• The US Department of Justice has published an indictment alleging Russian nationals conducted an influence campaign in the US.
• At the centre of the campaign was a Tennessee content creation company believed to be Tenet Media.
• Indeed members of Tenet Media have issued statements saying they are the victims here, despite receiving a share of $10 million.

US podcasters and influencers are now in defence mode following the publication of an indictment charging Russian nationals who violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act and conspired to commit money laundering.

The crimes were committed through a Tennesee-based content creation company where podcasters and influencers were paid by RT, a Russian media outlet, to sow division in the United States.

“The Justice Department has charged two employees of RT, a Russian state-controlled media outlet, in a $10 million scheme to create and distribute content to U.S. audiences with hidden Russian government messaging,” said Attorney General, Merrick Garland. “The Justice Department will not tolerate attempts by an authoritarian regime to exploit our country’s free exchange of ideas in order to covertly further its own propaganda efforts, and our investigation into this matter remains ongoing.”

On social media, sleuths have alleged that the company in question is Tenet Media. This media company counts Tim Pool, Lauren Southern, and Dave Rubin among its talent. Two of these people, Pool and Rubin, have addressed the unsealed indictment.

“Should these allegations prove true, I as well as the other personalities and commentators were deceived and are victims. I cannot speak for anyone else at the company as to what they do or to what they are instructed,” Pool posted on X.

“The Culture War Podcast was licensed by Tenet Media, it existed well before any license agreement with Tenet and it will continue to exist after any such agreement expires. The only change with the agreement was that the location of the live broadcast moved to Tenet’s Youtube Channel. I and TCW never produced any content for Tenet Media. Never at any point did anyone other than I have full editorial control of the show and the contents of the show are often apolitical. Examples include discussing spirituality, dating, and videos games,” he added.

Similarly, Rubin said that he “and other commentators were the victims of this scheme”.

The two Russian nationals at the centre of this campaign are Kostiantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva. The US Department of Justice says they managed the operation from Moscow using fake personas and shell companies to obfuscate their dealings.

The pair used their shell companies and fake personas to encourage influencers and podcasters to publish videos to TikTok, Instagram, X, and YouTube. As many as 2 000 videos were posted since November 2023, garnering over 16 million views.

“Many of the videos posted by U.S. Company-1 contain commentary on events and issues in the U.S., such as immigration, inflation, and other topics related to domestic and foreign policy. While the views expressed in the videos are not uniform, most are directed to the publicly stated goals of the Government of Russia and RT — to amplify domestic divisions in the United States,” said the DOJ.

While Pool and Rubin paint themselves as victims of this influence campaign, many have highlighted how their comments over the last few months have aligned with Russian talking points regarding the war in Ukraine and indeed some of the comments the Russians hoped to get the Tennessee company to push on its talking heads. One clip going viral right now sees Pool referring to Ukraine as an enemy of the US because they attacked Russia, the country that instigated the war in the region.

While the podcasters and influencers paid by Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva may not have taken talking points directly from Russia, it’s strange how their opinions line-up with what the pair hoped to spread. In one example within the indictment, one of the founders of the US company was asked to push the line that the Ukraine was behind a terror attack at a Moscow venue in March 2024.

“I think we can focus on the Ukraine/U.S. angle. . . . [T]he mainstream media spread fake news that ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack yet ISIS itself never made such statements. All terrorists are now detained while they were heading to the border with Ukraine which makes it even more suspicious why they would want to go to Ukraine to hide,” Afanasyeva said.

This line that Ukraine was responsible for the attack was spread far and wide. A simple search on X reveals just how influential this claim was, even though ISIS took responsibility for the attack outright.

The FBI is currently on the case and Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva could face up to five years in prison for violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act and up to 20 years for the money laundering charge.

What will become of the podcasters and influencers and Tenet Media is unclear at this stage.

[Image – Daniel Friesenecker from Pixabay]