Tumblr announced Friday that it had identified 84 accounts tied to the Russian government, adding a new layer to a controversy that has embroiled social media giants like Facebook and Twitter.
The social media platform explained, in an extensive statement, that it helped the federal inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 election indict Russian nationals affiliated with the Internet Research Agency, a “troll farm” located in St. Petersburg, Russia.
“Last fall, we uncovered 84 Tumblr accounts linked to the Russian government through the Internet Research Agency, or IRA,” the company said in a statement Friday. “These accounts were being used as part of a disinformation campaign leading up to the 2016 US election. After uncovering the activity, we notified law enforcement, terminated the accounts, and deleted their original posts. Behind the scenes, we worked with the Department of Justice, and the information we provided helped indict 13 people who worked for the IRA.”
Tumblr said that the platform will be notifying anyone who interacted with an account affiliated with the IRA and that in the future, accounts that have signs of “state-sponsored disinformation campaigns” will be terminated.
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s office revealed in February that 13 Russian nationals were indicted on charges of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Additionally, three defendants were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and five were charged with aggravated identity theft. Tumblr was not specifically mentioned in the indictment.
The indictment and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who is overseeing Mueller’s probe, said that the meddling started in May 2014 and that the Russian groups created posts, ads, and organized events on social media platforms by using names of Americans and other entities.
The ads primarily were primarily opposed to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, but at times were against President Trump. The indictment also said members of Trump’s campaign were wittingly involved with the scheme.
Russia-linked election ads have also been found to have been viewed by million of people in social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, which have vowed to crack down on meddling in future elections.
