United States House of Representatives
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
Majority Staff Report
https://science.house.gov/sites/republicans.science.house.gov/files/documents/SST%20Staff%20Report%20-%20Russian%20Attempts%20to%20Influence%20U.S.%20Domestic%20Energy%20Markets%20by%20Exploiting%20Social%20Media%2003.01.18.pdfRussian Attempts to Influence U.S. Domestic Energy
Markets by Exploiting Social Media
March 1, 2018
...Documents that the American social media companies produced for the Committee confirmed that Russian agents were exploiting American social media platforms in an effort to disrupt domestic energy markets, suppress research and development of fossil-fuels, and stymie efforts to expand the use of natural gas.
Subsequent to the Committee’s initial request, media revelations indicated that Russian operatives, “intent on exploiting existing divisions and social movements in the United States,†had in fact sought to influence U.S. energy markets by exploiting American social media platforms.
According to the media report, Russian agents exploited Instagram by “shar[ing] images related to Native American social and political issues—including the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.†Moreover, many of the Russian-linked accounts targeted “highly visible tension points†in America, including “protests against pipelines.â€
These revelations bolstered the Committee’s suspicions that Russia was actively engaged in a concerted effort to disrupt U.S. energy markets and influence domestic energy policy and was exploiting American social media platforms in an attempt to carry out this objective. As such, the Committee reiterated to the American social media companies its interest in information regarding Russian entities purchasing advertisements or posting content targeting domestic energy markets. On October 31, 2017, Chairman Smith again wrote the social media companies requesting information.
The Committee received and reviewed the companies’ produced documents for evidence of Russian influence. Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram were able to identify Russian accounts linked to the Internet Research Agency (IRA), a Russian company based in Saint Petersburg established by the Russian government for the purpose of deceptively using various social and traditional media platforms to advance Russian propaganda.
The information received from Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram shows that Russian agents indeed sought to disrupt U.S. energy markets and influence domestic energy policy by exploiting American social media platforms.