A Russian team hired people on the street to post comments online and give the impression that the invasion of Ukraine had popular support, tech company Meta reported Thursday.
The internet was one of the fronts of the war, with Russia trying to silence criticism and promote the narrative in support of the invasion.
According to Meta, a “troll farm” ran the disinformation campaign. Some of those involved in the operation were linked to the Internet Research Agency (IRA), a Russian group linked to meddling in elections in the United States and other countries since 2016.
US officials are offering a $10 million reward for information on the IRA’s participation in the election.
The operation hired nearly everyone to participate in the online hoax, a tactic similar to what the IRA used years ago, Ben Nimmo, Meta’s head of global threat intelligence, told AFP.
According to the company’s research, the “trolls” worked seven days a week for about $440 a month. His role was to comment on posts on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, VKontakte and Odnoklassniki social networks.
Meta reported that 1,037 Instagram accounts and 45 Facebook accounts involved in the campaign were suspended.