Are Russian intelligence agencies using social media to influence Western elections? It’s certainly possible. This is the kind of thing that spooks — including Russian ones — like to do.

But before getting too paranoid about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intentions, two things should be kept in mind.

First, the alleged interference hasn’t borne much fruit for Russia.

Second, the fault, if any, lies less with those who attempt to propagate fake news through agencies such as Facebook than with those naïve enough to take as fact everything they read or see on the internet.

All of this has come to the fore again thanks to U.S. Senate hearings into that country’s 2016 presidential election.

This week, representatives from the internet giants Google, Facebook and Twitter admitted letting dodgy, election-related material onto their sites.

The most dramatic were ads such as one that showed Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, wearing horns and boxing with Jesus. The most prevalent were non-ad posts and links designed to spread information that was either patently false or deliberately provocative.

Facebook said the posts issued by allegedly Kremlin-linked agencies and featured on its platform focused on “divisive” issues such as religion, race and gun rights. Since the candidates themselves raised these issues, I am not sure why the Russian-linked material is deemed particularly nefarious. But it is.

In fact, the Russian posters — like their American counterparts — took advantage of something that has long been true of media: People are more likely to believe news that accords with their view of the world.

How do bots and trolls work to infiltrate social media platforms and influence U.S. elections? We take a closer look at these insidious online pests to explain how they work. (The New York Times)

Clinton-haters believe stories that portray her as a malevolent witch. Donald Trump-haters believe stories that portray the current U.S. president as a dangerous buffoon. Both sides tend to dismiss as untrue information that does not fit their preconceptions.

The Russian posters — again like their American counterparts — also took advantage of another truth: It takes time for people to inoculate themselves against new media forms.

In the late 19th century, when mass newspapers were a novelty, readers tended to believe them uncritically. The term “I read it in the paper” meant something even when it should not have.

Similarly, Orson Welles’ 1940 broadcast of The War of the Worlds caused a minor panic in the U.S. north-east. Some listening to the relatively new medium of radio thought the fictional invasion of Earth by Martians real.

Today, many readers and viewers are rightly suspicious of what they call the mainstream media. But these same readers and viewers can be surprisingly gullible when it comes to new social media. Some will accept as plausible the most outlandish conspiracy theories.

All of which is to say that even without the Russians, social media during the 2016 presidential election campaign was singularly nutty.

Did the allegedly Kremlin-controlled Russian social media trolls accomplish anything? Facebook estimates that 150-million people viewed dodgy Russian posts between 2015 and 2017. That’s relatively small when compared to the 11-trillion posts viewed overall in the U.S. during that period. But it is not insignificant, particularly in a tight election.

My own view is that the Americans on their own were perfectly capable of electing someone like Trump. But let’s assume I’m wrong. Let’s assume first that Putin was the evil genius behind this and second that he did sway votes.

Even then, the Russian leader didn’t get much. Trump talks more politely about Russia than former president Barack Obama did. But U.S. policy has not changed.

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The economic sanctions put in place by Obama after Putin annexed Crimea remain, as does U.S. hostility toward Russia’s man in Syria, President Bashar Assad. Trump has reaffirmed his support for NATO and kept U.S. troops in Poland, on the Russian border.

The very fact that Russia stands accused of helping Trump makes any rapprochement near-impossible.

Here in Canada, the internet giants are promising a digital literacy campaign to allow users to spot fake news. Good luck. The only surefire way to insulate yourself from this particular internet pox is to avoid social media entirely.

Thomas Walkom appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

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