Russia is distributing fabricated videos designed to spread misinformation about US Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris.
This is stated in the report of the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center (MTAC).
As the company reported, in addition to Russia, Iran and China also carried out cyber-influence operations on this yearʼs presidential elections in the United States. Back in August, Iran was targeting Republicans. He tried to influence the Republican Party election campaign by hacking, stealing information and spreading disinformation through social media and fake news sites.
The Microsoft corporation noted that in the last two months, they have observed noticeable changes in Russiaʼs tactics of influence, which reflects the change in the political situation in the United States.
According to the company, the Russians initially faced difficulties trying to develop their influence in the immediate aftermath of the withdrawal of US President Joe Biden from the presidential race. However, in late August and September, Russian bot farms such as Storm-1516 and Storm-1679 did manage to have some success, distributing videos designed to discredit Harris and fuel controversy surrounding her campaign.
Storm-1516, a Kremlin-linked troll farm, created and distributed two fabricated videos, each of which garnered millions of views. In one of them, Harris supporters allegedly attack a possible participant in the Trump rally. In the second video, the actress pretended to be Harris, who was allegedly running away from the scene of the accident. This video was posted by trolls on a website masquerading as a local media outlet in San Francisco, created just days before the fake videos were published.
Storm-1679, a new group also linked to the Kremlin, has shifted its focus from producing content about the 2024 Olympics to publishing false videos discrediting Harris. One of them was published in Telegram, and then in the social network X (formerly Twitter). This video shows a billboard in New York making false claims about Harrisʼ politics. In X, the post received more than 100,000 views in four hours.
Also, MTAC experts discovered a China-related group called Storm-1852, which distributes short videos criticizing the Biden administration and the Harris campaign. While most Storm-1852 trolls masquerade as conservative US voters who vote for Trump, several accounts also create anti-Trump content.
"Taken together, these three states—Iran, China, and Russia—demonstrate the complexity of foreign interference facing the U.S. and the need for the public to remain vigilant about these threats," Microsoft said.
Experts emphasize that as the elections approach, bot farms will continue to spread staged videos and propaganda created, in particular, with the use of artificial intelligence.
Elections in the USA
This yearʼs presidential election in the USA will be held on November 5, 2024. Donald Trump became the Republican candidate in mid-July and presented his vice presidential candidate James David Vance. Vance consistently opposes aid to Ukraine and says that Kyiv will have to cede some territories for a ceasefire.
Incumbent Joe Biden was supposed to be the Democratic nominee, but after an unsuccessful debate with Trump in June, he came under fire and pressure from the leaders and donors of the US Democratic Party. So on July 21, Biden officially announced that he was withdrawing from the presidential race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee.
Harris has already become an official candidate from the Democratic Party. Her vice-presidential candidate is Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, known for his support of Ukraine and sharp criticism of Trump and Vance.