Michael Carpenter
![](https://www.benton.org/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/joe-biden.jpg?itok=KOZi8D9Y)
How to Stand Up to the Kremlin
[Commentary] Whereas Soviet intelligence operatives occasionally tried to plant false stories in Western media outlets, today the Kremlin subcontracts the task to proxies, who spread customized disinformation using fake accounts on social media. These proxies need not even reside in Russia since they can be contacted and compensated via the so-called Dark Web (a parallel, closed-off internet) wherever they live.