Russia has stepped up its propaganda campaigns against the Summer Olympics and Paris, emphasizing fictitious alerts of potential terrorist strikes and security issues. A Microsoft research describes the fraudulent efforts spearheaded by Storm-1679, which has intensified since March and has flooded social media with brief films that sound the alarm about potential terrorist strikes.
Although targeting the Olympic Games, the strategy might potentially be used in US and European elections. Officials from the United States and France have monitored the effort; according to one American official, Russian misinformation propagated by the Kremlin on social media platforms is still posing a danger to the security of the US and its allies.
There’s a new fake film that purports to show the CIA alerting Americans about traveling via the city’s metro. The phony video—which falsely warns of a “high risk” of attack—was first seen on Russian channels before spreading to Facebook and X, where it has received at least 100,000 views on various platforms.
According to a CIA spokesman, the movie is pure fiction, unrelated to the agency, and does not reflect the agency’s viewpoint. U.S. officials have not cautioned the American people to avoid utilizing the metro during the July 26–August 11 games.
Microsoft found the Russian disinformation network that is the source of the phony video in early June. Using artificial intelligence, this network produced a fake Netflix feature-length movie starring Tom Cruise. According to Clint Watts, general manager of Microsoft’s Threat Analysis Center, individuals with ties to Russia are attempting to spread misinformation and create the impression that violence may break out during the Olympics.
Authorities from the European Union are looking at both Meta and X for possible legal infractions connected to spreading false material on both platforms before the elections in early June. In addition, the EU is examining Telegram to see if its scale would make it eligible for more stringent European laws, like to those imposed on Meta and X. A representative for Meta verified that the most recent faked CIA film was taken down from the site due to policy violations.
