Russian Today: Investigating the DOJ’s Breakdown of Foreign Malign Influence Campaigns to Propagate Russia’s Propaganda
The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday said it disrupted Russian-directed foreign malign influence campaigns it referred to as “Doppelganger,” that sought to spread Russian government propaganda.
The effort was meant to reduce international support for Ukraine, bolster pro-Russian policies, and influence voters in the U.S. and elsewhere, the Justice Department said.
The DOJ alleges that two Russian employees of the Russian state-owned media outlet, Russia Today, created and distributed $10 million worth of content to US audiences.
The DOJ said it seized 32 internet domains used in the effort, and named three Russian companies involved in the effort.
The effort involved Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle, including First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Sergei Vladilenovich Kiriyenko, it said.
The Biden administration used Wednesday’s announcements to warn malicious actors against interfering with US elections. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement that the Justice Department will not tolerate attempts by an authoritarian regime to exploit our country’s free exchange of ideas in order to covertly further its own propaganda efforts.
In a statement on its website before the charges, RT made light of the findings by joking that their responses in an office poll included comments like “Ha!” and ” 2016: called and it wants its clichés back.”
The Russia-Russian Doppleganger Campaign: A State-Of-Dependent Threat to U.S. Elections
The US has accused Russia before of interfering with elections. Law enforcement accused the Russian agents of election interference in the wake of the election. In 2020, the Senate Intelligence Committee found that President Putin was in favor of an influence campaign meant to support Donald Trump.
“Russia remains the most active foreign threat to our elections,” Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told senators in May at a briefing about election risks.
The campaign, which has been identified by researchers as Doppleganger, has impersonated a variety of news organizations, including The Washington Post and Fox News, in addition to posing as NATO, the German police and the French Foreign.
The Treasury Department also sanctioned 10 people and two entities allegedly connected to the scheme. The State Department announced a new policy to prohibit issuing visas to people who engage in covert influence activities on behalf of ”Kremlin-supported media organizations.”
A Microsoft report states that the campaign used fake French-language news sites to warn of potential violence and to push claims of corruption at the Paris Olympics.
The bot farm used AI to create the fake profiles on X, formerly known as Twitter. The accounts posted support for Russia’s war in Ukraine and other pro-Kremlin narratives. The effort and the AI software behind it were organized by an editor at RT, the Russian state-owned media outlet, the Justice Department alleged. The project was run by a Russian intelligence officer.
The influence campaign was directed by members of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle, which created media brands to spread Russian government propaganda. They created fake social media personas to post comments from non-Russian citizens.
“This seizure illustrates vividly what the U.S. government and private sector partners have warned for months: the Russian government and its proxies are aggressively accelerating the Kremlin’s covert efforts to seed false stories and amplify disinformation directed at the American public,” DOJ National Security Division chief Matthew G. Olsen said in a statement.