Black Matters (BlackMattersUS) was a website and set of social media accounts operated by the Internet Research Agency (IRA) that presented itself as an independent Black American news and activist outlet. It published content on police violence and racial injustice, built a following on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other platforms, and used that audience to promote rallies and recruit American activists, who were not told who was behind it. Its exposure as an IRA operation came through Russian media reporting in October 2017 and investigations by U.S. technology companies and Congress.

The U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence found that the IRA directed more of its social media effort at African Americans than at any other group, using pages such as Black Matters to deepen racial division and to discourage Black voters from participating in the 2016 election.

Sources

• U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Russian Active Measures Campaigns and Interference in the 2016 U.S. Election, Vol. 2: Russia’s Use of Social Media. October 2019.
• Mueller, Robert S., III. Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election, Vol. I. U.S. Department of Justice, March 2019.

Summary entry. A fuller, document-based profile is in preparation.