--- description: An account that touted a fake pornographic video on Reddit has been traced to a notorious Russia-based "troll farm." title: Russian Reddit User Touted a 'Fake Hillary Clinton Sex Tape' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [russia](/tag/russia/) ## russia Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # A Russia-Linked Reddit Account Touted a 'Fake Hillary Clinton Sex Tape' by [Eli Meixler](/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 11, 2018 7:13 AM CUT by [Eli Meixler](/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 11, 2018 7:13 AM CUT A Reddit user who posted a [fabricated](https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/russia-linked-account-pushed-fake-hillary-clinton-sex-video-n864871 "undefined") pornographic video, purported to feature former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, has reportedly been traced to a notorious Russia-based “troll farm.” According to NBC news, the content-sharing platform [revealed](https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/russia-linked-account-pushed-fake-hillary-clinton-sex-video-n864871 "undefined") Tuesday that the account that touted a GIF of the video is associated with the Internet Research Agency (IRA), a St. Petersburg based disinformation unit. The IRA is known for [deploying](http://time.com/4783932/inside-russia-social-media-war-america/ "undefined") an army of users and bots that posted divisive political content during the 2016 presidential election. The offending GIF was posted to Reddit in 2016 and the video to pornographic streaming platform Pornhub, where it has been viewed more than 250,000 times, according to NBC. A former IRA employee [disclosed](https://www.thedailybeast.com/russias-troll-factory-made-hillary-clinton-sex-tape-ex-worker-claims "undefined") last October that the firm had fabricated the video, the _Daily Beast_ reported at the time. **Read more**: [_How Russia Spreads Fake News, Explained by a Former Troll_](http://time.com/5168202/russia-troll-internet-research-agency/ "undefined") The account, Rubinjer, was active in numerous political messaging channels on Reddit, including r/The\_Donald and r/HillaryForPrison, before it was [banned](https://www.reddit.com/r/announcements/comments/8bb85p/reddits%5F2017%5Ftransparency%5Freport%5Fand%5Fsuspect/ "undefined") from the platform Tuesday. Reddit has banned a total of [944 accounts](http://time.com/5235723/reddit-banned-russian-trolls-facebook-zuckerberg-senate-testify/ "undefined") that had posted a combined total of 14,000 times, according to the statement from company CEO Steve Huffman. Facebook also recently [deleted](http://time.com/5227225/facebook-removes-internet-research-agency-accounts/ "undefined") 135 Facebook and Instagram accounts and 138 Facebook Pages linked to the IRA, while Twitter banned over [1,000 accounts](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-19/twitter-finds-1-062-more-accounts-linked-to-russian-agency "undefined") in January. In March, the IRA was among five Russian firms and 19 individuals targeted with [sanctions](http://time.com/5201212/trump-administration-russia-sanctions-election-interference/ "undefined") by the Trump administration for alleged election interference, while a month earlier it was [indicted](http://time.com/5168104/mueller-indictment-russia-troll-factory-help/ "undefined") by Justice Department Special Counsel Robert Mueller for “[seeking](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/grand-jury-indicts-thirteen-russian-individuals-and-three-russian-companies-scheme-interfere "undefined") to interfere in the United States political system, including the 2016 Presidential election.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5235882/russia-reddit-hillary-clinton-sex-tape/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5235882/russia-reddit-hillary-clinton-sex-tape/"},"headline":"A Russia-Linked Reddit Account Touted a 'Fake Hillary Clinton Sex Tape'","datePublished":"2018-04-11T07:13:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T19:56:04.089Z","description":"The account was linked to the Internet Research Agency, a notorious Russian \"troll farm,\" according to reports","url":"https://time.com/5235882/russia-reddit-hillary-clinton-sex-tape/","keywords":["russia","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eli Meixler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eli/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/russia/","name":"russia"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5235882/russia-reddit-hillary-clinton-sex-tape/","name":"A Russia-Linked Reddit Account Touted a 'Fake Hillary Clinton Sex Tape'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Cambridge Analytica Whistleblower Talks Firm's Connection with the Trump Campaign","description":"Cambridge Analytica Whistleblower Talks Firm's Connection with the Trump Campaign","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/jPTuHVBy/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-03-20T03:27:43.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/jPTuHVBy.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5235882/russia-reddit-hillary-clinton-sex-tape/","duration":"PT1M1S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5235882/russia-reddit-hillary-clinton-sex-tape/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```