Russian Troll Farm Behind Fake Story About Harris Hit-And-Run Accident, Microsoft Says

A Russian troll farm appears to be behind a fake story spread on social media about Vice President Kamala Harris allegedly being involved in a hit-and-run accident in 2011 that left a 13-year-old girl paralyzed, according to a new report by Microsoft published this week.

The report by the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center, released Tuesday, said Russian influence operations initially struggled to target Harris in the wake of President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the 2024 race. However, by late August, they managed to produce and distribute content viewed millions of times, implicating the Democratic presidential nominee and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, in fake conspiracy theories in an effort to hurt her candidacy.

Storm-1516, a Russian troll farm, initially distributed a fake video meant to show Harris supporters attacking a Trump rally attendee in August. The clip was seen millions of times.

A few weeks later, the same group created a video using an on-screen actor who pretended to be the survivor of a fake hit-and-run accident allegedly involving Harris 13 years ago. That clip was included in an article featured in a fake website purporting to belong to a San Francisco news outlet, KBSF-TV. The web page was created shortly before the video’s dissemination and went dark days after circulating the fake story, according to CBS News, which said posts on X, formerly Twitter, amplifying the story got about 7 million views. The story was also shared on other social media sites.

Microsoft researchers also found that a newer Kremlin-aligned group, which previously focused on creating videos around the 2024 Paris Olympics, pivoted to producing fake content to discredit Harris’ campaign, including a clip showing a