The United States has imposed new sanctions against entities linked to Russia’s efforts to influence elections around the world.
According to the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, Russia-based companies Social Design Agency and Company Group Structura have been orchestrating, on behalf of the Russian Presidential Administration, online operations designed to deceive and mislead the public.
OFAC found that SDA and Structura own about 60 websites that impersonate legitimate government and news organizations.
The companies also use fake social media profiles to amplify misleading content.
The goal of these illicit cyber activities is to undermine the interests and trust in democratic institutions in Latin America, the Middle East, Europe and the United States, OFAC said in a press release.
“We are committed to exposing Russia’s extensive campaigns of government-directed deception, which are intended to mislead voters and undermine trust in democratic institutions in the United States and around the world,” said Brian E. Nelson, undersecretary of the treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence.
OFAC also named SDA and Structura owners Ilya Andreevich Gambashidze and Nikolai Aleksandrovich Tupikin, respectively, pursuant to Executive Order 14024, which sanctions individuals who support foreign activities of the Russian Federation.