Kremlin-linked structures are creating networks of disinformation sites to influence search engine algorithms and artificial intelligence chatbots.
This was reported by Bloomberg, citing internal documents of the Russian "Social Design Agency" (SDA).
Bloomberg has obtained 73 internal SDA documents from 2023 to 2026. They show that Project 2026 involves launching websites that mimic encyclopedias, media outlets, and think tanks to promote Russian narratives in search engines and language models.
In particular, it is about launching Wikipedia-like resources, especially for Armenia. Such sites were planned to publish pro-Russian materials and manipulative information about local politicians, including Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. At least three such resources have already been blocked.
Another campaign was aimed at Germany. Its participants planned to create about 200 000 web pages and regularly update the content to promote the desired narratives in the search engine and artificial intelligence.
The documents also mention the SDA’s involvement in campaigns by the Russian network Storm-1516. In particular, the agency tracked the spread of a fake story about the purchase of two apartments in Dubai’s Burj Khalifa by President Volodymyr Zelensky’s mother. According to the authors of the documents, this story has garnered about 86 million views.
- Storm-1516 (also known as Neva Flood) is a Russian pro-government disinformation group that uses a network of bots, fake websites masquerading as well as artificial intelligence tools to generate deepfakes.
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