President Joe Biden’s administration has charged several Russian state media executives and imposed sanctions, accusing them of trying to interfere in the U.S. elections.
This is part of an effort to counter what the government describes as a Russian campaign to influence the presidential race. The Justice Department, alongside the State and Treasury departments, announced these actions yesterday.
Attorney General Merrick Garland pointed directly at RT, formerly known as Russia Today, claiming they paid a Tennessee-based company $10 million to distribute content laced with hidden Russian government messages directed at American audiences.
One of the key figures targeted by these sanctions is RT’s editor-in-chief, Margarita Simonyan, along with nine others, for their alleged roles in eroding public trust in American institutions. RT, however, has flatly denied these accusations.
Garland believes that Moscow’s goal was to manipulate the election outcome, particularly in the contest between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.
According to John Kirby, the White House national security spokesman, Russia’s strategies are also directed towards diminishing global support for Ukraine while promoting pro-Russian policies and swaying American voters.
A Treasury Department official added that RT and other Russian state media outlets were part of a “nefarious campaign” to covertly recruit American influencers.
These influencers, often without realizing it, were allegedly used to spread Russian propaganda across various platforms.
The Biden administration’s response includes charging two Moscow-based managers of RT accused of paying content creators in the U.S. to disseminate pro-Russia propaganda.
The administration has also sanctioned two entities and ten individuals, including Simonyan, for activities of damaging public trust.
Also, they’ve restricted visas for employees of Kremlin-backed media outlets and seized 32 internet domain names allegedly used to push AI-generated false narratives targeting specific U.S. demographics.
The Biden administration designated Rossiya Segodnya and its five subsidiaries, including RIA Novosti, RT, TV-Novosti, Ruptly, and Sputnik, as “foreign missions.”
This requires the outlets to report detailed information about their personnel to the U.S. government, a move aimed at increasing transparency and monitoring.
To further tighten the noose, the U.S. government has offered a $10 million reward for information leading to the identification of hackers associated with the Russian group ‘Russian Angry Hackers Did It’ (RaHDit).
RT didn’t take these accusations lying down. They shot back with a snarky comment, saying, “2016 called, and it wants its clichés back,” clearly not taking the U.S. claims seriously. They even joked that:
“Three things are certain in life: death, taxes, and RT’s interference in U.S. elections.”
The charges against Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva didn’t name the Tennessee-based company they supposedly worked with. But the court papers describe a “network of heterodox commentators” focusing on Western political and cultural issues, which sounds a lot like Tenet Media.
