Kremlin denies Olympics disinformation campaign, calls Microsoft allegation slanderous

• The Kremlin denied an allegation that it is waging a disinformation campaign against France, its president and the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
• The Microsoft Threat Analysis Center (MTAC) said on Sunday that "Russia is ramping up malign disinformation campaigns against France, French President Emmanuel Macron, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and this summer's Olympic Games in Paris."

The Kremlin denied an allegation that it is waging a disinformation campaign against France, its president and the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

The Microsoft Threat Analysis Center (MTAC) said on Sunday that "Russia is ramping up malign disinformation campaigns against France, French President Emmanuel Macron, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and this summer's Olympic Games in Paris."

The MTAC said it had observed "old tactics blending with artificial intelligence (AI) in malign activity that may intensify as the 2024 Paris Opening Ceremony approaches." It said the operations had two principal aims, to "denigrate the reputation of the IOC" and to "create the expectation of violence breaking out in Paris at the Games."

On Tuesday, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov characterized the MTAC's accusations against Russia as slander, news agency RIA Novosti reported.

"They [the allegations], rather, belong to the category of such messages — simply sweeping criticism, which has no basis in argument. Unfortunately, we are increasingly encountering this. But it has nothing to do with reality, it is absolute slander and nothing more," Peskov told reporters.

Russia has frequently lambasted the Olympic Games after Russian and Belarusian athletes were banned from participating in the competition under the Russian or Belarusian