SEBASTIAN SEGURA WRITES – Russia has threatened to ban U.S. media in retaliation for pressure being put stateside on Russia Today, a TV station viewed by many as a propaganda channel for the Kremlin.
The threatened ban also comes after Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s statement that Russia bought thousands of dollars worth of advertising during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Discovery that Russians created several propaganda-filled news sites targeting American readers did not help Russia’s case. One fake news site states that the U.S. has actual affiliation with ISIS.
This is not the first attempt from Russians to interfere through online media, and it will not be the last. Experts believe they have created multiple, if not hundreds, of fake Twitter accounts to influence trending topics — distracting the public from factual news. If that is not a red flag signalling the need for precaution, Russian hackers have also allegedly hacked into the favorite photo sharing application, Instagram.
There have been prior revelations of Russian interference with social media spheres of influence in other countries as well.
Although the threat of banning U.S. influence from Russian news channels and the constant nonsensical tampering of U.S. media does not seem critically harming, it continues to incite distrust and skepticism among the American people of Russia and its intentions.
Whether or not this ban will actually take effect is still in question. However, if Russia hopes to win the trust of the American people, they should stay clear of skewing online media.