Russian operatives working to influence the 2016 presidential election online were required to watch “House of Cards” to better understand U.S. politics, according to a former member of a Kremlin-linked troll factory called the Internet Research Agency.
“At first we were forced to watch the ‘House of Cards’ in English,” said “Maksim,” an ex-employee of the St. Petersburg troll factory’s English department. “It was necessary to know all the main problems of the United States of America. Tax problems, the problem of gays, sexual minorities, weapons.”
After conducting background research, Maksim said he and his colleagues monitored and commented on news organization websites using virtual private networks to mask their location.
Their success was measured in how many “likes” their contributions generated in order to “set up the Americans against their own government,” he continued.
In particular, they were directed to lower former President Obama’s approval ratings and demonize Hillary Clinton as the Democratic presidential candidate, Maksim said.
“It was necessary to look through all this and understand the general trend, what people were writing about, what they are arguing about,” he said, adding topics such as guns and same-sex relationships were popular instigators. “And then get into the dispute yourself to kindle it, try to rock the boat.”
Maksim offered his unique insight into Moscow’s efforts to meddle in the 2016 election during an interview with independent Russian TV station Rain on Sunday, which was first reported by Yahoo.
Internet Research Agency is the troll farm discovered in September to have bought about $100,000 worth of Facebook ads estimated to have reached about 10 million people.
The agency — which also placed ads on Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube, even Pokemon Go — is currently the subject of Russian probes being conducted by both House and Senate intelligence committees.
