CNN reports exclusively that the Internet Research Agency, a Kremlin-linked troll farm tied to 470 fake accounts that posted divisive ads on Facebook and pushed content through Twitter, also used Pokémon Go, Tumblr, YouTube, and contacted reporters as part of a fabricated Don't Shoot Us campaign.
CNN notes the group's name may reference the "Hands Up. Don't Shoot" slogan that emerged after a white police officer shot 18-year-old black Michael Brown, a black man, in Ferguson, MO in 2014.
According to CNN,
The Don't Shoot Us YouTube page, which is simply titled "Don't Shoot," contains more than 200 videos of news reports, police surveillance tape and amateur footage showing incidents of alleged police brutality. These videos, which were posted between May and December of 2016, have been viewed more than 368,000 times.
All of these YouTube videos link back to a donotshoot.us website. This website was registered in March 2016 to a "Clerk York" in Illinois. Public records do not show any evidence that someone named Clerk York lives in Illinois. The street address and phone number listed in the website's registration belong to a shopping mall in North Riverside, Illinois.
This is just the latest example of Russian operatives using social media to stoke anger and exploit racial divides. CNN explains the donotshoot.us website linked to a Tumblr account which promoted a Pokémon Go contest that "directed readers to go to find and train Pokémon near locations where alleged incidents of police brutality had taken place. Users were instructed to give their Pokémon names corresponding with those of the victims."
Don't Shoot Us also appears to have tried to promote real-world demonstrations and contacted reporters in an effort to spread word of protests.
Exclusive: Even Pokémon Go used by extensive Russian-linked meddling effort (CNN)