Russian groups produced fake videos targeting Harris campaign; 'expect' more, Microsoft says
Russian efforts to interfere in the 2024 U.S. presidential election have increasingly targeted the campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris over the past two months, according to a report published by Microsoft on Tuesday.
According to the report, prepared by the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center, these activities involve distributing fabricated videos “designed to sow discord and spread disinformation” about the Harris-Walz campaign, following the July announcement that President Joe Biden would not seek reelection.
“The shift to focusing on the Harris-Walz campaign reflects a strategic move by Russian actors aimed at exploiting any perceived vulnerabilities in the new candidates,” Clint Watts, General Manager of the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center, wrote on September 17.
Fake videos spread through social media
The Microsoft report detailed two groups “aligned with the Kremlin” that began disseminating fake videos in late August and early September.
One video depicted alleged Harris campaign supporters attacking a Trump rally attendee, while another involved an actor accusing Harris of being involved in a hit-and-run incident. The hit-and-run video was first posted on a fabricated news site disguised as a San Francisco media outlet that only appeared a few days before the video was published and was soon thereafter deleted, although both videos spread across various social media outlets and received millions of views.
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Another group identified by Microsoft published videos on Telegram and X, formerly known as Twitter, depicting a fake billboard in New York City with false claims about Harris policies. That video received more than 100,000 views on Telegram within a few hours of being published, according to Microsoft.
“As we inch closer to the election, we should expect Russian actors to continue to use cyber proxies and hacktivist groups to amplify their messages through media websites and social channels geared to spear divisive political content, staged videos, and AI-enhanced propaganda,” Watts wrote.
The report also highlighted a Chinese-linked group known as “Storm-1852” that had used social media accounts masquerading as both conservative Trump voters and anti-Trump personas to post short-form videos that were critical of both the Biden administration and the Harris presidential campaign. Many of these accounts have recently disappeared, however.
Microsoft’s findings come two weeks after the Justice Department indicted two Russian nationals and employees of the Russian state-controlled media outlet Russia Today for funneling nearly $10 million to the online content creation company Tenet Media.
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The Tennessee-based company produced content with numerous prominent conservative media commentators, including Tim Pool, Benny Johnson, Dave Rubin, Taylor Hansen, Matt Christiansen and Lauren Southern.
Max Hauptman is a Trending Reporter for USA TODAY. He can be reached at MHauptman@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Microsoft says Russian groups behind fake videos targeting Harris
