5 THINGS ABOUT RUSSIAN MEDDLING

1 THE ALLEGATION

Russian cyber experts used the smartphone game Pokemon Go in attempts to meddle in U.S. politics, according to an investigation by CNN. Under the banner of Don’t Shoot Us, a collective that seemed to share the aims of Black Lives Matter but which is believed to have been run by Russians, online participants were encouraged to use the game to inflame racial tensions. The Don’t Shoot Us YouTube page contains more than 200 videos of news reports, police surveillance tape and amateur footage showing incidents of alleged police brutality.

2 HOW IT WORKED

Players were told to visit real-world sites where police brutality had been recorded, and give their Pokemon characters names of victims. Contest winners would receive Amazon gift cards after sharing images on social media, the site claimed. CNN said it had no evidence of anyone claiming a prize.

3 POKEMON’S MAKER REPLIES

“It’s clear from the images shared with us by CNN that our game assets were appropriated and misused in promotions by third parties without our permission,” Niantic told CNN.

4 CNN’S TAKE

The Don’t Shoot Us site also had a YouTube and Tumblr account. The sites may have had “the dual goal of galvanizing African Americans to protest and encouraging other Americans to view black activism as a rising threat.”

5 FACEBOOK’S ROLE

A source confirmed to CNN that the Facebook page was one of the 470 accounts taken down after the company determined they were connected to the internet Research Agency, a Kremlinlinked “troll farm.”