The United States on Friday released a U.S. intelligence assessment sent to more than 100 countries that found Moscow is using spies, social media and Russian state-run media to erode public faith in the integrity of democratic elections worldwide.

“This is a global phenomenon,” said the assessment. “Our information indicates that senior Russian government officials, including the Kremlin, see value in this type of influence operation and perceive it to be effective.”

A senior State Department official, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity, said that Russia was encouraged to intensify its election influence operations by its success in amplifying disinformation about the 2020 U.S. election and the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • assassin_aragorn@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    If revealing the truth that your government is committing crimes is punished, you are being ruled by criminals.

    My guy what are you doing in your comment exactly? You’re pointing out illegal acts by the government. Do you expect punishment to come soon? Consider how often you’ve criticized the US, and how often you’ve been arrested or fined or disappeared for that criticism.

    The examples you mentioned aren’t the norm – and that’s precisely why we discuss them. If it were the norm we wouldn’t pay any attention to them. They’re only newsworthy because government suppression of our speech is news. It isn’t a common occurrence.

    To compare authoritarianism in the US to the rest of the world is absolute peanuts. People constantly complain about the government and make fun of officials. We could insult Trump to our heart’s content in 2016-2020, but are you aware of a single Chinese person who joked about Xi being Winnie the Pooh in that time period?

    Let’s put it this way, if you can complain about how bad your government is without worries of reprisal, your country isn’t as bad as you may think.

    • figaro@lemdro.id
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      1 year ago

      I just want to say that you are laying out the facts perfectly. Like yeah of course the US has problems, but I can publicly walk around Washington DC saying “Fuck Joe Biden, He looks like an old emaciated Piglet” and have no fear of political retribution.

      Freedom of speech is something we still generally have.

    • Thief_of_Crows@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      Being allowed to complain about your country doesn’t make it not authoritarian. What exactly is “free” about being charged with treason over releasing proof your country committed war crimes?

      You have no idea whether Chinese people can openly complain about Xi, you are literally just repeating propaganda you heard uncritically. If not, provide a source.

      As an American, you have been a victim of our countries propaganda your entire life, even more so since 9/11. Go research literally any bad thing america did in the last 70 years, the hard and fast truth, and look at it as though a country in the middle east had done them. Then compare that to both contemporary and recent coverage of the event, as well as contemporary and recent coverage of a similar event that did happen in the middle east or Russia or China or wherever. Try to explain why the media doesn’t care when America does it, but goes ballistic when a socialist country or a country with oil does it.

      • SCB@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Being allowed to complain about your country doesn’t make it not authoritarian. What exactly is “free” about being charged with treason over releasing proof your country committed war crimes?

        The part where you leak US intelligence secrets to the world.

        • Thief_of_Crows@sh.itjust.works
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          1 year ago

          Hypothetically, if a German had leaked info about the concentration camps to the press in 1941,that would have been a good thing, right? So why are you presuppossing that it is wrong for an American to leak info about bad shit our country is doing? The reality of what they’re doing doesn’t need to be as bad as genocide for it to be wrong not to report it.

          • SCB@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Concentration camps and espionage methodology are two extremely different things.

            • Thief_of_Crows@sh.itjust.works
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              1 year ago

              What about the evidence of war crimes Chelsea manning leaked? What about the proof that America was illegally spying on its own citizens that Snowden leaked? Calling it “espionage methodology” is a joke. What Manning blew the whistle on was not that dissimilar to concentration camps. You’re just using a double standard for the side that you agree with.

              • SCB@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                I wouldve been fine with Snowden whistleblowing in a different fashion. He opted not to.

                • Thief_of_Crows@sh.itjust.works
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                  1 year ago

                  What fashion did you want him to use? He went over all of his documents with a NYT journalist before releasing anything. Are you saying that that was too much censure or something? Cause he certainly couldn’t have censored it more