Justice Department says it disrupted Russian ‘bot farm’ used to spread propaganda in US

CNN —

The US Justice Department said Tuesday that it seized two internet domains and searched nearly 1,000 social media accounts that Russian operatives allegedly used to pose as US residents to spread disinformation in the US and abroad.

The so-called bot farm used artificial intelligence to create fake social media profiles purporting to be people in the US and used those phony accounts to post support for Russia’s war in Ukraine, according to the Justice Department.

The elaborate scheme was organized by an employee of RT, the Russian state-owned media outlet, financed by the Kremlin, and aided an officer of Russia’s FSB intelligence, the Justice Department alleged.

The news comes as US intelligence officials are on heightened alert for efforts by Russia or other foreign powers to meddle in the 2024 election. US officials are watching closely to see whether the United States’ support for Ukraine will lead the Russian government to take more risks in potentially interfering in the 2024 presidential election, FBI officials previously said.

European countries have also been on high alert for a flood of Russian influence operations as the Kremlin tries to splinter support for Ukraine’s defense. Russian propagandists have ramped up efforts to denigrate the Paris Olympics this month, including through a fake documentary that uses AI to impersonate the actor Tom Cruise, according to Microsoft.

Asked for comment, an RT spokesperson did not respond to the substance of the Justice Department allegations, and instead emailed: “Farming is a beloved pastime for millions of Russians.”

In this July 2022 photo, soldiers of the US-Army 1st Raider Brigade gather at the Grafenwoehr training grounds near Grafenwoehr, Germany.