WASHINGTON, D.C. — The CIA, FBI, and NSA jointly published a report Monday of their investigation into attempts to influence the 2017 iDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls General Election by the Russian government. The report confirms allegations that Russia sought to sway the election via hacking and influence.
The 6th Cinderella Girls General Election took place in April 2017 and was won by Takagaki Kaede. Immediately after the final rankings were published in May, observers noted that the top-finishing idols were all favorites of noted Kaede Producer Vladimir Putin.
The Senate Intelligence Committee met today and largely endorsed the findings of the report, and called for more stringent policies from DeNA and Cygames to ensure future elections are not similarly compromised.
“After carefully reviewing the report, the consensus among members and staff is that we trust the intelligence community’s findings,” Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) told Anime Maru, referring to allegations that Russia was behind hackings of Mobage servers which revealed that Kamiya Nao’s new card, should she have placed highly, would suck.
The report also sheds evidence that Russian sources exploited fake social media accounts to raise the popularity of their favored idols, such as Honda Mio, Araki Hina, and Takagaki Kaede.
Not everyone in Washington is convinced by the report. White House officials accused Senate Intelligence Committee members for embracing the report solely because the senators were upset at Shimamura Uzuki’s disappointing 24th place finish, despite trying her best.
If Russian interference did indeed occur, experts are puzzled by Anastasia’s low finish. In the report itself, the NSA theorized that the Russian-born idol finished 39th because “no one likes Anastasia, not even Russians.”