The Real Net Effect: The Paid Bloggers and Trolls for Russia's Putin (Elder)

The existence of on-line fronts, of fictional individuals or of people paid to post, has long been suggested but seldom proved. Howver, as more and more corporations, governments, and organisations keen to shape public perceptions, further evidence of such online manipulation may be left behind. Writing for The Guardian, Miriam Elder looks at a campaign in Russia to inflate the status of Vladimir Putin, seeking the mirage that he is very, very popular amongst Russian citizens.

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Polishing Putin: Hacked E-mails Suggest Dirty Tricks by Russian Youth Group
Miriam Elder

A pro-Kremlin group runs a network of internet trolls, seeks to buy flattering coverage of Vladimir Putin and hatches plans to discredit opposition activists and media, according to private emails allegedly hacked by a group calling itself the Russian arm of Anonymous.

The group has uploaded hundreds of emails it says are to, from and between Vasily Yakemenko, the first leader of the youth group Nashi --- now head of the Kremlin's Federal Youth Agency --- its spokeswoman, Kristina Potupchik, and other activists. The emails detail payments to journalists and bloggers, the group alleges.

Potupchik declined to confirm or deny the veracity of the emails, but appeared to acknowledge that her email had been hacked. "I will not comment on illegal actions," she told The Guardian.

Nikita Borovikov, the current leader of Nashi, said: "For several years, I've got used to the fact that our email is periodically hacked. When I heard the rumours that it had been hacked, I wasn't shocked, and have paid no attention to this problem. I'm a law-abiding person, and have nothing to fear of hiding, so I pay no attention."

Apparently sent between November 2010 and December 2011, the emails appear to confirm critics' longstanding suspicions that the group uses sinister methods, funded by the Kremlin, to attack perceived enemies and pay for favourable reports while claiming that Putin's popularity is unassailable.

They provide particular insight into the group's strategy to boost pro-Putin coverage on the internet, which in contrast to television is seen as being ruled by the opposition. Several emails sent from activists to Potupchik include price lists for pro-Putin bloggers and commenters, indicating that some are paid as much as 600,000 roubles (£12,555) for leaving hundreds of comments on negative press articles on the internet. One email, sent to Potupchik on 23 June 2011, suggests that the group planned to spend more than R10m to buy a series of articles about its annual Seliger summer camp in two popular Russian tabloids, Moskovsky Komsomolets and Komsomolskaya Pravda, and the daily Nezavisimaya Gazeta. Arkady Khantsevich, deputy editor of Nezavisimaya Gazeta, denied that his journalists accepted money for articles, a widespread practice in post-Soviet Russia.

"Yes, we wrote about Seliger, and will continue to," he said. "But the paper has never entered into a financial contract, including with political parties." He added that the journalist who covered the summer camp had written under a pseudonym, and the newspaper would not be investigating the claim.

A spokesman for Moskovsky Komsomolets's press service declined to comment: "I don't read what they write on the internet about MK being paid for stories about Seliger. It doesn't interest us." Komsomolskaya Pravda has not responded publicly and could not be reached for comment.

The leak comes as Putin faces the greatest challenge to his rule since first coming to power 12 years ago, with mass street demonstrations building momentum before a presidential vote on 4 March that is expected to return him to the presidency after a four-year interlude as prime minister.

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