Jun 29, 2022
Anti-Abortion Campaigns and Rhetoric Boosted by Known Russian Disinformation Operations, Documentation Shows
Special Thanks to DefendingDemocracyTogether.Org for maintaining RussiaTweets.com
“And on the pedestal, these words appear”
- Percy Bysshe Shelley
With the Supreme Court’s recent overturning of Roe V. Wade with the sorrowful Dobbs decision, people in the United States and around the world find themselves horrified by a renewed threat of American authoritarianism and puzzled as to how we arrived at such barbarism in the 21st century. While time will tell how Americans react and cope with the horrors unleashed by the court, some puzzle pieces are already available to the public in plain view.
For years the public has been warned about active foreign interference in American political and social life. Government, media, and academic professionals have uncovered evidence that Russian state actors have leveraged various tactics to engage Americans both online and off over the long term.
In 2008, Russian operators directly engaged at least one US Presidential campaign, and one of Senator John McCain’s own political advisor’s accounts suggests they may have had an opportunity to influence internal campaign discussions of who to choose as the GOP’s Vice Presidential Nominee. In 2013, Kremlin allies launched the Internet Research Agency (IRA), a troll farm organized to amplify division, confusion, and conflict to destabilize communities. In June 2014, the IRA organized a “scouting” trip to the United States. IRA scouts explored the United States from New York to California, with many stops in between. During this trip, they made notes and took photos. They delivered an intelligence report on their findings upon their return to Russia. In November 2014, they sent another scout on a follow-up mission to assess elements in Atlanta, Georgia.
By mid-2015, major media outlets like the New York Times and NPR disclosed news of the IRA to the public and discussed how they leverage disinformation to manipulate political landscapes in the US and worldwide.
The IRA and other Russian operators illegally engaged civilian populations on numerous political and social issues. Based on available documentation, it is understood that in many cases, IRA teams would identify and observe their targets online for years before making their first engagement and eventually guiding individuals down their crafted narrative pathways. The techniques employed by operators influenced US persons’ behaviors through social media and developed their target’s usefulness to the Russian state within their respective communities. In one case, IRA operators began directly engaging a US Person no later than January 2017, and by August 2020, they were developed into a paid asset writing on the subject of online attacks. This asset’s mindset and behavior were so in-sync with the Russian state’s objectives that the writer noted, “they did not change a single word” of his article before posting it to their dummy site.
Among the many issues the IRA chose to support within the US was the weakening of US citizens’ right to bodily autonomy through the support of anti-abortion campaigns and rhetoric.
According to Russiatweets.com, publicly known examples of where the IRA engaged US persons on anti-abortion rhetoric via Twitter include but are not limited to:
Jamie Jefferies is an Arizonan woman who uses the Twitter handle @prolife_wife and has set herself up as the leader of organizations such as Abortion Trials which describes its mission as “to educate and raise awareness about current abortion legalities and ongoing malpractice cases relating to abortion providers.” She is also the leader of Let Life Live, a registered nonprofit with the mission “to bring awareness and education to the public about abortion, while offering support to those caught in the dilemma of choosing between life and death.” Since being initially engaged by Russian operations, her public profile has been leveraged to promote Arizona GOP candidates for Federal Office.
December 17th, 2016
MT @prolife_wife: There is NEVER a good enough reason to dismember a baby. #Prolife https://t.co/fW7g3hT6eo #UnbornLivesMatter #PJNET
January 7th, 2017
MT @prolife_wife: What kind of man supports a woman’s right to KILL HIS CHILD? https://t.co/dQzBSFmUBc #UnbornLivesMatter #PJNET
According to her own website, Esmeralda Kiczek is a “social media expert and blogger” based in New Jersey. Mrs. Kiczek has self-published a book on “spiritual adoption” and is the founder of an anti-abortion movement she and her husband named “The End of Abortion Movement: The Rosary is the Key.” Since being engaged by Russian operations, her Twitter account of @EsmeraldaKiczek has ballooned to over 211k followers.
November 2nd, 2016
MT @EsmeraldaKiczek: Greatest destroyer of love is abortion. St. Mother Teresa #Prolife https://t.co/PYmUMoYtyT #UnbornLivesMatter #PJNET
March 8th, 2017
MT @EsmeraldaKiczek: Praise Jesus! Pres Trump signs EO to defund International PP #Prolife https://t.co/ncOrSROjE6 #UnbornLivesMatter #PJNET
March 9th, 2017
MT @EsmeraldaKiczek: Praise Jesus! Pres Trump signs EO to defund International PP #Prolife https://t.co/jGnB7Lj19M #UnbornLivesMatter #PJNET
April 30th, 2017
MT @EsmeraldaKiczek: Lord, transform culture of death into one of life. #PraytoEndAbortion https://t.co/eTGyFpwMkT #UnbornLivesMatter #PJNET
Tamara Davis of Tennessee’s Twitter account of @warriors_mom was directly engaged by Internet Research Agency operations no less than 200 times, according to Russiatweets.com. Ms. Davis is a noted Cyber Security Expert and CEO of Recon Secure Computing, whose expert advice has been quoted in publications such as Computer Weekly.
The first known Russian engagement of @warriors_mom was on February 4th, 2016.
February 4th, 2016
Catholic Bishops of Ghana: Ex-Gitmo Prisoners Are ‘Time-Bombs’–’Send These Men Back’ https://t.co/QcdnxL7YvE .@warriors_mom @realityinACTION
The IRA actively engaged her on anti-abortion rhetoric.
January 28th, 2017
Abortion is NOT healthcare. #MarchForLife #ProLife .@AlvedaCKing @warriors_mom https://t.co/8jkWLtJPh4
March 21st, 2017
Her Health, Her Lifetime, Our World ❤ Center for Strategic and International Studies. #ProLife @warriors_mom https://t.co/5BnqNAaevd
March 29th, 2017
????? #DefundPP #ProLife @AlvedaCKing @warriors_mom https://t.co/RXwpJwvu50
Russian operators also engaged her with content from state aligned misinformation outlets such as Zerohedge and Wiki Leaks,
January 1st, 2017
5 Blood-Boiling Cases Of Government Overreach \| Zero Hedge #Regulations .@JohnStossel .@Varneyco @warriors_mom https://t.co/ngg0uKKQrn
March 23rd, 2017
Wikileaks Releases “NightSkies 1.2”: Proof CIA Bugs “Factory Fresh” iPhones � Zero Hedge #Surveillance @warriors_mom https://t.co/ydgp4NsBoG
on the topic of Russian meddling in US politics itself,
January 14th, 2017
The arrests of the Russian scapegoats have already begun � #BlameTheRussians @warriors_mom https://t.co/ipMI8yXTGg
April 4th, 2017
Agree or Disagree? “It’s the Democrats who Collude with the Russians” #ObamaGate #EmailGate @warriors_mom https://t.co/O6ZkvGv0Vp
April 29th, 2017
‘@warriors_mom @TuckerCarlson @realDonaldTrump @POTUS @VP @DeptOfEducation CA:Bill to teach kids about Russian election meddling advances. ?????’
and on non-political relationship-building content like crafts and cookie recipes.
January 18th, 2017
What a great idea! #Crafts @warriors_mom https://t.co/LAoOGgwPuG
April 5th, 2017
Oooh chocolate chip cookies ? ❤️ #Recipes @warriors_mom https://t.co/3iaC5c4fOu
But the IRA did not limit their engagement to boosting fringe voices. They also helped boost Twitter accounts with established anti-abortion agendas and followings like presidential campaign staffer Jason Miller and future pardonee Dinesh D. Souza.
October 20th, 2016
@PJStrikeForce @JasonMillerinDC She’s a big denier, but it is tearing a viable baby into pieces. #ProLife #debatenight’
October 21st, 2016
The tragedy of #abortion isn’t that a woman kills a child. It’s that she kills her own child. — @DineshDSouza #prolife https://t.co/46LFjZstdj
Russian Operators also helped directly boost political campaigns tied to anti-abortion stances like Georgia’s Karen Handel,
April 19th, 2017
.@karenhandel is a #ProLife champion who will protect the defenseless and stand up to the abortion lobby. @HandelTeam #GA6 #gotv
Arizona’s Kelli Ward,
December 2nd, 2017
10 Big reasons why Arizona wants Dr.@kelliwardaz in the Senate. #MAGA?? #AmericaFirst?? #PROTRUMPMVMT?? #BuildTheWall?? #NoSanctuaryCities?? #DrainTheSwamp?? #ProGrowth?? #ProLife?? #RepealObamacare?? #SupportOurTroops?? Go Kelli !
and Texas’s Ted Cruz.
February 4th, 2016
What Our Silence Says #PraytoEndAbortion #Stand4Life #prolife #ccot #Christian #Jesus #God #FoxNews #AP #TedCruz #CruzCrew #BarackObama
February 18th, 2016
.@tedcruz has ALWAYS been 100% #PROLIFE, NEVER #ProChoice & NEVER for #PartialBirthAbortion. #TrusTED #CruzCrew https://t.co/o1Y0T6Dyhq
In addition to grassroots activists and federal politicians, they also engaged anti-abortion campaigns such as the March for Life,
January 22nd, 2016
We are the pro-life generation #MarchForLife https://t.co/gXjY3lobmU
January 19th, 2018
Abortion doesn’t make you unpregnant. It makes you the parent of a dead child. #MarchForLife
January 19th, 2018
Kellyanne Conway: “Donald Trump is the most pro-life president in our nation’s history.” #MarchforLife https://t.co/NVeDMuzeAx
And DefundPP, which stands for Defund Planned Parenthood. Aggressive defunding campaigns are a far-right tactic to sabotage sentiment against otherwise effective public services.
July 21st, 2015
Yes, #PPSellsBabyParts. But ONLY to the highest bidder. #WakeUpAmerica #DefundPP #Gatter #Nucatola #Mengele #Gosnell http://t.co/IifrcE8CIU
December 21st, 2015
#Women #GOP #War #DefundPP #Justice4All https://t.co/GdsFmeo5ng
February 6th, 2016
Nothing in MY Constitution says FED GOVT can fund infant killing! #DefundPP #PJNET #TCOT #CCOT #WakeUpAmerica https://t.co/VBN28XdF2N
February 7th, 2016
Liberal hypocrisy #WakeUpAmerica #DefundPP #BanIslam #NoSyrianRefugees #TCOT https://t.co/F1XeuULiVN
February 6th, 2016
It’s not CLUMPS of TISSUE that move and smile and react! #DefundPP #PPSellsBabyParts #TCOT #CCOT #PJNET https://t.co/bNTi0mHTqv
February 13th, 2016
Nothing in MY Constitution says FED GOVT can fund infant killing! #DefundPP #PJNET #TCOT #CCOT #WakeUpAmerica https://t.co/z1VhUb4k0C
February 18th, 2016
If #BlackLivesMatter lives matter why are we paying to slaughter millions of them #DefundPP I don’t hear any groups saying enough already
February 18th, 2016
Nothing in MY Constitution says FED GOVT can fund infant killing! #DefundPP #PJNET #TCOT #CCOT #WakeUpAmerica https://t.co/nmaV3W0Xyj
February 20th, 2016
THIS birth control is FREE and READILY AVAILABLE! #DefundPP #WakeUpAmerica #PJNET #TCOT #CCOT https://t.co/ktkd4PGNCN
February 11th, 2017
Planned Parenthood is modern day genocide. #StandWithPP #DefundPP #MoralMarch
February 11th, 2017
“I have noticed everyone who is for abortion has been born.” — Ronald Reagan #DefundPP #StandWithPP #MoralMarch https://t.co/qLEuGikIFg
April 28th, 2017
PP selling baby parts is as bad as NAZIS using murdered Jew brains for research! #DefundPP #ProLife #PJNET https://t.co/FW92RswC4w
August 10th, 2017
Trump, Pence Say #UnbornLivesMatter American Thinker https://t.co/AtysdKMbHb #abortion #PJNET 999 #MAGA #DefundPP https://t.co/pifylTpxQZ
As always expected with the IRA, plenty of anti-Hillary Clinton content is also mixed into the campaigns. The following examples show how the IRA uses repetition over time to boost the distribution and saturation of a disinformation narrative.
December 22nd, 2015
Defund Hillary’s Planned Parenthood Baby Body Chop Shop: https://t.co/11ra2FcYD6 — https://t.co/e9D4TB4pLS — #DefundPP 90
January 6th, 2016
Defund Hillary’s Planned Parenthood Baby Body Chop Shop: https://t.co/11ra2FcYD6 — https://t.co/e9D4TB4pLS — #DefundPP 289 #PJNET
February 26th, 2016
Defund Hillary’s Planned Parenthood Baby Body Chop Shop: https://t.co/3KvZJO4xRD — https://t.co/n9L7yz21Gv — #DefundPP 289 #PJNET
March 17th, 2016
RT @gerfingerpoken: Defund Hillary’s Planned Parenthood Baby Body Chop Shop: https://t.co/uVuGKG3aAH — https://t.co/lshrfTPPQD — #DefundPP …
July 7th, 2016
Defund Hillary’s Planned Parenthood Baby Body Chop Shop: https://t.co/11ra2FcYD6 — https://t.co/e9D4TB4pLS — #DefundPP 289 #PJNET
The examples provided are just the tip of the iceberg concerning how Russia’s Internet Research Agency boosted anti-abortion campaigns and rhetoric in the United States. A deeper and more thorough analysis is still required to fully understand the scope of Russia’s campaigns to bolster the anti-abortion movement in the US.
If you would like to learn more about malign influence campaigns, Russian influence operations, disinformation, and corruption activities, check out the following referenced and recommended readings:
- Malign influence campaigns: What are they, and how can communities fight back? | LinkedIn
- What’s the Matter with @KansasDailyNews? | LinkedIn
- 3 Ways Some Materially Benefit from Foreign-Sponsored Attacks on Our Democracies | LinkedIn
- Trudeau calls U.S. court decision overturning Roe v. Wade ‘horrific’ | CBC News
- Abortion Ruling Is Suicidal for the Supreme Court: Noah Feldman (bloomberglaw.com)
- A historically unpopular Supreme Court made a historically unpopular decision — CNNPolitics
- Rep. John Lewis: ‘I Don’t See Trump as a Legitimate President’ (nbcnews.com)
- Duped by Russia, freelancers ensnared in disinformation campaign by promise of easy money | Reuters
- Peace Data, an apparent Russian disinformation outlet, tried to recruit me. (slate.com)
- Russian agency created fake leftwing news outlet with fictional editors, Facebook says | Facebook | The Guardian
- After FBI tip, Facebook says it uncovered Russian meddling — The Atlanta Voice
- How an American Writer Became an Unwitting Russian Intelligence Pawn (businessinsider.com)
- A fine example of youthful enterprise to save live (elpasotimes.com)
- How can healthcare organisations fight increased cyber crime in 2021? (computerweekly.com)
- U.S. Accuses Zero Hedge of Spreading Russian Propaganda — Bloomberg
- How did WikiLeaks become associated with Russia? — CBS News
- How Julian Assange turned an embassy into a command post for election meddling | CNN Politics
- Exclusive Interview with US political strategist Steve Schmidt: McCain, Russia, Ukraine, Palin and more — KyivPost — Ukraine’s Global Voice
- Steve Schmidt: GOP strategist’s ties to Russia nearly led to 2008 presidential campaign “fistfights” | Salon.com
- No Books. No Money. Just the Truth. — by Steve Schmidt (substack.com)
- Russian Trolls Spread False Information On The Internet : NPR
- The Agency — The New York Times (nytimes.com)
- Russian internet ‘troll’ sues former employer | Internet | The Guardian
- Timeline: How Russian trolls allegedly tried to throw the 2016 election to Trump — The Washington Post
- The Russia Investigations: Mueller Indicts The ‘Internet Research Agency’ : NPR
- How Vladimir Putin Is Plotting to Weasel His Way Into American Hearts (thedailybeast.com) -
- Russians posed as Georgia residents in social media campaign (ajc.com)
- Megaphones and more: Mueller details Russian U.S. election meddling | Reuters
- Inside Putin’s Information War — POLITICO Magazine
- Russian Trolls Relied on Local News More than Fake News in 2016 Presidential Election, New Analysis Finds (nyu.edu)
- Russian-backed organizations amplifying QAnon conspiracy theories, researchers say | Reuters
- Russia Probe: Mueller indictment mentions Atlanta trip (ajc.com)
- Unnamed 14th Co-Conspirator in Mueller’s Russia Indictment (thedailybeast.com)
- IRA Again: Unlucky Thirteen (graphika.com)
- Trump Told Russians That Firing ‘Nut Job’ Comey Eased Pressure From Investigation — The New York Times (nytimes.com)
- Mariia Butina, Who Sought ‘Back Channel’ Meeting for Trump and Putin, Is Charged as Russian Agent — The New York Times (nytimes.com)
- Jill Stein cost Hillary dearly in 2016. Democrats are still writing off her successor. — POLITICO
- Suspected Russian spy was well-liked by classmates, but something just seemed a little off — CNNPolitics
- Andriy Derkach Profile on Giuliani, Joe Biden, Russia | Time
- (Link to Download) Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election — Volume 1 (justice.gov) — Mueller Report Part I
- (Link to Download) Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election — Volume 2 (justice.gov) — Mueller Report Part II
- (Link to Download) Internet Research Agency Indictment (justice.gov) — Internet Research Agency Indictment
