They have millions of followers online, have played key roles in right-wing political discourse since Donald Trump was president, and are alleged to have unwittingly worked as fronts for a Russian influence operation, US prosecutors say.
The indictment filed Wednesday alleges that a media company with ties to six conservative influencers, including celebrities Tim Pool, Dave Rubin and Benny Johnson, was secretly funded by Russian state media officials to churn out English-language videos consistent with the Kremlin’s desire to increase division within the United States to undermine U.S. “opposition” to Russian interests such as the war in Ukraine.
This is the third consecutive presidential election that U.S. authorities have revealed politically significant details about Russian attempts to interfere in U.S. politics, but the indictment suggests Russia may be seeking to exploit the surge in popularity of right-wing podcasters, livestreamers and other content creators who have found success on social media in the years since the Trump administration.
The Justice Department has not found any wrongdoing by the influencers — it said some were given false information about the company’s funding sources — but instead accused two employees of Russian state-run RT of misdirecting nearly $10 million to a Tennessee-based content production company for pro-Russia content.
After the indictment was announced, Poole and Johnson released a statement on social media, which Rubin retweeted, saying they were victims of the suspects’ crimes and had done nothing wrong.
“These are just allegations and we don’t know yet what the truth is,” Poole said. “Putin is a scumbag.”
In his post, Johnson wrote that he was approached about a year ago to provide content to the emerging media company, and that his lawyers negotiated a standard arm’s length deal, but that talks were later terminated.
Kostyantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva are charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act. They are currently on the run and it is not clear whether they have lawyers.
U.S. officials have previously warned that Russia is using unwitting Americans to further influence the 2024 election campaign, but Wednesday’s indictment is the most detailed description of such activity yet. Intelligence officials have said Moscow is backing Trump.
U.S. law enforcement and intelligence officials say Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized influence operations to help Trump in the 2020 election, while Trump’s 2016 campaign benefited from hacking and covert social media operations by Russian intelligence services.
With the decline of traditional media such as newspapers and restrictions on direct advertising on social media platforms, influencers are playing an increasingly important role in politics and shaping public opinion. Both the Republican and Democratic parties invited a large number of influencers to their national conventions this summer. However, there are little or no disclosure requirements about who is funding influencer activities, so the public is often unclear about who is sending out online messages.
The Tennessee-based company is not named in the indictment, but the details match up perfectly with Tenet Media, an online media company that boasts of hosting a network of unorthodox commentators focused on Western political and cultural issues. Tenet’s website lists six influencers who contribute content, including Pool, Johnson, Rubin, Lauren Southern, Taylor Hansen and Matt Christiansen.
Tenet Media’s six key influencers have over 7 million subscribers on YouTube and over 7 million followers on X.
Fueled by public outrage and online fandom, Tenet Media’s talented influencers have amassed millions of loyal followers who embrace their staunch conservatism and boldness in expressing controversial opinions. Their channels have also created a community for conservative Americans who have lost trust in mainstream media following the 2020 defeat of President Trump and the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of them have faced criticism for spreading political misinformation.
According to the indictment, some of the influencers were paid handsomely for their work: One unidentified influencer’s contract included $400,000 per month, a signing-on bonus of $100,000, plus performance-based bonuses.
Tenet Media’s programming has featured prominent conservative guests in recent months, including Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump, former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and U.S. Senate candidate Kali Lake. The roughly 2,000 videos posted by the company have garnered more than 16 million views on YouTube alone, prosecutors said.
Poole, a journalist-turned-YouTuber who first came to public attention for livestreaming the Occupy Wall Street protests, hosted Trump on his podcast earlier this year.
Johnson, a vocal Trump supporter and internet celebrity, was fired by BuzzFeed after the company found evidence that he had plagiarized other people’s work.
Rubin, who previously appeared on the liberal news and commentary show “The Young Turks” but has since identified as a libertarian, is the “Tenet” influencer with the most YouTube followers and is the host of a show called “The Rubin Report.”
Tenet Media president Liam Donovan is the husband of Lauren Chen, a Canadian influencer who has appeared as a guest in several Tenet Media videos. Chen is affiliated with conservative youth organization Turning Point USA and hosts a show on the right-wing network Blaze Media. RT’s website also lists him as a contributor to several opinion pieces in 2021 and 2022.
(Only the headline and photo of this report may have been modified by Business Standard staff. The rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
First Published: September 5, 2024 | 09:35 AM IST