As anti-racism protests continue to sweep the United States, disinformation experts warn the Black Lives Matter movement is threatened by domestic disinformation, created and spread by far-right and white supremacists conspiracy groups. 

Last week, U.S. representatives Val Demings and Raja Krishnamoorthi pressed federal intelligence authorities to determine if foreign adversaries are exploiting American social movements, including Black Lives Matter protests. Some politicians – with flashbacks to Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election – fear foreign operatives are contributing to violent social unrest. 

Demings and Krishnamoorthi, both members of the House Intelligence Committee, sent a letter to National Intelligence Director John Ratcliffe, asking if intelligence agencies were tracking any foreign interference with the social upheaval sweeping America. They requested that Ratcliffe report back to Congress any findings of foreign operatives fomenting social unrest.

“We know that foreign actors have historically sought to exploit tensions in American communities during times like these,” Demings and Krishnamoorthi wrote, citing how Russia exploited tensions in America in the run-up to the 2016 election. “These actions included falsifying accounts from across the political spectrum, such as impersonating the Tennessee GOP party and even Black Lives Matter protesters,” the letter said.