1/ THREAD: What doesn’t appear on #Hamilton68 is often as interesting as what does. Today, near silence on the Manafort verdict. Instead, the focus is largely on using the Mollie Tibbetts murder to spread divisive content on #immigration. This follows a familiar pattern. 2/ On Dec 1, 2017, accounts monitored on #Hamilton68 pounced on the not guilty verdict in the murder trial of Kate Steinle, who was shot and killed by an undocumented immigrant in San Francisco.

1/ Analysis of recently released IRA-linked accounts again reveals that a major pillar of the Kremlin’s social media influence campaigns revolves around the impersonation of local news sources, such as @ChicagoDailyNew, which had more than 19,000 followers in July 2016.
THREAD 2/ The @ChicagoDailyNew account, which joined Twitter in May 2014, seems to have often tweeted links to legitimate news sources, likely to build credibility and expand its following before it was operationalized for influence.

1/ The themes expolited by Kremlin-linked IRA ads on Facebook are nothing new and match what we've seen on other platforms. What's notable is how they not only play both sides of issues but also micro-target segements of U.S. pop. Take these pro and anti police ads: 2/ IRA accounts also played heavily on the racial divide in the US. Targeting of both Black Lives Matter supporters as well as those interested in Southern Pride and the Confederate flag are prevalant.