Internet Research Agency
The Internet Research Agency (IRA), also known as Glavset[2] and known in Russian Internet slang as the Trolls from Olgino or kremlebots, is a Russian company, based in Saint Petersburg, that engages in online influence operations on behalf of the Russian government. The agency has employed fake accounts registered on major social networks, discussion boards, online newspaper sites, and video hosting services in order to promote the Kremlin's interests in domestic and foreign policy including Ukraine and the Middle East as well as attempting to influence the 2016 United States presidential election. More than 1000 paid bloggers and commenters reportedly worked only in a single building of the Agency in 2015.
The extent to which the Russian government tried to influence public opinion using social media became widely known after a June 2014 BuzzFeed article greatly expanded on government documents published by hackers earlier that year.[3] The IRA gained worldwide media attention by June 2015, when one of its offices was reported as having data from fake accounts used for biased Internet trolling. Subsequently, there were news reports of individuals receiving monetary compensation for performing these tasks.[1]
The Justice Department on Friday, February 16, 2018 indicted 13 Russian nationals and three Russian groups, including the Internet Research Agency, of violating criminal laws with the intent to interfere "with U.S. elections and political processes", according to the agency.[4]