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Two Russian troll farm operators tracked closely by the MTAC, referred to as Storm-1516 and Storm-1679, are producing and distributing fake videos to discredit Democratic nominee Vice President Harris’ campaign in the upcoming US election.
Storm 1516, a troll farm thought to be aligned with the Kremlin, has produced and shared two fake videos. One showed alleged Harris supporters attacking a supposed attendee at a Trump rally. The video generated millions of views and was designed to provoke political and racial tension ahead of the election.
The other video featured an actor falsely claiming that Harris had paralyzed a young girl in a hit-and-run crash in 2011. According to CBS News, a picture of a car crash shown in the video was from an accident in Guam in 2018, while X-Ray shown was from a medical journal.
In an attempt to give the video credibility, it was laundered through a newly-created website posing as a local San Francisco media outlet called KBSF-TV, which doesn’t exist.
https://twitter.com/Shayan86/status/1831116965127025045
At the start of September, influence actor Storm 1697, a newer group with supposed ties to the Kremlin, shifted from production of content targeting the 2024 Paris Olympics to creating and sharing fake videos about Vice President Harris.
In one video, a fake NYC Billboard with false claims about Harris’ policies is visible. This was published on Telegram before being shared on X. In the four hours after its publication on Telegram, the X post had over 100,000 views.
According to the MTAC report, the US government took action on September 4th in response to Russia;s efforts to target the 2024 presidential election. This included indictments and sanctions against Russian influence actors including ANO Dialog, Russia Today employees, and cyber hacktivist group RaHDit.
In a coordinated response, the government designated ten individuals and two entities alongside law enforcement action taken by the Department of Justice, which includes steps to impose visa restrictions and a reward offer of up to $10 million for information relating to foreign interference in a US election.
Microsoft also suspended over 20 active email accounts created by ANO Dialog. It says it will continue to monitor activity to enable voters, candidates, government institutions, and parties to remain aware of influence campaigns.
Russia isn’t the only nation-state targeting the US presidential election. Influence actors and hackers in China and Iran are onboard too. It’s been the highest-profile perpetrator for years, however.
MTAC will publish its fifth and final election report in October.
