Home Technology Russian Campaign Seeding Pro-Trump Conspiracies in Comment Sections

Russian Campaign Seeding Pro-Trump Conspiracies in Comment Sections

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Russian Campaign Seeding Pro-Trump Conspiracies in Comment Sections

Multiple accounts with names such as “Disobedient Truth” and “Private Patriot” posted links to a video in the comment sections of outlets like Breitbart and the Gateway Pundit. The comments claimed, “More bad news for the Dems: Breaking: Tim Walz’s former student, Matthew Metro, drops a shocking allegation—claims Walz sexually assaulted him in 1997 while Walz was his teacher at Mankato West High School.” These links were shared in comments shortly before the video appeared on social media platforms like X, amassing millions of views.

Following the viral spread of the Bucks County video, researchers quickly traced its origins to Storm 1516. U.S. intelligence agencies subsequently confirmed that Russia was behind the fabricated video. Historically, Russian influence operations have taken advantage of comment sections to promote their narratives, a strategy also employed during their 2016 election interference efforts. This marks the first instance of such tactics reported as part of Russia’s attempts to disrupt the 2024 presidential election.

Darren Linvill, codirector at Clemson University’s Media Forensics Hub, explained that replying in threads can generate impact with minimal effort. By placing disinformation into unrelated conversations, the material might be viewed even if the account is newly created and has no followers. He noted that there is little loss if the account is shut down, as a new account can be rapidly established.

According to Newsguard, false comments were subsequently used in reports from Russian state-backed media to strengthen claims about Western audience reactions to specific incidents. After an assassination attempt on Trump in July, Tsargrad TV published an article suggesting American consensus on Kremlin claims of Biden’s involvement in the incident, referencing “comments to articles in Western media” as evidence.

Researchers from NewsGuard identified 104 Russian state media articles between January and August that cited Western news outlet comments to substantiate their claims. Sadeghi highlighted that such tactics reduce detection risks and discreetly integrate propaganda into ordinary Western reader commentary. Repeated claims across various formats can create a sense of familiarity, potentially granting credibility to the narratives.

The account network was also utilized to propagate other narratives, like one earlier this month that unfoundedly claimed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky used Western military aid to buy a car formerly owned by Adolf Hitler. This claim has circulated via a network of inauthentic websites managed by John Dougan, a former Florida cop now living in Moscow who operates several pro-Kremlin sites. Dougan’s network previously disseminated disinformation from Storm-1516.

This article includes updates with comments from FOX News and Breitbart.

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