Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter played a critical role in helping Russia-affiliated trolls disseminate propaganda to divide and manipulate voters in the 2016 presidential election.

But it hasn’t stopped. A new report from the Vietnam Veterans Association has uncovered an ongoing two-year effort by actors in several foreign countries, including Russia, to target U.S. veterans and servicemembers.

The report shows that “These foreign admins have created individual social-media accounts that purport to belong to American veterans working at reputable veterans organizations,” and use the accounts both to “send friend requests to the relatively small community of veteran advocates and connect with its prominent members who work to shape federal policy” and “spread propaganda and false news, while shaping and moderating/censoring the conversations of the unsuspecting community of American veterans who follow or join these groups and pages.”

Former State Department diplomat and Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement Director Mike Carpenter noted in a thread on Monday how this secret effort has worked:

Wow. The mainstream media have totally neglected an explosive report from the Vietnam Veterans Association documenting a massive Russian online disinformation effort targeting US veterans with pro-Trump messages and attacking VP Biden and other Dems. 1/12 https://t.co/J7mA3fH7vk

— Michael Carpenter (@mikercarpenter) September 23, 2019

From August 2017 – August 2019, VVA revealed a coordinated online campaign targeting American servicemembers, veterans, and their families that was run by “a number of different foreign entities seeking to disrupt American democracy.” 2/12

— Michael Carpenter (@mikercarpenter) September 23, 2019

VVA reports that Russian propaganda targeting servicemembers and veterans was (and still is) spread by account administrators from at least 30 different foreign countries, with concentrations in Eastern Europe and Vietnam. 3/12

— Michael Carpenter (@mikercarpenter) September 23, 2019

For eg, the “Veterans Nation” FB page spreads Russian-generated content and is administered from Vietnam, Brazil, and Ukraine. The “Honoring our American Heroes” FB page has admins in the US, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Philippines, & Vietnam. These purport to be US groups. 4/12

— Michael Carpenter (@mikercarpenter) September 23, 2019

As VVA notes, the cooperation among account administrators from multiple countries “suggests an international conspiracy possibly related to and larger than the previously reported Russian disinformation campaign” in 2016. 5/12

— Michael Carpenter (@mikercarpenter) September 23, 2019

One such page, “Veterans of Vietnam,” with nearly 160,000 followers, is administered from Russia, Ukraine, and Italy. We’re talking about a page ostensibly run by American Vietnam vets! 6/12

— Michael Carpenter (@mikercarpenter) September 23, 2019

VVA notes fake accounts are also being used by hostile Chinese intelligence services to target influential members of the US intelligence and defense communities to exploit financially vulnerable members and leverage debts to recruit spies. 7/12

— Michael Carpenter (@mikercarpenter) September 23, 2019

VVA also discovered foreign entities targeting veterans for the purpose of interference in the 2020 presidential campaign. Admins from Macedonia and the UK controlled the “Vets for Trump” FB page from April to August 2019, which amassed over 131,000 followers. 8/12

— Michael Carpenter (@mikercarpenter) September 23, 2019

As VVA notes, the Vets for Trump page “posts explicitly pro-Trump and anti-Democratic-candidate messages and memes. The page also posts pro-Russia/Putin, pro-Assange/WikiLeaks, as well as anti-Robert-Mueller and anti-FBI content.” 9/12

— Michael Carpenter (@mikercarpenter) September 23, 2019

In terms of offensive messaging, Vets for Trump has been primarily focused on attacking the top Democratic presidential candidates: Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Bernie Sanders, as well as O’Rourke, Harris, Booker, and Gillibrand. 10/12

— Michael Carpenter (@mikercarpenter) September 23, 2019

In short, the VVA report provides more compelling data showing how we are facing an even bigger foreign-funded (mostly Russian, but with other countries also active) disinformation campaign in advance of the 2020 election cycle, and just how little we’re doing to combat it. 11/12

— Michael Carpenter (@mikercarpenter) September 23, 2019

You can read the full report here: https://t.co/oICyt7LY6X

— Michael Carpenter (@mikercarpenter) September 23, 2019

Enjoy this piece?

… then let us make a small request. Like you, we here at Raw Story believe in the power of progressive journalism. Raw Story readers power David Cay Johnston’s DCReport, which we've expanded to keep watch in Washington. We’ve exposed billionaire tax evasion and uncovered White House efforts to poison our water. We’ve revealed financial scams that prey on veterans, and legal efforts to harm workers exploited by abusive bosses. And unlike other news outlets, we’ve decided to make our original content free. But we need your support to do what we do.

Raw Story is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. Unhinged from billionaires and corporate overlords, we fight to ensure no one is forgotten.

We need your support to deepen our investigative reporting. Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Invest with us in the future. Make a one-time contribution to Raw Story Investigates, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click to donate by check.

Enjoy this piece?

… then let us make a small request. Like you, we here at Raw Story believe in the power of progressive journalism — and we’re investing in investigative reporting as other publications give it the ax. Raw Story readers power David Cay Johnston’s DCReport, which we've expanded to keep watch in Washington. We’ve exposed billionaire tax evasion and uncovered White House efforts to poison our water. We’ve revealed financial scams that prey on veterans, and efforts to harm workers exploited by abusive bosses. We need your support to do what we do.

Raw Story is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. Unhinged from corporate overlords, we fight to ensure no one is forgotten.

We need your support to keep producing quality journalism and deepen our investigative reporting. Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Invest with us in the future. Make a one-time contribution to Raw Story Investigates, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you.