Des Moines, Iowa (CNN) – Days after the 2016 Iowa caucuses, the instructions were clear.
“[U]se any opportunity to criticize Hillary and the rest (except Sanders and Trump — we support them),” they read.
The guidance had been circulated among a group of Russians who were covertly running a vast network of social media accounts seeking to divide Democrats and push the candidacy of Donald Trump. (The instructions were later found during special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.)
Four years later, unhappy with Silicon Valley’s efforts to curb the manipulation of its platforms, the Democratic Party has developed capabilities of its own to monitor and tackle online disinformation.
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