Trump's OMB Director Quietly Calls Out the Republicans Threatening to Derail the 'Big,...
Liberal Amnesty Group Inadvertently Makes Great Case for the Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill'
Wait, Trump Is Up By *How Much* Now? Dems Are Going to Implode.
Here Are Some of the People Who Owe Special Counsel Robert Hur an...
Four Trump Officials Pen NYT Op-Ed Calling for This Commonsense Reform
FBI Investigates Fertility Center Explosion, Not Ruling Out 'Act of Terrorism'
Trump, Putin to Talk to End 'Bloodbath' in Ukraine
Conservatives Slam Leaked Biden Audio, Say Tapes Confirm Mental Decline and Massive...
Minnesota Dems Fight to Keep Free Health Care for Illegal Immigrants Despite Soaring...
Piers Morgan Stumps Left-Wing Feminist on Defining a Woman
Trump Surges in Deep-Blue New Jersey as Voters Turn on Democrat Governor
Jasmine Crockett Mocks Christian Lawmakers Over SNAP Reform
This Pro-Life Advocate Once Underwent a Medication Abortion. Then She Reversed It.
Trump Torches Supreme Court Over Immigration Ruling: 'Criminals Will Flood In'
Pay for Pro Growth Tax Cuts by Ending the Credit Union Tax Loophole
Tipsheet

ICYMI: This Twitter Account Said It Was Tennessee's GOP. It Was Actually Russian Trolls.

Months after it was warned that the account @TEN_GOP wasn't actually the account run by the real Tennessee Republican Party (which tweets at @tngop), it has been revealed that the account was actually run by Russians. The @TEN_GOP account amassed over 100,000 followers, and tweeted a series of very inflammatory (and at times, "downright hateful") tweets and tweets that were completely false. 

Advertisement

According to Nashville's NewsChannel 5 Investigates team, the Tennessee GOP sent three emails to Twitter about the account, saying it was not their account and was impersonating the party. These were sent in September of 2016, and again in March and August of 2017. The account was temporarily suspended in July before being later permanently suspended in August. Eventually, the @TEN_GOP account changed its bio to clarify that it was an "unofficial" account of the Tennessee GOP. 

NewsChannel 5's Phil Williams curated a Twitter moment of some of @TEN_GOP's more divisive tweets. 

Russian media first identified the @TEN_GOP account (among several others) as one that was controlled by the country's "Internet Research Agency." The Internet Research Agency has been described as a "Kremlin-linked troll farm" that produces controversial social media content for American audiences. The intent of this "troll farm" was to divide Americans and to increase societal strife. 

Advertisement

The "troll farm" also ran accounts impersonating other conservative figures and groups, but the @TEN_GOP page had the most followers and was shared by many influential people on the right. 

While it's not exactly shocking that Russia would attempt to meddle in U.S. politics, it is kind of shocking that it took Twitter so long to do something about what seems like a pretty standard violation of their terms of service. @TEN_GOP was most certainly not the account run by the Tennessee's Republican Party, yet it took nearly a year before anything was done. This is not okay and this is not a good look for the social network in general. 

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Recommended

Trending on Townhall Videos

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement