Is There Political Meddling in Pokemon GO To Inflame Racial Tensions?
The Russian meddling saga continues as new evidence points to "Pokemon GO" as one of the many online service used to promote dissension in the United States.
While the game itself was not compromised, its assets were used in Russian political meddling to "sow discord among Americans." Using the game, a third-party sought to create a divide by playing on the tense racial atmosphere in the country.
In a report by CNN, a Tumblr page linked to Russia's now-notorious Internet Research Agency promoted a contest for users who were also sympathetic to the Black Lives Matter movement. They were encouraged to play the game near sites of police brutality and were told to change their characters' names to the victims of those incidents, all in an effort to incite racial tensions.
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The contest promised Amazon Gift Cards to the winners although no evidence has been found that anyone participated in the contest. In the page, there is also an image of a Pokemon named "Eric Garner" after one of the victims of police brutality. Garner died after being put in a chokehold by a officer of the New York Police Department.
The Tumblr page was linked to Do Not Shoot Us. The multiplatform campaign employed false flag tactics by mimicking aspects of Black Lives Matter. Using the website donotshoot.us, along with related pages on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube, the campaign was allegedly used by the Russians in attempting to interfere in US politics.
So far, all Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts associated with the campaign have since been suspended. However, its YouTube and Tumblr pages, still remain active alhough the Tumblr page has shifted to posts about Palestine.
In a statement by Niantic, they say that their game was appropriated and misused in promotions by third parties. They added that "Pokemon GO" "was not and cannot be used to share information between users.
