US disrupts Russian disinformation campaign that relied on AI technology
- Russian operation used fake social media accounts enhanced by artificial intelligence to spread pro-Kremlin messages, US says
A Russian propaganda campaign backed by the Kremlin that spread online disinformation in the United States and was boosted by artificial intelligence has been disrupted, the Justice Department said on Tuesday.
US officials described the internet operation as part of an ongoing effort to sow discord in the US through the creation of fictitious social media profiles that purport to belong to authentic Americans but are actually designed to advance the aims of the Russian government, including by spreading disinformation about its war with Ukraine.
US officials said the scheme was organised in 2022 after a senior editor at RT, a Russian-state-funded media organisation that has registered with the Justice Department as a foreign agent, helped develop technology for a so-called social media bot farm.
It received the support and financial approval of the Kremlin, with an officer of Russia’s Federal Security Service – or FSB – leading a private intelligence organisation that promoted disinformation on social media through a network of fake accounts.
The RT press office did not respond directly to a question about the allegations.
The disruption of the bot farm comes as US officials have raised alarms about the potential for AI technology to impact this year’s elections and amid ongoing concerns that foreign influence campaigns by adversaries could sway the opinions of unsuspecting voters, as happened during the 2016 presidential campaign when Russians launched a huge but hidden social media trolling campaign aimed in part at helping Republican Donald Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton.