On November 8, 2024, CNN reported that US agencies faced an unprecedented wave of election interference from Russia, Iran, and China, including bomb threats that disrupted polling stations in swing states. The article begins:
Federal investigators are running down email addresses from Russian internet domains that were used to make a slew of non-credible bomb threats across swing states on Election Day. The effort underlines that though the presidential election is over, US intelligence and law enforcement agencies are still grappling with and analyzing a deluge of disinformation and online threats aimed at sowing discord among voters. In the days before, on and after Election Day, for example, officials at the FBI and other agencies spent hours tracking videos and other social media posts, including ones they said were made by Russian operatives, people briefed on the matter said. It was the most active and aggressive the US government has been in combatting foreign influence in the age of social media, the sources said.It is not yet clear who sent the bomb threats or from where. (A Russian email address can be used outside of Russia, and the bomb threats are entirely separate activity from the social media disinformation). But the spate of emails caused temporary evacuations at some polling centers and injected tension in the final hours of voting to an already-chaotic threat environment.
Key Points:
- Federal agencies faced unprecedented levels of foreign disinformation, responding faster than in previous elections to debunk fake content.
- Election Day bomb threats appear linked to earlier threats against LGBTQ+ events using Russian email domains.
- Multiple foreign actors, including Russia, Iran, and China, conducted sophisticated online influence operations targeting voters.
- Despite disruption attempts, including network scanning and swatting calls, no successful breaches of election systems were reported.
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