been reported.

The Internet Research Agency, the infamous Russian troll farm, spread much more misinformation on Twitter during 2016’s U.S. election than was previously known, according to new research. Cybersecurity firm Symantec published a report Wednesday that concluded the Russian campaign was larger, more coordinated, and more effective than has been disclosed before. “While this propaganda campaign has often been referred to as the work of trolls, the release of the dataset makes it obvious that it was far more than that,” the company wrote, according to Politico. “It was planned months in advance and the operators had the resources to create and manage a vast disinformation network.” The most retweeted account received six million retweets, with only 2,000 of those coming from IRA accounts, suggesting the information reached real people. One account also reportedly managed to earn $1 million via URL shorteners.