The Kremlin School of Bloggers - An Origin Story

As we enter another year as a target nation of an undeclared Information War, it is important to expose the origins and truth behind ongoing psychological attacks. Truth is always worth knowing

As I revisited my 2019 ‘Warfighting’ thread’ on the 2016 NATO report titled “The Handbook of Russian Information Warfare,” I recalled how in 2009, the Russian government announced the debut of the ‘Kremlin School of Bloggers.’ It was the prototype to what we now refer to as the Russian troll army.

The misshaping of reality by paid Russian web brigades was initially refined by directing attacks inward at their own citizens a decade earlier. In 1998, Russian internet forums reflected overwhelming support for liberal and democratic values. But after Putin gained power, by the early 2000s, there was a marked shift toward totalitarian values. The Russian state security service had mobilized online with pro-Russian commenters pysoping their own citizens to the right.

In other words, the Kremlin targeted Russians first.

By 2012, these tactics were widely exposed, as hacked emails revealed a network of pro-Kremlin paid writers whose job it was to praise Putin and disparage Kremlin critics. The hacked emails by ‘Anonymous’ indicated the motivation for the writers was purely financial, not ideological - as one email revealed a complaint about not receiving promised compensation.

That we in America knew by 2015 that Russian ‘bloggers’ were being paid to flood forums and social networks with anti-Western propaganda and pro-Kremlin posts is particularly maddening considering how so many were duped by pro-Trump and anti-Hillary rhetoric. Even today, millions of Americans do not want to face the fact their minds were hacked to vote for a veteran con man.

It is vital we take a look back into the years before the 2016 election to piece together what happened to our neighbors, and to admit that the attacks are ongoing.

One thing that always stood out in my research was a confession story by a troll. He could pinpoint the exact moment when he realized he no longer cared about truth. He had been so desensitized by the lies that even though he knew a propagandist visiting the office was lying about operations in Ukraine, he simply no longer cared. He quit shortly thereafter despite the lucrative salary.

In my page by page ‘Information Warfare’ thread where I parsed Robert Mueller’s indictments detailing the Russian military attack on our 2016 election, I went into granular detail of just how it was done. The Internet Research Agency employed hundreds of people to cause chaos in America, to make us hate and distrust each other, so a Putin puppet could infect our White House.

As much as I do not want to revisit my own threads at times, it is important we do not look away. We have much to learn from our naivety.

Recall that the Mueller indictments revealed American rallies created by the Russians, a cage made for an actress to play Hillary in a prison costume - all paid for by Russians.

America was easily duped. America is easily duped.

We must be smarter now. We must review recent history to recognize when we are being played.

If Fiona Hill tells us Elon Musk is delivering Putin propaganda on Twitter - as I note in my latest report for Byline Supplement - believe her.

The author of the NATO report I reference at the top of this article, Keir Giles, wrote in his handbook of a ‘persistent amnesia’ that plagues media, brought on by troll and bot intimidation of journalists. Giles wrote that writing about Russia entails “personal, reputational, financial, and social risk.” Silencing critics through these intimidation tactics creates a “chilling effect” that is a victory for Kremlin interests.

As a German-American, silence was never an option for me.

Holocaust survivor and human rights activist Elie Wiesel noted, “We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormentor.”

This is our country. It is worth fighting for. Be one of the unquiet.