, amid heightened alert over foreign influence operations targeting the upcoming election. The video, which garnered millions of views on platforms such as the Elon Musk-owned X, purports to show a man sorting through mail-in ballots from the state’s Bucks County and ripping up those cast for Trump. On Thursday (24), the Bucks County Board of Elections declared the video as “fake,” saying that the envelope and other materials depicted in the footage are “clearly not authentic materials” belonging to or distributed by them. In a joint statement on Friday (25), the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said the video was part of a Russian disinformation operation. “Russian actors manufactured and amplified a recent video that falsely depicted an individual ripping up ballots in Pennsylvania,” the statement said. “This Russian activity is part of Moscow’s broader effort to raise unfounded questions about the integrity of the US election and stoke divisions among Americans,” it added. The statement said Russia was expected to create and release more such content in an attempt to “undermine trust” in the integrity of the November 5 elections. The video surfaced as American authorities brace for a surge in disinformation in the final days of a nail-biting election between Republican nominee Trump and the Democratic candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris. The video, also debunked by AFP’s fact-checkers, was connected to a Kremlin-aligned disinformation network known as Storm-1516, according to researchers including Darren Linvill, co-director of Clemson University’s Media Forensics Hub. Linvill, who has closely studied the network, said the account on X — previously called Twitter — that distributed the video has regularly amplified other narratives from this network. Storm-1516 has previously produced fake videos to discredit the campaign of Harris and her running mate Tim Walz, according to disinformation researchers. Last month, the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center said Russian operatives are ramping up disinformation operations to malign Harris’s campaign by disseminating conspiracy-laden videos. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBMoPUAeLnY[/embed] Aside from Russia, Iran and China are also fanning “divisive narratives to divide Americans and undermine Americans’ confidence in the US democratic system,” the ODNI warned in a memo earlier this week. “Foreign influence efforts will intensify in the lead-up to Election Day, especially through social media posts — some of which are likely to be AI generated or enhanced,” the report said. “These actors probably perceive that undermining confidence in the elections weakens the legitimacy of our democracy and consequently makes the United States less capable of effectively pursuing policies that are counter to their interests,” it added. [ad_2]){kind=link}
Russian actors had been behind a viral video falsely exhibiting mail-in ballots for Donald Trump being destroyed within the swing state of Pennsylvania, US officers stated Friday (25), amid heightened alert over overseas affect operations concentrating on the upcoming election.
The video, which garnered thousands and thousands of views on platforms such because the Elon Musk-owned X, purports to indicate a person sorting by way of mail-in ballots from the state’s Bucks County and ripping up these solid for Trump.
On Thursday (24), the Bucks County Board of Elections declared the video as “faux,” saying that the envelope and different supplies depicted within the footage are “clearly not genuine supplies” belonging to or distributed by them.
In a joint assertion on Friday (25), the Workplace of the Director of Nationwide Intelligence (ODNI), the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Safety Company stated the video was a part of a Russian disinformation operation.
“Russian actors manufactured and amplified a latest video that falsely depicted a person ripping up ballots in Pennsylvania,” the assertion stated.
“This Russian exercise is a part of Moscow’s broader effort to lift unfounded questions in regards to the integrity of the US election and stoke divisions amongst Individuals,” it added.
The assertion stated Russia was anticipated to create and launch extra such content material in an try and “undermine belief” within the integrity of the November 5 elections.
The video surfaced as American authorities brace for a surge in disinformation within the last days of a nail-biting election between Republican nominee Trump and the Democratic candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris.
The video, additionally debunked by AFP’s fact-checkers, was linked to a Kremlin-aligned disinformation community referred to as Storm-1516, in keeping with researchers together with Darren Linvill, co-director of Clemson College’s Media Forensics Hub.
Linvill, who has intently studied the community, stated the account on X — beforehand referred to as Twitter — that distributed the video has recurrently amplified different narratives from this community.
Storm-1516 has beforehand produced faux movies to discredit the marketing campaign of Harris and her working mate Tim Walz, in keeping with disinformation researchers.
Final month, the Microsoft Menace Evaluation Heart stated Russian operatives are ramping up disinformation operations to malign Harris’s marketing campaign by disseminating conspiracy-laden movies.
Apart from Russia, Iran and China are additionally fanning “divisive narratives to divide Individuals and undermine Individuals’ confidence within the US democratic system,” the ODNI warned in a memo earlier this week.
“International affect efforts will intensify within the lead-up to Election Day, particularly by way of social media posts — a few of that are more likely to be AI generated or enhanced,” the report stated.
“These actors most likely understand that undermining confidence within the elections weakens the legitimacy of our democracy and consequently makes the US much less able to successfully pursuing insurance policies which can be counter to their pursuits,” it added.
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