The US Department of Justice has seized two domains linked to a Russian wartime disinformation campaign that was used to spread misinformation and fake news on social media.
FBI officials said the AI-powered intelligence operation from Russia included roughly 1,000 accounts posing as Americans.
The investigation found that Russian bot farms were using artificial intelligence to create fake social media profiles posing as Americans and posting in support of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.
The 968 social media accounts allegedly linked to Russian state television station RT were “used by Russian actors to create an AI-enhanced social media bot farm to spread disinformation in the United States and abroad,” authorities said.
Monika Skolimowska/DPA
Russia has routinely weaponized social media to spread disinformation in an attempt to sow discord within Western democracies.
In court documents unsealed on Tuesday, the Justice Department said a deputy editor at Kremlin-owned RT masterminded the plot to spread disinformation.
“With these actions, the Department of Justice has disrupted a Russian government-backed, AI-enabled propaganda operation that used bot farms to spread disinformation at home and abroad,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said.
“As the Russian government continues to wage a brutal war in Ukraine and threaten democracies around the world, the Department of Justice will continue to use all of its legal authorities to counter Russian aggression and protect the American people,” he added.
Jose Luis Magana/AP
“Today’s action demonstrates that the Department of Justice and our partners will not tolerate Russian government actors and their proxies using AI to spread disinformation and stomp down divisions among the American people,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said.
“As bad actors accelerate their criminal use of AI, the Department of Justice will respond and work with international partners and the private sector to prioritize disruptive behavior. We will shut down bot farms, seize illegally acquired internet domains, and will not hesitate to take action against our adversaries.”
“Today’s action marks the first attempt to disrupt a Russian-backed generative, AI-enhanced social media bot farm,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said.
“Russia used this bot farm to spread AI-generated foreign disinformation and expand its AI-assisted operations in an effort to undermine Ukrainian partners and influence geopolitical narratives in favor of the Russian government,” he said in a statement.
Alexander Zemlyanchenko/AP
Elena Simpar, a professor of computer science at King’s College London, told Newsweek: “The biggest danger coming out of all this is that people will no longer believe or trust anyone or any institution, which will lead to a withdrawal from democratic or collective decision-making.”
RT operates television channels in English and several other languages, but appears to be much more popular on social media than on television broadcasts.
According to an affidavit unsealed on Tuesday, July 9, the social media bot farm used AI elements to create fictitious social media profiles, often purporting to belong to individuals in the United States, which the operators used to promote pro-Russian propaganda.
The FBI worked with international partners Canada and the Netherlands on a cybersecurity investigation to shut down Russian AI-powered bots.
Company X voluntarily suspended the bot accounts identified in court documents for violating its terms of use.
Newsweek has reached out to X for comment.
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