Russia’s foreign ministry has ridiculed CNN’s report that Russia allegedly tried to meddle in the 2016 U.S. presidential election using Tumblr, YouTube and Pokemon Go, in addition to Facebook and Twitter.
According to the report, an account called Don’tShoot.Us was created on all of those platforms, posing as a part of Black Lives Matter movement and “trying to galvanize African-American outrage over police brutality.”
The account, advertisements for which were allegedly paid from Russia, directed Pokemon Go players to sites of police brutality against black people in a bid to instigate racial tensions.
The Russian foreign ministry denied any attempts on the part of Russia to meddle in the U.S. election, as it always has, ridiculing the report.
“Based on that logic, African-Americans form their civil stance by playing Pokemon Go,” Maria Zakharova, the ministry’s spokeswoman, said. “This is the mediocre way CNN explains racial issues in the U.S.”
Last month, Facebook said it had found thousands of ads linked to Facebook accounts that likely operated out of Russia and pushed divisive social and political issues during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Twitter said it found postings linked to those same accounts.
The two social media companies have turned over the Russia-linked ads to Congress and will testify next month.
Earlier in October, Google discovered that Russian operatives spent tens of thousands of dollars on ads across the company’s products, including YouTube and Google search.
