#LosTrollsEranYou: the trend that exposes Russian financing to Argentine media

By Brittany Solano

Trolls were you is the phrase that summarizes the dramatic turn that the digital conversation took in Argentina during the last hours. After revealing an extensive disinformation network Illegally financed by the Russian regime to influence local politics, libertarian activism launched a discursive counterattack that dismantled the previous narrative about the origin of attacks on social networks. Daniel Parisini, the renowned influencer known as "El Gordo Dan", was in charge of promoting this hashtag that quickly positioned itself as the number one trend on X (formerly Twitter), accumulating hundreds of thousands of mentions and unifying the claim against what the ruling party calls the "media caste."

The research that gave rise to this reaction documents a hybrid intelligence operation unprecedented. Since the beginning of 2024, a structure linked to the Kremlin injected hundreds of thousands of dollars into the Argentine media ecosystem. The central objective was the systematic publication of at least 250 paid articles in more than 20 digital portals to install critical narratives against the management of Javier Milei, amplify the social polarization and weaken the image of the Government in the eyes of public opinion. The maneuver was not limited to simple advertising, but included the creation of false identities using artificial intelligence to give a veneer of legitimacy to opinion editorials.

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Trolls were you: the libertarian response to Russian financing

The impact of the trend Trolls were you lies in the reversal of the burden of proof that historically weighed on the Government's digital militants. For months, various sectors of the opposition and the traditional press accused the ruling party of supporting bot farms or harassment structures financed by the State. However, current revelations indicate that the most organized and costly disinformation structure detected to date came from abroad and had the complicity, conscious or not, of journalists and editors of media outlets with massive reach.

Among the most resonant cases that fueled the hashtag, the identification of fictitious journalists such as Manuel Godsin stands out, whose image and professional profile turned out to be synthetic creations linked to Russian terminals. Likewise, recurring firms such as those of Gabriel Di Taranto or Marcelo Lopreiatto were detected, who channeled articles with an operating cost of up to $32,500 for just 17 publications on specific portals. This technical sophistication shows that the operation sought not only quantity, but a deep insertion into the daily news flow of Argentines.

Media involved and internal audits

The list of media that published this content covers a diverse spectrum that includes signals such as C5N and A24, and portals such as El Destape, Ámbito Financiero, Tiempo Argentino and Data Clave. In some cases, such as A24, the media's management has already initiated internal investigations against figures such as Pablo Winokur to determine the degree of individual responsibility in the leak of financed notes. In Infobae, the detection of the participation of union member Juan Pablo Piscetta, who would have received direct payments from the network, raised alarms about the vulnerability of the newsrooms to foreign intelligence operations.

The influencer Daniel Parisini was especially incisive with the FM La Patriada media outlet, of which Fabián Waldman is a member, describing the situation as a "betrayal of the homeland." For the libertarian space, the fact that media that raise flags of sovereignty and journalistic ethics have allowed the interference of a foreign power to operate against a democratic government marks a point of no return in the relationship between the ruling party and the opposition press.

Institutional gravity and security reforms

President Javier Milei was no stranger to the scandal and described what happened as "of an institutional gravity rarely seen in history." According to the president, what has been discovered so far is just the tip of the iceberg of a network that sought to condition Argentine foreign policy and its alignment with the West. In this sense, the Government has accelerated the reform processes in the national intelligence system, seeking to shield the State against the so-called "hybrid threats", where disinformation is used as a weapon of destabilization.

The massive viralization of Trolls were you It then functions as a political shield for the ruling party. As the external financing behind the smear campaigns is exposed, the Government seeks to capitalize on social unrest against the media structures involved. While the federal justice system analyzes the financial movements and possible violations of the National Intelligence Law, the public debate continues to rage on the networks, where libertarian activism seems to have found the definitive argument to confront the opposition's story about digital communication in the Milei era.