EXCLUSIVE How a Russian Outlet Sought to Reach American Voters on Twitter

RT tried to take over politically charged accounts.

BY JENNA MCLAUGHLIN SEPTEMBER 21, 2017 JENNA.MCLAUGHLIN@JENNAMC_LAUGH

Before Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton had even wrapped up their respective bids to secure the nomination for president, Kremlin-funded media outlet RT was plotting to promote its election coverage in the United States, Foreign Policy has learned.

RT hoped to take over at least two Twitter accounts or handles for its media coverage: @NotHillary and @NotTrump. Their goal, RT told Twitter’s advertising department, was to use the accounts to push their 2016 election coverage, but neither handle or username has any identifying information tracing the owner back to the Russian government-funded media organization.

Twitter denied the request. The company declined to comment on the record on the specific accounts “for privacy and security reasons.” RT says that the company’s interest in the dormant accounts was part of an ultimately doomed project to take advantage of a unique moment in American political history.

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http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/09/21/how-a-russian-outlet-sought-to-reach-american-voters-on-twitter/