Germany has uncovered a major “pro-Russian disinformation campaign” using thousands of fake accounts on X to try and stir anger at Berlin’s support for Ukraine, a media report said on Friday (26 January).
The revelations come amid growing concern about the impact increasingly sophisticated disinformation campaigns could have on elections.
Experts commissioned by the German foreign ministry used specialised software to monitor posts on the online platform X, formerly known as Twitter, between 20 December and 20 January, news weekly Der Spiegel wrote.
They reportedly stumbled across more than 50,000 fake user accounts that together pumped out more than a million German-language tweets.
A common theme was the accusation that Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government was neglecting the country’s own population in favour of helping Ukraine in its war against Russia, according to Spiegel, which said it has seen excerpts of the analysis.
The accounts also often linked to fake news stories on websites designed to resemble those of genuine media outlets, Spiegel said, leading analysts to connect it to the Russia-linked “Doppelganger” campaign already known to authorities.
The Internet Research Agency is so much more prevalent than we think. I’m pretty sure they’re operating communities on this site lmao
I’d say the most prevalent ones I’ve seen are Russian and Israeli disinformation campaigns. I wouldn’t be surprised if more countries were in on these things.
Not a question of if, but how much. Betting number of users is too low to justify aggressive efforts outside of a few places