Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2019

Abstract

The evidence of Russian intervention in American politics is overwhelming. In the midst of the 2016 US presidential campaign, a growing number of inflammatory social media posts addressing various political topics emerged on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. These posts supported the candidacy of Donald Trump, condemned the influx of refugees and migrants, and promoted racial divisions in the United States. Through clicks, likes, shares, and retweets, these messages reached millions of Americans. But, these messages did not originate in the United States; they were drafted and disseminated through inauthentic social media accounts created and controlled by the Internet Research Agency, an obscure foreign corporation with direct contacts to the Russian operation designed to undermine American democracy.

In response, the US government filed criminal indictments against several Russian nationals and corporations implicated in Project Lakhta. Social media companies released thousands of files that document Russian intervention and purged many of these inauthentic accounts.

This Article proposes a different response -- one that directly targets the Russian government. Because its actions violated numerous international norms, Russia is subject to proceedings before several international human rights bodies. And, significantly, these proceedings can be brought by the very people who were the targets of the Russian campaign -- the American people.

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