TheSoul Publishing is among the top three for views on YouTube and Facebook, capitalizing on such soft content as crafts, animation and puzzle videos. But, Russian-owned and based in Cypress, it also posts history videos with strong Russian bias and occasionally a video on the U.S. history or political scene. TheSoul has purchased political ads, one that celebrates Donald Trump’s earning less as president than what most viewers make in their jobs. (Lawfare, December 18, 2019, by Lisa Kaplan with contributions from Sophie Lawton)
Facebook and Twitter have shut down a surge in fake accounts promoting President Donald Trump. The accounts pretend to be from U.S. citizens but have fake profile photos. The accounts have been traced to Epoch Media Group, a child of the Falun Gong, a Chinese religious group persecuted in China. (The Verge, December 20, 2019, by Makena Kelly)