Inside the shady Russian agency tasked with trolling the world

cybercrime
(Image credit: iStock)

They say you should never read the comments. Even Mitt Romney knows that. But for one shady organization in Russia, an entire business model depends on public consumption of — and faith in — internet comments sections, social media, and online profiles.

The New York Times Magazine published a shocking investigation Tuesday on Russia's Internet Research Agency, a company based in St. Petersburg that hires hundreds of young Russians to post and disseminate pro-Kremlin propaganda on the internet. The report begins by detailing a mysterious, threatening report of an ISIS chemical attack in Louisiana last September:

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Kimberly Alters is the news editor at TheWeek.com. She is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.