DOJ investigations of Russian propaganda campaigns against Ukraine: A case study on the Doppelganger campaign, alleged to have violated US money laundering and foreign agent registration laws

In one of the alleged operations, the Russian government directed Russian companies to spread propaganda across several websites in an effort to reduce support for Ukraine, bolster Russian interests, and influence voters in the US presidential election, according to the DOJ. The US government announced an “ongoing seizure” of 32 internet domains connected to the influence campaign known as “Doppelganger,” which it says violates US money laundering and trademark laws.

The effort was intended to weaken international support for Ukrainians, bolster pro-Russian policies, and influence the voters in the United States and elsewhere, according to the Justice Department.

The US accused the employees of Russian radio stationRT of working with Tenet Media to make hundreds of videos that supported Russia’s aims. They are accused of working with Tenet Media to commit money laundering and violate the foreign agents registration act.

The DOJ has accused Russian companies Social Design Agency, Structura National Technology and ANO Dialog of being involved in the effort, and have seized over a dozen internet domain names.

The effort involved Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle, including First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Sergei Vladilenovich Kiriyenko, it said.

The DOJ created a task force in order to counter the growing number of threats against election officials and administrators. The investigation is still active, he said.

In a statement ahead of the charges, RT dismissed the findings, making fun of comments like “Ha!” and “Oh, 2016 called and it wants its clichés back.”

Seizure of a Russian Influence Campaign on Facebook and Twitter to End the 2024 Russian State-Democracy War

United States intelligence and security officials have been warning for months about Russia’s efforts to interfere in the 2024 election, specifically to undermine the Democratic presidential nominee, exploit social divisions, sow distrust in democratic institutions and to erode support for Ukraine.

The director of national intelligence said that Russia remains the most important foreign threat to the elections.

A network of fake accounts and news websites called Doppelganger have been blacklisted by both the US and European Union for their links to the Kremlin.

The Treasury Department also sanctioned 10 people and two entities allegedly connected to the scheme. The State Department announced a new policy to prohibit issuing visas to people who engage in covert influence activities on behalf of ”Kremlin-supported media organizations.”

The campaign recently used fake French-language news sites to push claims of corruption at the recent Paris Olympics and to warn of potential violence, according to a Microsoft report.

The bot farm created fake profiles on the social media site. The accounts supported Russia’s war in Ukraine and otherremlin narratives. The effort and software behind it was organized by an editor at the Russian state-owned media outlet, according to the Justice Department. The project was funded by the Kremlin and run by an intelligence officer.

The influence campaign, which was allegedly directed by members of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle, created media brands or closely mimicked existing ones to spread Russian government propaganda, according to the US. They also allegedly created fake social media personas of non-Russian citizens to post comments.

The seizure shows vividly how the Russian government and its proxies are trying to spread false stories and amplify misinformation in the United States.

Tenet Media was allegedly involved in the operations of the pair who pretended to be video editors. According to the indictment, Kalashnikov spied on Tenet Media’s internal communications and edited their content. The person said to have edited, posted, and directed the posting is Afanasyeva, who worked with Tenet Media. Tenet Media was instructed to post pro-Russian viewpoints, including the idea that a March terrorist attack at a music venue in Moscow was the work of the US and the Ukranian government.

Details in the indictment match Nashville-based Tenet Media, including its website description: “a network of heterodox commentators that focus on Western political and cultural issues.”

None of the people who responded to requests for comment were accused of wrongdoing. “We are disturbed by the allegations in today’s indictment,” Johnson wrote on X, referring to himself and his lawyers, “which make clear that myself and other influencers were victims in this alleged scheme.” Pool stated that should the allegations be true, he as well as the other commentators were deceived and are victims. Rubin retweeted Pool’s post.

The network of online creators known for their right-wing politics, including Johnson, Pool, Dave Rubin, and Lauren Southern, are included in Tenet Media’s network. In addition to the followings of the network’s individual creators, which collectively number in the millions, Tenet Media itself boasts more than 315,000 followers on YouTube and thousands more across Facebook, Instagram, X, and TikTok.

How Am I Being Tricked into Saying Something? The Indictment of Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva

Federal officials have accused Russia of using unwitting right-wing American influencers in its quest to spread Kremlin propaganda ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

“The company never disclosed to the influencers or to their millions of followers its ties to RT and the Russian government,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said on Wednesday.

Afanasyeva also urged the influencers to share the company’s videos on their own channels, and got annoyed when she didn’t think they were promoting them enough, according to the indictment.

Johnson said that he was approached by a media startup and had negotiated a standard arms length deal, which was later terminated. His most recent video on Tenet Media’s YouTube channel is from August 29th.

The company from Tennessee offered huge sums of money. An extra performance and signing bonus were also added to the $400,000 a month retainer for one of the world’s most influential people.

Afanasyeva also allegedly requested the company post a video of “a well-known U.S. political commentator visiting a grocery store in Russia” — likely a reference to former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who traveled to Moscow in February. According to the indictment, a producer at the company told one of the founders “it just feels like overt shilling,” but was told to “put it out there.”

There wasn’t any influence that I had over it. There is no change in the way I view my work, said Matt Christiansen in a Wednesday evening livestream. When I wrote every single one of them, how am I being tricked into saying someone else’s words?

The contents of the show are often a political one and Pool had full editorial control of the show. “The show is produced in its entirety by our local team without input from anyone external to the company.”

The influencers were unaware of the project’s Russian connections. On Wednesday, Johnson, Pool and Rubin posted statements on X describing themselves as victims. Southern didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The indictment accuses Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva of working with the Tennessee company’s founders to conceal the true origins of its funding. They told some contributors that the company was being backed by a wealthy European banker named Eduard Grigoriann. “In truth and in fact, Grigoriann was a fictional persona,” the indictment said.

“While the views expressed in the videos are not uniform, the subject matter and content of the videos are often consistent with the Government of Russia’s interest in amplifying U.S. domestic divisions in order to weaken U.S. opposition to core Government of Russia interests, such as its ongoing war in Ukraine,” the indictment said.

Source: How Russian operatives covertly hired U.S. influencers to create viral videos

How to stop the spread of lies and rumors by buying genuine online influencers and using them to make a difference between fake and real

“Buying authentic influencers is a far better use of funds than creating fake personas, because they bring their own trusting audiences and are actually, you know, real,” wrote Renée DiResta, the author of Invisible Rulers: The People Who Turn Lies Into Reality, about how online influencers spread propaganda and rumors, in a post on Threads.

The recognizable names of the people who were behind the operation makes it stand out from the other interference efforts.