Russian Kremlin bots have launched a campaign ahead of the U.S. election
The “Matryoshka” disinformation network, linked to the Russian government, launched a campaign ahead of the U.S. midterm elections. In the first videos shared by accounts linked to the network, users are urged not to vote for Democratic Party candidates.
This was reported by a representative of the “Bot Blocker” project. According to him, four posts linked to the network were detected on social media platform X on Thursday, in which a total of 10 videos were shared.
Some of the videos were created using real footage of celebrities recorded for the Cameo service, where users can order personalized video messages from famous people. In other cases, voices resembling those of celebrities were used.
The videos contain calls not to support Democrats in the midterm elections and promote the hashtag #AllDemocratsAreCriminals. All identified videos bear the CNN logo. Among the celebrities whose names were used by the creators of the fake content are Sarah Jessica Parker, Christopher Lloyd, and Julia Roberts.
The posts garnered between 44,000 and 62,000 views. At the same time, “Bot Blocker” emphasized that the network uses artificial methods to inflate metrics, so the number of views does not reflect the content’s actual popularity.
Similar videos were also shared on the social network Bluesky. According to the project, bots there are not currently using view inflation, and the posts received no more than one like or save.
The “Matryoshka” network typically spreads fake photos or videos, after which accounts associated with it post links to these publications, urging journalists to verify their authenticity. This allows the network to further spread the content it has created.
The U.S. midterm elections will take place on November 3. Americans will elect all 435 members of the House of Representatives, one-third of the Senate, and the governors of 36 states. Depending on the election results, the Republican Party may retain or lose control of Congress.
The U.S. has repeatedly accused Russia of attempting to influence American elections. The “Matryoshka” network has also conducted similar disinformation campaigns ahead of elections in other countries, including Germany, Hungary, and Armenia.
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