Delaney, who had lost his day-job at a restaurant early in the Covid-19 pandemic, thought this could be his big break. But Peace Data and "Alex Lacusta" were not what they presented themselves to be. In a post on the website after Facebook's announcement, Peace Data maintained it was an independent site and disputed the company's findings. Peace Data had recruited and paid Americans to write stories on a host of issues, including American politics and racial inequality in the US. The person posing as Lacusta pitched all three of Delaney's stories to CounterPunch, in an apparent attempt to have a real American publication publish Russian-commissioned pieces written by real Americans.

Source: CNN September 04, 2020 12:11 UTC