Russian Disinformation Campaign Exploits AI to Spread Fake News

Russia Is Pumping Out Disinformation That Looks Like Legitimate News Reports

Trump Hides Obama, Bush Portraits in Obscure White House Stairwell A group publishing pro-Russia propaganda online is impersonating legitimate news outlets in an attempt to disseminate disinformation, Politico reported, citing misinformation tracking organization NewsGuard. The effort, known as Storm-1679, creates websites that mimic real news outlets and uses those sites to push fake news stories. They have published disinformation designed to look like stories from ABC News, the BBC, and Politico, among others. The group has also used artificial intelligence to proliferate fake videos, often hooked to major news events. To some degree, their efforts are working. People -- including right-wing influencers -- have fallen for them. One such video, a fabricated E! News report, claimed this past February that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) paid movie stars to visit Ukraine after Russia's invasion in 2022. It was posted to social media with the caption: "USAID was using our tax dollars to send celebrities to UKRAINE to increase Zelensky's popularity around the world and, in particular, the U.S.... BURN USAID TO THE GROUND. We don't need it under any department." Donald Trump Jr. and Elon Musk fell for the scam. Both reposted the video on X. "The video is not authentic and did not originate from E! News," the outlet said in a statement to Reuters at the time. "It typically tends to surge and launch a wave of fakes around a particular news event," Ivana Stradner, a researcher on Russia at the D.C. think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Politico. NewsGuard is tracking 556 domains "that have promoted false claims about the Russian-Ukraine conflict." Some of those domains are official Russian state media sources, but others are not official Russian state propaganda. They are "anonymous websites, foundations, and research websites with uncertain funding -- at least some of which may have undisclosed links to the Russian government." Fake stories that these domains have perpetuated include that the U.S. has bioweapons labs in Eastern Europe, that Nazism is spreading in Ukraine politics and society, and that a civilian massacre in Bucha, Ukraine, was staged. While the threat of disinformation and AI fakes increases, the Trump administration is phasing out efforts to combat it. The State Department, under Sec. Marco Rubio, shut down the agency's office that battles against foreign disinformation. Rubio claimed -- without evidence -- that the office was "millions of dollars to actively silence and censor the voices of Americans they were supposed to be serving." Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has also ousted federal workers who combatted disinformation related to U.S. elections. Stradner told Politico these rollbacks are "a dream come true for Putin."

Russian-Backed Fake News Sites Are Fueling US Disinformation Campaigns

Pro-Russian propaganda group Storm-1679 is exploiting high-profile news events to spread disinformation. What Happened: According to a report, Storm-1679 has been under the watchful eyes of Microsoft's Threat Analysis Center since 2022. The group has been found to impersonate reputable organizations, including news outlets, nonprofits, and government agencies, to spread their propaganda. The group has been particularly active this year, creating fake content related to the German SNAP elections and the upcoming Moldovan parliamentary vote, reports Politico. They have also tried to spread false narratives about the war in Ukraine, coinciding with a meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. McKenzie Sadeghi, AI and foreign influence editor at NewsGuard, revealed that the group has been publishing pro-Kremlin videos since early 2024. "If even just one or a few of their fake videos go viral per year, that makes all of the other videos worth it," Sadeghi told the outlet. Storm-1679 has developed a unique technique of combining videos with AI-generated audio impersonations of celebrity and expert voices. This tactic was notably used in a fake documentary series featuring Netflix's logo and an AI-generated deepfake voice of actor Tom Cruise, ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics. Also Read: Trump Cites Putin To Support Vote Fraud Claims: 'If You Would've Won, We Wouldn't Have Had a War' Although most of these videos are quickly debunked, some have managed to gain significant traction. A fabricated E! News video that falsely claimed the U.S. Agency for International Development paid for celebrities to visit Ukraine after Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022 is one such example. This video was shared by Donald Trump Jr. and Elon Musk to their millions of followers before being exposed as a sham. Why It Matters: The activities of Storm-1679 highlight the growing threat of disinformation campaigns, particularly those backed by state actors. The use of AI-generated content to impersonate reputable sources and individuals is a concerning trend. This not only undermines the credibility of genuine news sources but also has the potential to influence public opinion and political events. The wide reach of some of these fake videos underscores the importance of vigilant fact-checking and media literacy. Read Next Ex-Trump Adviser Bolton Says Putin Meeting Brings Back Memories of Taliban Camp David Talks Image: Shutterstock/Anton Watman This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs