Dividing the Nation: The Weaponization of “Terrorism” in Russian Influence Operations in the USA

The term terrorist represents the ultimate enemy: someone that is evil, illegitimate, and outside of the social order. Branding political rivals as terrorists delegitimizes them, transforming them from political adversaries into enemies or irrational actors. One does not negotiate with enemies, but rather eradicates or neutralizes them. Terrorism’s ill-defined qualities and multitude of definitions have transformed it into a potent stigmatizing floating signifier, one that retains the negative valence without clear boundaries. Such a term can be weaponized by entrepreneurial actors intent on dividing society along internal cleavage points. We illustrate this through the Russian trolls’ usage of the term “terrorist” on Twitter during the 2016 influence operation in the US Presidential Election. We code hundreds of tweets associated with the Russian disinformation operation, identifying the way the term was used and its target audience. Russian operatives weaponized the term to polarize the American public, marking entities and individuals as “terrorist” with the intent of increasing distrust across communities. Our results introduce important implications on the influence of leaders on the dynamics of floating negative signifiers like terrorists, especially regarding their weaponization for political reasons.