Russian internet trolls were required to watch ‘House of Cards’: report

Russian internet trolls who worked to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election were forced to watch the Netflix show “House of Cards” to help them understand U.S. politics, according to Yahoo News.

In an interview with Russian TV station Rain, a former member of the Russian operation to interfere in the 2016 election reportedly claimed the group watched the political drama to understand America’s “problems.”

“At first we were forced to watch the ‘House of Cards’ in English,” the troll, who went by the name of “Maksim,” said in the interview, according to Yahoo News. “It was necessary to know all the main problems of the United States of America. Tax problems, the problem of gays, sexual minorities, weapons.”

{mosads}“Maksim” also said in the interview that the Russian trolls were told to post comments on web stories from media outlets like The New York Times and The Washington Post, posing as Americans and focusing on former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

“The main message is: Are not you, my American brothers, tired of the Clintons? How many have they already been?” “Maksim” said, according to Yahoo.

Russia’s use of social media networks like Facebook and Twitter to interfere in the 2016 election has come to light in recent weeks.

Both Facebook and Twitter have turned over information to congressional investigators about how Russians used their platforms.

Facebook revealed earlier this month that $10 million users saw political ads purchased by Russian actors during the 2016 election, and Russia-linked groups attempted to use Facebook to organize several pro-Trump rallies in Florida.

Russian inference in the 2016 election is currently the subject of multiple congressional investigations as well as one part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation