Russia's Matryoshka bots impersonate celebrities in new campaign targeting U.S. midterms with calls not to vote for “pedophile Democrats”
The Russian-linked Matryoshka bot network has launched a new campaign aimed at influencing the U.S. midterm elections. Researchers with the Antibot4Navalny project, which tracks pro-Russian bot activity on social media, provided The Insider with information about 16 videos that have recently been posted on social media. In the clips, various “celebrities” appear in videos bearing the CNN logo —…
According to the Antibot4Navalny project, Russian-linked Matryoshka bot network has launched a disinformation campaign targeting the U.S. midterm elections. The campaign features 16 videos posted on social media platforms under the CNN logo, accusing Democratic Party candidates of various crimes including supporting "the Zelensky regime," promoting hormone therapy, and engaging in corruption.
Celebrities such as Alyson Hannigan, Eric Roberts, and Julia Roberts appear in the videos, urging viewers not to vote for Democratic candidates. The videos also accuse individual Democratic candidates, such as Roy Cooper running for U.S. Senate in North Carolina, of attempting to bring cheap groceries to the U.S. through increased immigration.
The campaign aims to spread artificial information "noise" and manipulate perceptions of the election, using a coordinated infrastructure of bots, trolls, and anonymous platforms.
Written by urgent.news from The Insider's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
