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☆ A pro-Trump influencer says a Russian agent paid him $100 to post a fake voter fraud video. It wasn’t the first time
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-04 | by ( Isabel Rosales | Paul P. Murphy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —An American social media influencer said he was paid $100 by a pro-Kremlin propagandist to post a fake video of Haitian immigrants claiming to vote in the US presidential election. After speaking with CNN, AlphaFox deleted the post, which at the time had generated more than 2.6 million views. Deleted video’s message lives onAlphaFox said he was remorseful for sharing Russian disinformation, and adamant that he was the one who was tricked. “I never wanted to misinform anyone.”AlphaFox believes himself to be just “the guy who shared” a disinformation video. “Real people have become important vehicles of Russian disinformation.

Persons: influencer, Trump, Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, ”, Simeon Boikov, podcaster, Boikov, Darren Linvill, ” Linvill, ” Boikov, AlphaFox, ” AlphaFox, “, X AlphaFox, Harris, Doug Emhoff, Sean “ Diddy ” Combs, Brad Raffensperger, ” Raffensperger Organizations: CNN, Kremlin, State, Russian, Media, Clemson University, FBI, Australian Foreign Ministries, Homeland Security, AlphaFox Locations: American, Russian, Massachusetts, Georgia, Boikov, Russia, Australia, Sydney, AlphaFox, AlphaFox78

CNN has reached out to Terada for comment on the R-FBI’s role in Russian disinformation efforts, and ties to the state. Storm-1516 and R-FBI network members have spread at least 54 different disinformation narratives online since August 2023, according to Clemson and CNN’s analysis. “Does anyone believe that an American would be the spearhead of what some call the biggest Russian Disinformation operation since the cold war? TelegramAnother prominent figure in propagating Russian disinformation is American Tara Reade, a former Senate staffer who in 2020 accused then-presidential candidate Joe Biden of sexual harassment. The links between Terada’s group and other Russian disinformation efforts are at best opaque, which is likely no accident.

Persons: –, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Mira Terada, Kamala Harris, Tim Walz, Harris, Walz, Morgan Finkelstein, “ Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, Trump, ”, Win McNamee, ” Darren Linvill, Patrick Warren, “, Biden, Warren, Kamala, Influencers, John Mark Dougan, Dougan, he’s, Andrew Harnik, MAGA, IMbaMm8YVF, Darren Linvill, Linvill, ” Clemson, Maxim Shugaley, Terada, Vladimir Putin’s “, ” Prigozhin, Konstantin Pridybaylo, Ruslan Ostashko, Colin Gerard, Gerard, Alexander Dugin, picturing, Tara Reade, Joe Biden, Reade, ” Chay Bowes, Simeon Boikov, podcaster, Bowes, ” Warren, Sean Lyngaas, influencers Organizations: CNN, Clemson University’s, Russian Foundation, FBI, Storm, Democratic, Minnesota Gov, Clemson, Getty, NBC, Wired, Prigozhin’s, Internet Research Agency, Miami Chronicle, Boston Times, DC, IRA, Russian, Gov, National Intelligence, US State Department, Minnesota, Apple, Trump, Infrastructure Security Agency, ’, Federal Bureau, Investigation, Kremlin, Wagner Group, US Justice Department, ANO Dialog, BRICS Journalists Association, Washington Post, Center, Forensics Locations: Russian, Ukraine, West, San Francisco, Zambia, Savannah , Georgia, ”, “, American, Zambian, St . Petersburg, Florida, Moscow, Russia, Kazakhstan, Minnesota, Philadelphia , Pennsylvania, Bucks County , Pennsylvania, Bucks County ,, French, Irish, Sydney, European

☆ Viral video of ripped-up Pennsylvania ballots is fake and Russian-made, intelligence agencies say
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-26 | by ( Zoë Richards | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Brandy-Zadrozny-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Russian actors "manufactured and amplified" a recent viral video that falsely showed a person tearing up ballots in Pennsylvania, the FBI and two other federal agencies said Friday. In the video, a person is seen destroying what are purported to be filled-out ballots in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. “The Bucks County District Attorney’s Office will not tolerate any voter suppression, intimidation, or fraud,” the statement added. Darren Linvill, co-director at Clemson University’s Media Forensics Hub, attributed the viral video to the Russian disinformation production team known to researchers as Storm-1516. The video’s quality and the use of actors who appear to have West African accents to pose as Black Americans were characteristic of the Russian campaign, Linvill said.

Persons: ”, “, Darren Linvill, Linvill’s, Linvill, ” Linvill, CISA, Donald Trump, Sen, JD Vance, Ohio, Joe Biden's Organizations: FBI, National Intelligence, Infrastructure Security Agency, stoke, Attorney’s, Yardley Borough Police Department, Russian Embassy, Clemson University’s, Storm, NBC, United Nations Locations: Pennsylvania, U.S, Russia, Bucks County , Pennsylvania, Bucks County, Yardley, Russian, Washington, Iran, China

CNN —US intelligence has assessed that Russian operatives were behind a fake video purporting to show someone destroying mail-in ballots in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, that circulated on social media Thursday. CNN reported earlier Friday that US investigators suspected that Russian operatives were behind the fake video, according to two sources briefed on the matter. The Board of Elections in Bucks County, north of Philadelphia, was quick to debunk the video on Thursday. But the video was hatched by Russian operatives, according to Darren Linvill, an expert on Russian disinformation campaigns at Clemson University. Russian operatives have tried to denigrate Harris’ campaign, Iranians have tried to undercut Trump’s, while China has largely focused on down-ballot races.

Persons: ”, Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, Darren Linvill, “, Linvill, denigrate Harris, Tim Walz, Patricia Poprik, ” Poprik, Poprik, “ It’s, it’s, Harris, Tim Lister Organizations: CNN, IC, Intelligence, National Intelligence, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Infrastructure Security Agency, stoke, Bucks County, Russian, Clemson University, Storm, Democratic, Microsoft, Bucks County Republican Party, Facebook, Trump Locations: Bucks County , Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, Bucks County, Philadelphia, Bucks, Russia, Iran, China, Trump’s, Russian

An army of political propaganda accounts powered by artificial intelligence posed as real people on X to argue in favor of Republican candidates and causes, according to a research report out of Clemson University. The network identified by the Clemson researchers included at least 686 identified X accounts that have posted more than 130,000 times since January. Many of the accounts were removed from X after NBC News emailed the platform for comment. In Arizona’s Republican congressional primary, the accounts supported Blake Masters over Abraham Hamadeh. A search on X for that hashtag shows only one other tweet, from 2018, has used it.

Persons: Donald Trump’s, Pepe, Darren Linvill, They’re, Frank LaRose, Bernie Moreno, Blake Masters, Abraham Hamadeh, didn’t, —, Sen, Sherrod Brown, ” OpenAI, Kai, Cheng Yang, ”, Yang, ChatGPT, Elon Musk, Musk, ” Linvill, Larry Norden, “ There’s, ” Norden, “, Norden, Clemson’s, Eric Hartford, Hartford Organizations: Republican, Clemson University, Clemson, NBC, NBC News, Democratic, Clemson’s Media, “, Ohio Republican Senate, Trump, GOP, Hamadeh, Northeastern University, Ohio Republican, Center for Justice, United, Social Locations: American, Montana , Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Ohio, ”, China, Taiwan, Iran, Russia, Ukraine, United States, U.S

☆ Russian disinformation peddlers are targeting Harris-Walz campaign with fake videos, Microsoft says
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-17 | by ( Kevin Collier | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Brandy-Zadrozny-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Russian disinformation peddlers are producing videos targeting the Harris-Walz campaign with false and disparaging claims, Microsoft said Tuesday. At least three Russian disinformation actors have been working to denigrate the Harris-Walz campaign, Microsoft said. Some of the disinformation comes in the form of two videos that have been disseminated since late August, Microsoft said. NBC News has viewed an upload of that video posted to X, which Microsoft confirmed is the alleged Russian disinformation. The report comes after the U.S. accused the Kremlin of running a multifaceted disinformation campaign to boost former President Donald Trump and disparage Harris.

Persons: Harris, Walz, Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs didn’t, Darren Linvill, ” Linvill, Kamala Harris, Linvill, ”, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Trump, Vladimir Putin Organizations: Microsoft, Justice Department, Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, NBC News, Media, Clemson, Democratic, Russia’s Internet Research Agency, Tenet Media, National Intelligence, Intelligence, Biden, Ukraine, FBI, The Justice Department, Trump Locations: San Francisco, Russia, Ukraine, Iran, U.S, China

In mid-December 2005, back when U.S.-Russia relations remained on relatively friendly terms, a new media channel called Russia Today began broadcasting English-language news. “It’s a very good start,” Russian President Vladimir Putin was quoted as saying of Russia Today at the time. In subsequent years, Russia Today would rebrand to RT, expand into other languages, and even open a studio in Washington, D.C. in 2010. The Tennessee company was not named in the indictment but appears to be Tenet Media, according to a review by NBC News of details included in the indictment. Instead of shuttering, the state media organization found alternate ways to distribute content, including a social media bot farm, the DOJ said in a July news release outlining its efforts to remove the content.

Persons: “, Vladimir Putin, Russia wasn’t, Margarita Simonyan, Elena Mikhaylovna Afanasyeva, Kostiantyn Kalashnikov, Melanie Smith, We’ve, there’s, ” Smith, ”, Eduard Grigoriann, Lauren Southern, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Darren Linvill, ” Linvill, ” Simonyan Organizations: Russia Today, RIA, U.S, Institute for Strategic, NBC News, Kremlin, RT, Government, Tenet Media, NBC, YouTube, Justice Department, WikiLeaks, RT America, DirecTV, DOJ, Clemson University’s, Espanol Locations: Russia, RIA Novosti, Washington ,, U.S, Europe, Tennessee, London, Ukraine, America

☆ Deepfake video targeting Zelensky’s wife linked to Russian disinformation campaign, CNN analysis shows
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-02 | by ( Gianluca Mezzofiore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Yet, it gathered some 18 million views in 24 hours on X, where it was reposted by pro-Russian influencers. A CNN analysis shows Verite Cachee was set up recently, on June 22, 2024, and some of its pages still have prompts with AI to create fake articles at the top of the piece. They then integrate the story through social media, starting with real pro-Russian influencers who are part of their network,” he told CNN. A report by Recorded Future, a leading cybersecurity company, also identified Veritee Cachee as being part of the same disinformation network. Given the size and resources of the network, it is likely some Russian support or financing is happening, Clément Briens, a senior threat intelligence analyst at the company, told CNN.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky, Olena Zelenska, Clément, Bugatti, Autofficina Parigi, “, ”, deepfakes, Cachee, Darren Linvill, they’ve, Patrick Warren, Zelenska, Veritee, Zelensky, Biden, ” Briens, Emmanuel Macron Organizations: London CNN, Bugatti, Lovers Group, Group, Schumacher, Bugatti Paris, CNN, Clemson University’s, YouTube, “, Clemson, DC Weekly, NATO Locations: Paris, Russian, France, Ukraine, “, Linvill, Cartier, New York, Europe

☆ Elon Musk’s X app ran ads on #whitepower and other hateful hashtags
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-06 | by ( David Ingram | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

X bans the promotion or glorification of violence and has previously applied the policy to racist and antisemitic content. Before Wednesday, X appeared to have blocked at least three antisemitic hashtags, according to searches of the platform. After NBC News contacted X about the hashtags, 12 of 50 hashtags appeared to be blocked. Of the 50 reviewed hashtags, searches on X for 45 of them returned recent racist or antisemitic posts. On TikTok, 10 of the 50 hashtags returned racist or antisemitic posts, with the rest either blocked or producing other content.

Persons: Elon Musk, Tesla, Elon, Musk, X, hashtags, Adolf Hitler, Anika Collier Navaroli, TikTok, Instagram, Meta, Darren Linvill, Linvill, Megan Squire, it's Organizations: SpaceX, X Holdings Corp, Milken Institute's Global, Beverly Hilton Hotel, NBC News, Twitter, NBC, Tow Center, Digital Journalism, Columbia University, Musk, Disney, Hyundai, Social, Tech, Meta, Clemson University's, Hitler, Nazi, Southern Poverty Law Center Locations: Beverly Hills , California, Europe

☆ Biden campaign prepares legal fight against election deepfakes
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Donie O'Sullivan | Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

In recent months, the campaign has spun up the internal task force, dubbed the “Social Media, AI, Mis/Disinformation (SAID) Legal Advisory Group,” part of a broader effort across the campaign to counter all forms of disinformation, TJ Ducklo, a senior adviser to the Biden campaign, told CNN. It aims to have enough prepared to be able to run a campaign-wide tabletop exercise in the first half of 2024. Existing US election law prohibits campaigns from “fraudulently misrepresenting other candidates or political parties,” but whether this prohibition extends to AI-generated content is an open question. Any political advertiser that uses deepfakes in ads on Facebook or Instagram will need to disclose that fact, it said. The Meta report details how some social media platforms are grappling with how to handle deceptive uses of AI.

Persons: Joe Biden’s, Biden, ”, Arpit Garg, TJ Ducklo, Garg, Maury Riggan, “, Chuck Schumer, Schumer, Hany Farid, —, Meta, Darren Linvill Organizations: CNN, Department of Homeland, Social Media, European Union, Digital Services, Republicans, Federal, Republican National Committee, Democratic National Committee, University of California, Facebook, Clemson University’s, RNC Locations: European, Florida, Berkeley, United States

CNN —The Chinese government has built up the world’s largest known online disinformation operation and is using it to harass US residents, politicians, and businesses—at times threatening its targets with violence, a CNN review of court documents and public disclosures by social media companies has found. Victims face a barrage of tens of thousands of social media posts that call them traitors, dogs, and racist and homophobic slurs. While tech and social media companies have shut down thousands of accounts targeting these victims, they’re outpaced by a slew of new accounts emerging virtually every day. As part of a mission “to manipulate public perceptions of [China], the Group uses its misattributed social media accounts to threaten, harass and intimidate specific victims,” the complaint states. In the past, the Spamouflage network mostly focused on issues domestically relevant to China.

Persons: –, Xi Jinping, Biden, Mike Gallagher, Chen Pokong, ”, Chen, “, Spamouflage’s, Liu Pengyu, ” Liu, Jiayang, Darren Linvill, hasn’t, Fan, Communist Party playbook, Mandiant, Nancy Pelosi, ” Ben Nimmo, George Floyd’s, Ben Nimmo, Lindsay Gorman, Gorman, ” Linvill, Linvill, Spamouflage, Jiajun Qiu, Qiu, ” Qiu Organizations: CNN, US State Department, FBI, Communist Party, Meta, Google, ”, CCP, US Department of Justice, Department, DOJ, China’s Ministry of Public Security, Group, New Yorker, telltale, Media, Clemson University, Capitol, Department of Homeland Security, Marshall Fund’s Alliance, Securing Democracy, YouTube Locations: United States, Beijing, San Francisco, China “, New York, China, New York City, America, Washington, Hong Kong, US, Texas, Virginia, Manassas , Virginia

☆ How a real Trump supporter unknowingly became the face of a fake liberal Twitter account
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( Jaide Timm-Garcia | Isabel Rosales | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Erica Marsh quickly rose to fame earlier this year as a viral left-wing voice on social media. But the face behind the account is real— and belongs to a Republican Trump voter from Florida. Ballesteros first heard about Erica Marsh in March, when her friends brought it to her attention. Mystery remains behind fake accountIt’s unclear exactly who, or what, was behind the Erica Marsh account, or for what purpose it was created. For Ballesteros, even though the Erica Marsh account is no longer active, she worries about the impact it could have on her personal life, particularly if someone recognizes her in public.

Persons: Erica Marsh, Matt Gaetz, “, Erica Marsh’s, Courtney Ballesteros, Ballesteros, ”, Darren Linvill, Hany Farid, Farid, ” Ballesteros, isn’t, CNN she’s, Donald Trump, Biden’s, Linvill, ” Linvill, ” Farid, “ We’re, we’ve, that’s Organizations: CNN, Twitter, Republican Trump, Republican, Media, Clemson University, UC Berkeley, Obama Foundation . Representatives, Russian Internet Research Agency, Facebook Locations: Florida, Ruskin , Florida, Tampa, spurts, United States

A Meta spokesperson did not specify, when asked, how many staffers had been cut from its teams working on elections. Instead, Meta said the social media giant had invested $16 billion in technology and teams since 2016 to protect its users. For years, the social media giant has invested heavily in teams of personnel to root out sophisticated and coordinated networks of fake accounts. In addition to its in-house team, Meta and other social media companies rely on tips from academics and other researchers who specialize in monitoring covert disinformation networks. The launch of Threads even as Meta trims its disinformation-focused personnel comes at a turbulent and transformative time for those tasked with writing and implementing rules on social media platforms.

Persons: Meta, “, –, ”, Darren Linvill, Elon Musk, Katie Harbath, Nick Clegg, ’ ” Harbath Organizations: CNN, Facebook, Meta, Clemson University’s, Sputnik, Elon, Twitter, YouTube, Republican, Biden, GOP, Meta Global Locations: United States, Taiwan, Ukraine, India, Myanmar, Africa, Louisiana

☆ Kanye West’s biggest challenge with owning Parler may come from Elon Musk
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

After being banned from Twitter following the Jan. 6 insurrection, former President Donald Trump backed Truth Social, an alternative to Twitter. Perhaps the biggest wild card of all comes from West’s friend and fellow erratic rich guy, Elon Musk. The billionaire Tesla CEO appears closer than ever to taking over an already established platform, Twitter, with plans to cut back on its content restrictions. Conservative users uninterested in politics may also avoid the alternative platforms because of other objectionable content they host, according to experts who study the space. “Elon Musk could buy Twitter and say, ‘Trump, you’re back, Kanye, you’re back,’ and then Kanye is stuck owning a relatively defunct, somewhat irrelevant platform,” said Decker.

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