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FULL TITLE: Jenna Abrams, Alt-right Hero on Twitter, Was Really a Russian Troll Who Tricked Republicans and Celebrities
Alt-right Twitter heroine Jenna was in reality a paid Russian troll working out of the St. Petersburg troll factory ... probably named Svetlana. Seems her assignment was to sow racial/ethnic discord.
Related: Russia-linked hacker edited DNC email to call it 'confidential': report
By Summer Meza
11/3/17
Twitter's Jenna Abrams
A popular Twitter account known for strong alt-right opinions was, it turns out, never really run by a young American woman as it claimed. Congressional investigators have confirmed that Twitter user Jenna Abrams was in fact a creation of a Russian “troll farm.” The story was originally published Thursday by The Daily Beast, which describes the account as one of the dozens of Russian-backed social media accounts run from St. Petersburg. The account gained traction after tweeting about a nude Kim Kardashian photo, then pivoted into divisive comments on segregation, Donald Trump, and immigration. Her viral tweets, which went out to nearly 70,000 followers, pushed Kremlin-funded opinions that far-right users jumped to defend. Her tweets were just controversial enough to pick up attention, but not so out of the ordinary that followers suspected the account could be fake.
For example, in April of last year, Abrams’ tweet baited readers into a debate on slavery. “To those people, who hate the Confederate flag. Did you know that the flag and the war wasn’t about slavery, it was all about money,” read the tweet. It wasn’t just alt-right followers who were fooled by the account. Several public figures engaged with Abrams, like former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who re-tweeted her just three days before the 2016 election. The account was particularly convincing due to the thoroughly crafted online presence. In addition to the Twitter account, Abrams had a personal website, a Medium account, a GoFundMe page and a Gmail account. In the months leading up to the 2016 election, the accounts pushed Abrams’ political opinions even harder than before. The now-deleted Medium account posted an essay titled “Why do we need to get back to segregation.” The account has been deleted, along with dozens of other accounts associated with the Russian troll farm.
Alt-right Twitter heroine Jenna was in reality a paid Russian troll working out of the St. Petersburg troll factory ... probably named Svetlana. Seems her assignment was to sow racial/ethnic discord.
Related: Russia-linked hacker edited DNC email to call it 'confidential': report