The U.S. military blocked a Russian troll farm’s Internet access to protect the 2018 midterm elections — a move approved by President Trump, according to a new report.
The U.S. Cyber Command conducted the operation against the Internet Research Agency, a company based in St. Petersburg that was charged by special counsel Robert Mueller for meddling during the 2016 election. The operation against the Russian troll farm, which is funded by an oligarch with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, signified the first cyber campaign designed to counter Russian interference in a U.S. election, several U.S. officials told the Washington Post.
“They basically took the IRA offline,” a source familiar with the matter told the outlet. “They shut them down.”
The U.S. Cyber Command used intelligence collected by the National Security Agency to block the Internet Research Agency’s access to the Internet for hours ahead of the 2018 midterm elections while U.S. voters went to the polls and in subsequent days while the votes were counted, prompting Internet Research Agency employees to notify their IT department about the issue. The objective was to bar Russians from spreading false information that undermined election results.
Pentagon officials regard the operation as profitable, and Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., claimed there would have been “some serious cyber incursions” if the U.S. Cyber Command had not intervened.
“The fact that the 2018 election process moved forward without successful Russian intervention was not a coincidence,” said Rounds.
The Justice Department asserts the Internet Research Agency started unveiling efforts to thwart the U.S. political system as early as 2014 and throughout the 2016 election to sow discord in the election process.
Three companies and 13 individuals affiliated with the Internet Research Agency were charged by Mueller. According to prosecutors, the Russian trolls pretended to be Americans on social media and posted divisive propaganda online about social and racial issues in an attempt to assist Trump.
Mueller is examining Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Kremlin.
