“In Internet communication, a troll is defined as a person who provokes disputes, e.g. by raising controversial topics or attacking other participants. However, a troll factory is an entity conducting disinformation propaganda activities on the Internet. This activity is often concealed under an inconspicuous name, e.g. public relations agency, Internet research centre, etc. The operations of troll factories are usually focused on the political or economic sphere. The aim of the operations may be e.g. attacking political opponents, unfairly attacking a competing company or other action indicated by the ordering party. Troll factories achieve their goals using, among other things, fake news and hate speech.”
They include fake profiles, fake influencers, botting, etc. and is a well documented reality, and they even have an agency for it: Internet research institute. I will link some articles about it, mostly from Europe since they are used to these kind of tactics:
https://spyscape.com/article/inside-the-troll-factory-russias-internet-research-agency
There is also a segment from 2024 from CBC about fake influencers that were confirmed receiving funds from Russia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7KGwIZRZns&t=137s
At the very least, we should consume content from Canadian owned and operated media