US Intelligence Warns of Russia's Intent to Interfere in American Elections
American intelligence agencies warn that Russia has launched a new digital influence campaign ahead of the November elections in the United States. According to secret assessments, the Kremlin's goal is to exacerbate internal contradictions within American society. American officials familiar with the intelligence materials told The New York Times about this on condition of anonymity.
In recent weeks, Russian disinformation specialists have identified several social media campaigns that used artificial intelligence to create fake videos featuring Hollywood celebrities. In these videos, celebrities allegedly discussed important Senate elections in highly contested states.
However, the current campaign, according to American officials, is less extensive and less coordinated than some previous Russian attempts to influence US elections. According to intelligence assessments, since 2016, the Kremlin has conducted online influence operations during every federal election cycle.
US intelligence agencies now believe that Moscow is less interested in the midterm elections than in presidential elections, and part of its attention is diverted by the war against Ukraine.
Officials claim that the main goal of the current campaign is to create chaos, not to help a specific party. However, independent disinformation researchers have, in recent weeks, linked examples of attacks specifically targeting Democratic Party candidates in hotly contested states to Russia.
On social media platforms X and BlueSky, a series of AI-generated videos appeared in two waves over the past week. They were used to widely disseminate unsubstantiated accusations against Democrats running for the Senate. The materials used themes with which Donald Trump and the Republican Party criticize Democrats, including accusations of corruption, antisemitism, and support for LGBT rights.
Some videos were edited to give the impression that they originated from well-known media outlets, including CNN, BBC, and The New York Times. Targets included candidates who could influence the balance of power in the Senate.
One recent post used a fake video from The Times in which actress Jamie Lee Curtis allegedly criticized Democrats for their policy on transgender people. The actress's spokeswoman, Heidi Schaeffer, stated that there was "not a shred of truth" in the video. According to X data, the post was viewed almost 200,000 times by the end of the day.
Researchers note that this campaign uses Russian methods known from previous elections in the US and Europe. Jean le Roux, a senior researcher at Graphika, stated that American content began appearing shortly after the elections in Germany and Sweden concluded. According to him, an expansion of the campaign, which he believes is now focused on the US elections, can be expected.
Graphika suggests that the Kremlin-linked networks Operation Overload or Matryoshka may be behind the operation. Their bots often impersonate legitimate news organizations to disseminate fabricated materials.
US intelligence also makes assessments that Iran may be involved in influence operations ahead of the elections, but its activity is currently low. Additionally, China, according to American officials, may be prepared to conduct operations targeting individual Congressional candidates or incumbent congressmen whom Beijing considers hostile to China.
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