On Tuesday, the United States Department of Justice announced in a press release that Russia had generated and orchestrated 968 social media accounts using an artificial intelligence ‘social media bot farm’. These accounts falsely posed as Americans, disseminating disinformation within the U.S. and internationally.
The Justice Department reported identifying 968 social media accounts on the platform X (previously known as Twitter) and seizing two domains matching the email addresses associated with these accounts. The Department disclosed that it had taken steps which led to the suspension of the X bot accounts, which were impersonating Americans. The accounts in question frequently posted content defending the Russian government and justifying Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in April 2022.
According to the Department, the social media bot farm operates using a software package developed in 2022 by a deputy editor employed by the Russian government-funded news channel RT, also known as Russia Today. This software creates fake personas on social media platforms and is able to generate both images and text.
Not long after, in early 2023, the software was appropriated, and the bot farm project was approved and funded by the Presidential Administration of Russia, headed by an officer from the Russian Federal Security Service.
Attorney General Merrick Garland stated, “As the Russian government continues to wage its brutal war in Ukraine and threaten democracies around the world, the Justice Department will continue to deploy all of our legal authorities to counter Russian aggression and protect the American people.”
The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Christopher Wray, stated that Russia intended to use this bot farm to disseminate AI-generated foreign disinformation. By leveraging AI, they aimed to scale their efforts to undermine Ukraine and influence geopolitical narratives favorable to the Russian government.
The FBI, Cyber National Mission Force (CNMF), Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (CCCS), and several other security authorities cooperated to assist with and provide advisory support for the investigation.
Meanwhile, on May 30, 2024, Open AI released a report stating that Russia is among the countries using its technology to spread disinformation.
According to the report, malicious actors misused OpenAI’s technology to create social media content, translate it into other languages, and distribute it. However, the report stated that none of the content had any significant impact on the social media users with whom it came in contact.
Related article: Russia-backed actors posed as US, French intelligence agencies to spread online disinformation, report reveals
Tech giant Microsoft is accusing Russian-backed bad actors of impersonating intelligence agencies in the United States and France to spread online misinformation targeting the upcoming Paris Olympics. This revelation comes in a report issued by Microsoft, highlighting a potential attempt to disrupt the international sporting event.
On June 2, Microsoft’s security team, the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center (MTAC), exposed a disinformation campaign targeting the upcoming Paris Olympics. The campaign, linked to a Russia-affiliated group known as Storm-1679, involved a fabricated video masquerading as a press release from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The video’s intent, according to MTAC, was to provoke fear of danger and discourage people from attending the international sporting event.
Specifically, a fabricated video, uploaded to social media platform X last February, is spreading fear ahead of the Paris Olympics. The 78-second clip, linked to a Russia-affiliated group, falsely claims the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has intelligence on impending terrorist attacks by radical Islamist groups targeting France and the European Union. To appear legitimate, the video features the CIA’s emblem and an image depicting the agency’s headquarters. READ MORE
