{"id":64913,"date":"2019-03-04T16:09:04","date_gmt":"2019-03-04T16:09:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/03\/04\/shutting-down-russian-trolls-for-a-day-is-not-enough\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:31:01","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:31:01","slug":"shutting-down-russian-trolls-for-a-day-is-not-enough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/opinion\/commentary\/2019\/03\/04\/shutting-down-russian-trolls-for-a-day-is-not-enough\/","title":{"rendered":"Foreign trolls are targeting service members \u2014 and we\u2019re not doing enough to stop them"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On Feb. 26, the Washington Post reported<\/a> that U.S Cyber Command blocked internet access for the Internet Research Agency, the Russian oligarch-linked organization that the Mueller investigation has deemed responsible for interfering with the 2016 election. Our government blocking the internet access of a persistent cyber threat to our democracy for election day is an encouraging sign, but it is far too little.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The St. Petersburg-based IRA is just one of countless foreign groups seeking to interfere with the American electorate, and those trolls are active every day. They aren\u2019t just motivated by the goal of interfering with our democracy; they\u2019re driven by a host of financial incentives that our government and tech companies have done little to nothing about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For 18 months, Vietnam Veterans of America, a congressionally-chartered veterans service organization, has been fighting foreign trolls<\/a> that are targeting the military and veterans community to weaponize and turn a profit off of our patriotism. From entities that publish falsified news about veterans benefits cuts to earn ad revenue for their clickbait websites, to targeted employment and financial scams, veterans organizations have been forced to play defense against a deluge of anonymous overseas actors who work day and night to deceive Americans \u2014 stealing our names, logos and reputations to gain their trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are serious problems that need to be investigated by cyber professionals at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with the goal of finding out who is behind these anonymous online avatars.<\/p>\n\n\n\t