US charges Russian state media employees over a social media influence scheme

The DOJ also seized 32 fake news sites as part of an effort to clamp down on Russian propaganda and disinformation.
The Department of justice (DOJ) has indicted two employees of the Russian state-owned broadcaster RT over an alleged pro-Russia influence scheme on social media platforms. Kostiantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva have been accused of being involved in a plan to pay an unnamed Tennessee company almost $10 million to spread nearly 2,000 videos (most of which included disinformation and/or pro-Russia propaganda) in English across YouTube , TikTok , Instagram and X . The DOJ says the videos had been viewed more than 16 million times on YouTube alone.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said at a press conference that , following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,