Five takeaways from new reports on Russia’s social media operations

While most media attention has focused on Facebook pages appealing to the political right, the Russian effort aimed at black Americans was actually larger, reaching almost as many people.

Written by Scott Shane

The Senate Intelligence Committee on Monday released two new reports it commissioned about the Russian campaigns on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other social media platforms during the 2016 election and beyond. The reports, by teams led by experts at the cybersecurity company New Knowledge and Oxford University, fill out a portrait of the impressive operations by the Internet Research Agency in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Together, they essentially burnish the résumé of Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, a loyal associate of President Vladimir Putin’s, who owns the Internet Research Agency and its multiple corporate siblings.

Americans might be infuriated by what Prigozhin’s companies are doing, but they are doing it well.

Here are major takeaways from the reports.