Disclaimer
To be as equitable as possible, we wish to clarify the following:
- We do not imply that any individuals or outlets mentioned engage in nefarious or criminal acts.
- Inclusion reflects observable account behavior, not guesswork or suspicion, that took place in a public forum, but interactions are not de facto evidence of cooperation, nor are they accusations.
We present their behavior to provide the complete picture of what we found. If we refer to a source or user as “Russian state-affiliated.” Hoaxlines users this terminology from Twitter; however, we prefer to characterize influence as beneficial to a regime, proregime, rather than make a moral judgment about whether that is positive or negative.
We define pro-regime as framing, arguments, or ideas repeatedly endorsed, promoted, or implied by regime officials, employees, representatives, allies, or contract workers. The pro-regime label does not indicate whether something is accurate, false, misleading, or otherwise. The only trait inclusion in the pro-regime information system indicates is that the site met Hoaxlines’ criteria for a pro-regime website. Whether pro-regime is positive or negative is in the eye of the beholder.
Whether that designation is negative goes beyond the scope and intention of this report.