science

Russia and Black Lives Matter

Russia and Black Lives Matter is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Russia and Black Lives Matter rather than just read about it. In short: The relationship between Russian intelligence services and the Black Lives Matter movement is a concern that emerged among scholars in the late 2010s who have researched Russian interference in United States elections. Russian operatives associated with the Internet Research Agency (IRA) have engaged in an online campaign to both encourage support of and opposition to the Black Lives Matter movement.

Key takeaways

Russia and Black Lives Matter belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Russia and Black Lives Matter to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Russia and Black Lives Matter from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The relationship between Russian intelligence services and the Black Lives Matter movement is a concern that emerged among scholars in the late 2010s who have researched Russian interference in United States elections. Russian operatives associated with the Internet Research Agency (IRA) have engaged in an online campaign to both encourage support of and opposition to the Black Lives Matter movement.

Background

Soviet media has criticized racial inequality and violence in the United States since at least 1930s, often using this argument to deflect criticism aimed at the human rights abuses in the USSR, or to create a sense of false moral equivalency between the two states. Lynchings of African Americans were brought up as an embarrassing skeleton in the closet for the U.S., which the Soviets used as a form of rhetorical ammunition when reproached for their own economic and social failings. This became known as the "And you are lynching Negroes" argument, later described as whataboutism, and continued during the Cold War and beyond. In the late 2010s, researchers found that increases in Russian disinformation activity on Twitter were correlated with increases in polarising conversations regarding the Black Lives Matter movement. One such activity included Russian accounts mimicking Black Lives Matter activists, or supported issues central to the Black Lives Matter cause. Activities on Facebook include purchasing ads to promote Black Lives Matter. Reporting by investigative journalists uncovered Russian links with Facebook pages promoting Black Lives Matter. In one instance, Russian activities on social media led to real-life protests on behalf of Black Lives Matter. Prior to this development, in 2010, a report commissioned for the United States Senate Intelligence Committee, the Russian firm Internet Research Agency was identified as creating social media accounts as part of a complex campaign to suppress the black American vote. However, subsequently, investigative journalists found that the Russian firm sought to promote the issue of Black Lives Matter in order to instigate mistrust in US law enforcement and political institutions. While Russian operatives have engaged in an online campaign to encourage supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement, their efforts also have included promoting opposition against the group, including inciting violence against the group's supporters.

2016 US elections According to scholars, Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections included the promotion of themes relating to Black Lives Matter, as well as the promotion of antagonism toward the movement. Russian operatives created hundreds of fake personas linked to social media accounts and began posting content that related to two different aspects of the Black Lives Matter movement. On one hand, posts promoted the Black Lives Matter cause by emphasising police brutality in the United States toward minority groups; on the other hand, other posts supported police divisions, strongly criticised any opposition to the police, and denounced the Black Lives Matter movement. In one instance, social media accounts used by Russia's Internet Research Agency simultaneously promoted opposing protests in New York City: one in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, and the other against it. In one case, Russian operatives even hired individuals to organise protests. Researchers found that this interference campaign was performed with the following aims: to support Donald Trump's presidential campaign, to weaken Hillary Clinton's campaign, and to undermine public faith in the American democratic system and the electoral process.

2020 US elections According to scholars and American investigative journalists, Russian interference in the 2020 United States elections included the promotion of themes relating to Black Lives Matter. Often, the purpose of these actions included race-baiting. In 2020, the Internet Research Agency had outsourced to troll farms in Ghana and Nigeria, which created content for audiences on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, the majority of whom were in the United States.

See also Foreign exploitation of American race relations Russian disinformation Active measures And you are lynching Negroes, a Soviet whataboutist retort Soviet influence on the peace movement Communist propaganda

References

External links US Senate Intelligence Committee Report on Russian Active Measures

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Russia and Black Lives Matter

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Russia and Black Lives Matter claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Russia and Black Lives Matter before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Russia and Black Lives Matter ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Russia and Black Lives Matter

In research: Russia and Black Lives Matter appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Russia and Black Lives Matter in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Russia and Black Lives Matter is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Anti-black racism in Asia, Anti-black racism in Europe, Black Lives Matter, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Russia and Black Lives Matter outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Russia and Black Lives Matter in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Russia and Black Lives Matter means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Russia and Black Lives Matter out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Russia and Black Lives Matter in simple terms?

Why does Russia and Black Lives Matter matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Russia and Black Lives Matter?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Russia and Black Lives Matter.