US Election Meddling

Foreign actors already have been spreading manipulated videos and false posts to sow discord around the US presidential election

Former President Donald Trump said Monday that he still believes TikTok poses a national security risk but is opposed to banning the hugely popular app because doing so would help its rival, Facebook, which he continues to lambast over his 2020 election loss. Trump, in a call-in interview with CNBC's Squawk Box, was asked about his comments last week that seemed to voice opposition to a bill being advanced by Congress that would effectively ban TikTok and other ByteDance apps from the Apple and Google app stores as well as US web hosting services. Frankly, there are a lot of people on TikTok that love it. There are a lot of young kids on TikTok who will go crazy without it, Trump told the hosts. There's a lot of good and there's a lot of bad with TikTok. But the thing I don't like is that without TikTok you're going to make Facebook bigger, and I consider Facebook to be an enemy of the people, along with a lot of the media. When I look at it, I'm not looking to make Facebook double

Ackman's support of Phillips, 54, amplifies some of the worst fears of the Biden campaign: Donors and voters are unenthusiastic about reelecting the 81-year-old president

Foreign hackers did not change vote totals or otherwise compromise the integrity of federal elections last year in the United States, according to a declassified US government report made public on Monday. The report does identify multiple instances in which hackers linked to Iran, China and Russia connected to election infrastructure, scanned state government websites and copied voter information. But it says there is no evidence that any of the cyber activity had any impact on the election or on the vote totals. We have no evidence that any detected activity prevented voting, changed votes, or disrupted the ability to tally votes or to transmit election results in a timely manner; altered any technical aspect of the voting process; or otherwise compromised the integrity of voter registration information or any ballots cast during 2022 federal elections, the report says. The report, a joint document prepared by the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security, ...

Four Americans affiliated with a Black empowerment and political organisation have been charged along with three Russians with conspiring to covertly sow discord in US society, spread Russian propaganda and interfere illegally in US elections, according to an indictment unsealed Tuesday. The US citizens and two Russians were added to an existing case in Tampa, Florida, federal court involving Aleksandr Ionov, described by prosecutors as the founder of a Moscow-based organisation funded by the Russian government to carry out a clandestine influence campaign in the US. The four Americans are all part of the African People's Socialist Party and Uhuru Movement, which has locations in St Petersburg, Florida, and St Louis. Among those charged is Omali Yeshitela, chairman of the US-based organisation which was raided by the FBI last summer when Ionov was originally charged. Russia's foreign intelligence service allegedly weaponised our First Amendment rights freedoms Russia denies to its

The Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday summoned US Ambassador John Sullivan to complain about alleged interference by American 'digital giants' in Russia's upcoming parliamentary election

Former US President Donald Trump on Sunday (local time) called his former Attorney General William Barr a 'disappointment in every sense of the word'

As the US and Myanmar prepare for November elections, Facebook has removed malicious networks that targeted the countries for violating its policies

Social media firms are under pressure to ramp up security after what US intelligence has called an extensive Russian cyber-influence operation aimed at helping President Trump get elected in 2016

The president, who regularly characterises the probe as a "witch hunt," has denied any collusion with Moscow, while Russia has denied interfering in the election