3/1/2018

2016 ELECTION/CYBERWAR/ENERGY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A Russian-backed propaganda group used social media in an attempt to disrupt the U.S. energy industry and influence energy policy, according to a new congressional staff report reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
Unlike other Russian campaigns to stir political unrest in the U.S., this effort by the tech-savvy Internet Research Agency on energy is characterized as mostly one-sided, agitating against American fossil-fuel production in a way lawmakers believe was aimed at benefiting Russia, the world’s largest oil producer.
Starting in 2015, workers at the IRA posted photos and messages on Facebook , Instagram and Twitter encouraging protests of pipeline construction in the U.S., calling for the abandonment of fossil fuels and stoking American controversy around climate change, according to the upcoming report by the majority staff on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology.
It isn’t clear how much influence, if any, the campaign had on U.S. energy policy. Many of the posts were shared by only a handful of followers, the report says. But the posts came at a critical time for Russia, after oil and gas prices began to plummet due to booming output in the U.S., maybe the greatest threat to one of Russia’s most important industries…
The Russian embassy in Washington declined to comment on the new allegations.”

-Georgia Wells and Timothy Puko, “Russian Meddling on Social Media Targeted U.S. Energy Industry, Report Says,” The Wall Street Journal online, Mar. 1, 2018 06:02am