Russian Bots Manipulate View Counts on Fake Videos Ahead of US Midterms

rss · Bloomberg 2026-10-16T09:00:07Z en
Illustration: 731 State-backed Matryoshka campaign targeting Democrats inflates view counts of fabricated stories, creating illusion of popularity. Russian disinformation operators are deploying an army of bots to inflate view counts of fictitious posts about celebrities and Democratic candidates ahead of the US midterm elections. AI-fabricated video clips of well-known actors and musicians — including Robert De Niro, Julia Roberts and Cher — attacking Democrats began appearing on X in early September, some urging people to join a campaign dubbed #AllDemocratsAreCriminals. Scores of other clips have made false allegations of corruption and improprieties by Democratic candidates.

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