Tenet Media Firm Abruptly Folds After Russia Scheme Exposed

Larniavc · Sep 7, 2024

Pro- Trump Tenet Media is no more. The Pro-Trump Russian bot farm network folded Thursday night, just one day after the Department of Justice unsealed an indictment accusing it of being funded by Russian state-controlled media.

YouTube has expunged Tenet Media’s content from its platform “after careful review”.

Pro-Trump Media Firm Abruptly Folds After Russia Scheme Exposed

Tenet Media has met a hilarious demise.

newrepublic.com

From the Tenet Media website.

“Tenet Media is for those interested in authentic coverage of the topics that matter most, Tenet Media is your home for content : fearless voices live here.”

TENET MEDIA | Fearless Voices Live Here

Tenet Media is a network of heterodox commentators that focus on Western political and cultural issues. Our goal is to support creators who question institutions that believe themselves to be above questioning. In our view, all issues du jour merit rigorous and honest discussion if one wants to...

www.tenetmedia.com

Apparently not.

Larniavc · Sep 7, 2024

No Tenet fans in the house? No love for Tim Pool?

GoldenBoy89 · Sep 7, 2024

Larniavc said:
No Tenet fans in the house? No love for Tim Pool?

Or Benny? I know he was pretty popular on the right.

Larniavc · Sep 7, 2024

GoldenBoy89 said:
Or Benny? I know he was pretty popular on the right.

It is interesting that the overwhelming majority of people targeted by those no good Ruskies for use against America are conservatives.

Hans Blaster · Sep 7, 2024

It would seem Tenet Media was nothing more than a Russan (proxy) front company. The dissolution of the company will not save the founders from indictment.

Pommer · Sep 8, 2024

Hans Blaster said:
It would seem Tenet Media was nothing more than a Russan (proxy) front company. The dissolution of the company will not save the founders from indictment.

I wonder if they stored records in the “cloud”?

Larniavc · Sep 8, 2024

Pommer said:
I wonder if they stored records in the “cloud”?

I'm pretty confident that they'll have hidden that specific cloud in a secure place; possibly under a mattress. They're not idiots after all.

essentialsaltes · Tuesday at 3:13 PM

Trump Admin Scores Visa for Founder of Russian Propaganda Outlet

Tenet Media’s Lauren Chen is back—even though the illegal-influence and money-laundering investigation remains open.

RIGHT-WING MEDIA PERSONALITY Lauren Chen left the United States in July in disgrace. Her Tenet Media YouTube channel, which positioned itself as a sort of MAGA supergroup bringing together such popular commentators as Tim Pool, Benny Johnson, and Dave Rubin, had been exposed in 2024 by the FBI as a Russian media front illicitly taking money from pro-Putin propaganda outlet RT.

The September 2024 indictment from the Southern District of New York targeted Tenet’s FARA-skirting Russian funders, not Chen or her husband, Liam Donovan. But the Canadian couple were clearly described in the indictment as allegedly scheming with RT employees to direct $10 million to Tenet and even create a fictional persona to mislead one pundit about the source of the funding.

In the wake of the indictment, Chen lost her work visa and was forced to leave the country.

But this holiday season, Chen and her husband were back in Nashville, where she lived while running Tenet. She broke the news herself, by announcing on Instagram and X on Christmas Day that she could now return to the United States, and specifically thanking the State Department’s Joe Rittenhouse, a senior adviser on consular affairs and former Trump presidential campaign worker, for his help.

“The biggest thank you to Joe Rittenhouse at the State Department for moving mountains to ensure we were able to return in time for the holidays!” Chen wrote on Instagram.

Rittenhouse himself confirmed the administration’s effort to help Tenet Media’s founders return to America in a post on X, wishing Chen a “merry Christmas.”

“This Christmas I’m so happy to help correct the wrongs of the past administration,” he wrote. “Being able to bring Lauren and her family back for Christmas would not be possible without new Leadership at the Whitehouse, FBI, CBP, and State Department.”

The Trump administration’s intervention on Chen’s behalf comes as it has moved to dramatically restrict visa rules more broadly—even denying visas to activists opposed to disinformation.

Aryeh Jay · Tuesday at 7:14 PM

Thankfully no one on the opposite side of the political spectrum has any spine to stand up against this. The complete take over is going to be easier than expected.

NxNW · Wednesday at 7:42 AM

Russian disinformation is the new American patriotism!

essentialsaltes · Wednesday at 8:19 AM

Despite a vibrant domestic disinformation industry, America needs high-quality imported agitprop (which only comes from the Agitprop region of Russia).

ThatRobGuy · Wednesday at 8:39 AM

Larniavc said:
No Tenet fans in the house? No love for Tim Pool?

I'm aware of Tim Pool, although I found him to be a little dry and found it hard to get through an entire podcast without drifting off.

I'm more familiar with Dave Rubin.

When this started:

US conservative influencers say they are ‘victims’ of Russian disinformation campaign

Tim Pool, Dave Rubin and Benny Johnson addressed allegations that a company they were associated with had been paid to publish videos with messages in favour of Russia

www.theguardian.com

In practical terms, how would you compare/contrast this situation vs. the situation involving TikTok?

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/09/16/whats-the-truth-behind-us-claims-that-tiktok-is-spreading-chinese-propaganda.html

Obviously in the case of Tenet, they had "established personalities" running long-form videos vs. TikTok being shorter videos uploaded by "independent creators"

But it seems like many of the other concerns were there (amplifying content aimed at creating division & influencing US voters to vote in ways that may be favorable to another country's initiatives)

The reason I ask is because I think it's important to assess this sorts of things by looking at them without the "Russia glasses". (Meaning "this bad activity is somehow magically made worse if being done by someone I perceive to be aligned with my domestical political rival")

RocksInMyHead · Wednesday at 12:51 PM

ThatRobGuy said:
In practical terms, how would you compare/contrast this situation vs. the situation involving TikTok?

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/09/16/whats-the-truth-behind-us-claims-that-tiktok-is-spreading-chinese-propaganda.html

Obviously in the case of Tenet, they had "established personalities" running long-form videos vs. TikTok being shorter videos uploaded by "independent creators"

But it seems like many of the other concerns were there (amplifying content aimed at creating division & influencing US voters to vote in ways that may be favorable to another country's initiatives)

The reason I ask is because I think it's important to assess this sorts of things by looking at them without the "Russia glasses". (Meaning "this bad activity is somehow magically made worse if being done by someone I perceive to be aligned with my domestical political rival")

Both are efforts by foreign countries to influence Americans. They go about it in different ways - TikTok uses its algorithm and moderation powers to suppress content that China doesn't want shared and to promote views favorable to China on its platform (there's probably some astroturfing as well, but that's harder to prove) while the Tenet scheme used established content creators to push pro-Russia views to a very targeted segment of the American public - but fundamentally, they have similar goals.

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make here though - I don't see anyone in this thread defending TikTok.

ThatRobGuy · Wednesday at 1:17 PM

RocksInMyHead said:
Both are efforts by foreign countries to influence Americans. They go about it in different ways - TikTok uses its algorithm and moderation powers to suppress content that China doesn't want shared and to promote views favorable to China on its platform (there's probably some astroturfing as well, but that's harder to prove) while the Tenet scheme used established content creators to push pro-Russia views to a very targeted segment of the American public - but fundamentally, they have similar goals.

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make here though - I don't see anyone in this thread defending TikTok.

But there has been a difference in the reactions, and reactions essentially drive what politicians are going to push for.

For instance, if a segment of the voter base is very anti-Russia (for political reasons), but loves TikTok, politicians are going to tailor their focus and proposals accordingly in order to keep their seats and pander to their voters.

And "going hard" one particular flavor of influence peddling does have a certain way of galvanizing people even more as there are some in the public who see the "what they don't want you see" as the "forbidden fruit" and seek it out even more.

We saw that with Covid.

The more they tried to censor Ivermectin promotion, the more it seemed to have the opposite effect and become the "forbidden fruit" and more people were trying seek it out even more than they were before.

RocksInMyHead · Wednesday at 1:20 PM

ThatRobGuy said:
But there has been a difference in the reactions, and reactions essentially drive what politicians are going to push for.

Has there? Congress literally passed a law banning TikTok - the President just refuses to enforce it.

Hans Blaster · Wednesday at 1:20 PM

ThatRobGuy said:
But there has been a difference in the reactions, and reactions essentially drive what politicians are going to push for.

For instance, if a segment of the voter base is very anti-Russia (for political reasons), but loves TikTok, politicians are going to tailor their focus and proposals accordingly in order to keep their seats and pander to their voters.

And "going hard" one particular flavor of influence peddling does have a certain way of galvanizing people even more as there are some in the public who see the "what they don't want you see" as the "forbidden fruit" and seek it out even more.

We saw that with Covid.

The more they tried to censor Ivermectin promotion, the more it seemed to have the opposite effect and become the "forbidden fruit" and more people were trying seek it out even more than they were before.

Way to completely miss the point, Rob.

China does absolutely throttle content they don't like politically, but this isn't about content shaping and algorithms.

This is about popular video influencers (podcasters, YTers, et whatever) being *PAID* to produce content of a particular leaning, specifically by cut-outs for the Russian government to push pro-Russia, pro-Kremlin, pro-Putin talking points in their content.

RocksInMyHead · Wednesday at 1:35 PM

ThatRobGuy said:
But there has been a difference in the reactions, and reactions essentially drive what politicians are going to push for.

Fundamentally, the response is always going to be different when comparing the reaction to something that individuals do vs something that a platform does - it's very easy to take action against an individual because relatively few people (i.e. just the content moderation team(s) on the platform(s) they use) need to take action in order to shut them down. With an entire platform though, it requires a critical mass of users abandoning it. The only real example I can think of for that is the entire Digg userbase abandoning the platform for reddit back in the 2010s. Attempts were made when Elon took over Twitter, and when Facebook bought Instagram, but they fizzled out because a critical mass of leavers was never achieved. The only other way to shut down a platform is via government regulation - which, as I already pointed out, was done.

Larniavc · Wednesday at 7:26 PM

Hans Blaster said:
This is about popular video influencers (podcasters, YTers, et whatever) being *PAID* to produce content of a particular leaning, specifically by cut-outs for the Russian government to push pro-Russia, pro-Kremlin, pro-Putin talking points in their content.

It’s almost like being a Russian asset.

Hans Blaster · Wednesday at 7:30 PM

Larniavc said:
It’s almost like being a Russian asset.

Technically, an unregistered foreign agent.

Larniavc · Wednesday at 7:36 PM

Hans Blaster said:
Technically, an unregistered foreign agent.

Where does that sit on the ‘Useful Idiot— Fellow Traveler’ continuum?

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Tenet Media Firm Abruptly Folds After Russia Scheme Exposed

"Larniavc sir, how are you so smart?"

“Tenet Media is for those interested in authentic coverage of the topics that matter most, Tenet Media is your home for content : fearless voices live here.”​

"Larniavc sir, how are you so smart?"

We're Still Here

"Larniavc sir, how are you so smart?"

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CoPacEtiC SkEpTic

"Larniavc sir, how are you so smart?"

Fact-Based Lifeform

Trump Admin Scores Visa for Founder of Russian Propaganda Outlet​

Tenet Media’s Lauren Chen is back—even though the illegal-influence and money-laundering investigation remains open.​

Stuck on a ship.

Well-Known Member

Fact-Based Lifeform

Part of the IT crowd

God is innocent; Noah built on a floodplain!

Part of the IT crowd

God is innocent; Noah built on a floodplain!

Area Meathead

God is innocent; Noah built on a floodplain!

"Larniavc sir, how are you so smart?"

Area Meathead

"Larniavc sir, how are you so smart?"

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“Tenet Media is for those interested in authentic coverage of the topics that matter most, Tenet Media is your home for content : fearless voices live here.”

Trump Admin Scores Visa for Founder of Russian Propaganda Outlet

Tenet Media’s Lauren Chen is back—even though the illegal-influence and money-laundering investigation remains open.