Propaganda Watch: Russian Social Media Ads–8/8/2020

Russian President Vladimir Putin superimposed into a Russian Flag. Image by Lenny Ghoul.

This is part of an ongoing series where I review some of the ads purchased by the Russians. In doing so I hope we can get a better understanding of what they were trying to do, and how to recognize it the next time we’re faced with propaganda.

If you want to follow along, the ads can all be downloaded here. All of today’s ads can be found in the 2016-q4/2016-10 folder.

As in every previous month the Russian ads worked at amplifying stories of racism in the US. October 2016 was no exception. P(1)0000352 told about a Texas football team of 11 and 12 year olds who “took a knee” during the National Anthem, and the aftermath of that act:

P(1)0000855 told the story of a day of protest for Seattle teachers, during which they were all to wear “Black Lives Matter” T-shirts:

P(1)0000861 reprinted a story of an African American girl who was suspended from a soccer game due to her hair, although this article states it was over whether hair beads were considered jewelry, not the braids themselves:

THIS IS AN OPEN THREAD. Take care, and be well.

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