The Russian government used tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of fake accounts to create outrage during the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Posted by Robinson's Podcast, Checked
- Sources
- 5 support
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 60%
Robinson's PodcastSep 23, 2026
Sources support the core assertion that Russian-linked operatives ran a large fake-account operation during 2016, with Twitter disclosures alone linking about 50,258 bot accounts to the effort, which fits the 'tens of thousands' part of the claim.
What was said
… it, suddenly propaganda became a big issue in the wake of the 2016 elections, and I was invited to a number of early propaganda conferences as someone who had written a book on propaganda, uh, and so I, and I could. So, two things about that. One is that I saw how the Russian attack on the 2016 election worked. They directed, essentially, you know, tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of fake accounts to create outrage. So, I saw one presentation where people said, people showed how the Hillary Clinton super predator remark was directed against Metro Detroit, you know, so to get people to tamp down the vote, essentially. So, I think we can see that happening again. …
Robinson's Podcast · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. Twitter's disclosures counted 50,258 accounts linked to Russian bots during the 2016 election period, which matches the 'tens of thousands' part of the claim.[3][4]
Supports. Mueller's indictment described Russian operatives setting up free, fake accounts that posed as American users supporting Trump or opposing Clinton.[1]
Supports. Analysts describe the Russian effort as using fake personas to spread divisive content and sow discord, which is consistent with the claim's outrage framing.[2][5]
Context. Facebook-side counts were much smaller, about 2,700 fake accounts, and Instagram had about 170, so the total across platforms is in the tens of thousands rather than hundreds of thousands.[4]
Context. The claim's extraction matches the post's own wording ('tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of fake accounts to create outrage'), so no detail was added beyond the passage.
Sources
5 sources: 2 tier 2, 3 not rated
- 1The U.S. government says Russia infiltrated Facebook with fake users, accounts and groups supporting Donald Trumpvox.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports
- 2The Social Media Operation That Divided Americans | Video | Niall Ferguson's NetWorld | PBSpbs.org · tier 2 · cited for: supports
- 3Fact check US: What is the impact of Russian interference ...theconversation.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 4“Find a way to resist being manipulated.”niemanlab.org · not rated · cited for: supports, context
- 5Hostile State Disinformation in the Internet Ageamacad.org · not rated · cited for: supports
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- Russia employed social media to suppress voter turnout in the 2016 election by attacking Hillary Clinton as a racist.True
- Russian-directed fake accounts used Hillary Clinton's 'super predator' remark to target voters in Metro Detroit to suppress the anti-Trump vote in the 2016 election.Can’t tell
- Donald Trump benefited from Russia's interference and influence campaign in 2016.True
- The media pushed the claim that Donald Trump was a puppet of Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin and colluded to steal the election from Hillary Clinton.True
- Russia uses journalists as cover for its intelligence operatives.True