I sent it so I could spy on your equipment setup , I ' m sorry for the confusion . <| sep |> Russia ' s increasingly sophisticated propaganda machinery including thousands of botnets , teams of paid human trolls , and networks of websites and socialmedia accounts echoed and amplified rightwing sites across the Internet as they portrayed Clinton as a criminal hiding potentially fatal health problems and preparing to hand control of the nation to a shadowy cabal of global financiers . The effort also sought to heighten the appearance of international tensions and promote fear of looming hostilities with nucleararmed Russia . Two teams of independent researchers found that the Russians exploited Americanmade technology platforms to attack U . S . democracy at a particularly vulnerable moment , as an insurgent candidate harnessed a wide range of grievances to claim the White House . The sophistication of the Russian tactics may complicate efforts by Facebook and Google to crack down on fake news , as they have vowed to do after widespread complaints about the problem . There is no way to know whether the Russian campaign proved decisive in electing Trump , but researchers portray it as part of a broadly effective strategy of sowing distrust in U . S . democracy and its leaders . The tactics included penetrating the computers of election officials in several states and releasing troves of hacked emails that embarrassed Clinton in the final months of her campaign . Can someone helpfully tell me if there is a rational , intelligent response to this , other than simply feeling shocked and horrified ?