Unfortunately Russia absolutely does use bots and crap to try to destabilize american society (to limited success imo) just like how the CIA runs influence ops on their enemy states. most countries in the world are actively all spying on each other doing this kind of stuff on the down low.

However I do believe that staff found this convenient situation where they discovered a few bots, maybe even as few as one, and used this (I think intentionally, but I'm also willing to believe staff may just be that fucking stupid and inept) as an excuse to also quietly remove real black bloggers from the site who they didn't like.

Idk I'm concerned about the implication that these kinds of cyber ops don't exist because they are out there on many popular websites and it's not paranoia or 21st century McCarthyism to say that. I think the real story of what staff was up to in March 2018 is more complex and I think both staff's racism and bot presence can easily both be true at once. I think it was an excuse with a grain of truth inside that they exploited.