Did You Know? Russian Disinformation

Russia Disinformation. The KGB actually had a Department D (D for Dezinformatsiya) that was organized for the strategic purpose of spreading disinformation. They forged documents of fake U.S. misdeeds and plans which were conveniently “found” by other governments and official gossip channels (similar to our news here in the U.S.). Very detailed were these fabrications that used the same U.S. letterheads, official stamps, paper quality, ink, and use of official language. These documents would surface on TV, in newspapers, and radio through distribution channels developed by the KGB. They intentionally focus on divided groups within the United States (you may have noticed some division lately). In 1971, Russia forged pamphlets denoting a campaign against Black Americans to radical African-American groups while acting as the Jewish Defense League. In 1980, a forged newspaper article ran in San Francisco explaining a plan by President Carter to keep Black Africans and Black Americans at odds. In 1984, they then produced a forgery from the Ku Klux Klan. Perfectly timed around the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, these fabrications exclaimed that the Olympics were only for whites along with some other less than pleasant epithets. Also in the 1980’s, a Soviet publication reported that the AIDS disease was created in a Maryland lab with its purpose to be used as a biological weapon on specific population groups. This story, if you can imagine this, was picked up and shared throughout the world. Not surprisingly, many of these disinformation campaigns come out with a looming Presidential election and we the people eat it up with a shovel. With the ease of information flow in today’s America, we are our own worst enemies. With the press of a button, millions of Americans assist the Russian disinformation campaign on a daily basis.

For more knowledge in this area read: Spycraft (The History Of The CIA’s Spytech, From Communism To Al-Qaeda by Robert Wallace, Keith Melton, and Henry Robert Schlesinger (or just ask me and I’ll recommend a few others, there are so many resources on this subject).