Russia’s disinformation campaign targets 2024 election, US officials warn
Russia targets the 2024 US election with fake videos, including false claims of illegal votes in Georgia.
US Intelligence agencies said that Russia was behind a faked video of Haitian immigrants who claimed to vote multiple times in the US state of Georgia.
A joint statement from the FBI, CISA, and the Director of National Intelligence said that the video is part of Russia's efforts to undermine faith in the 2024 election and further divide Americans.
“The IC assesses that Russian influence actors manufactured a recent video that falsely depicted individuals claiming to be from Haiti and voting illegally in multiple counties in Georgia," the joint statement reads. "This judgment is based on information available to the IC and prior activities of other Russian influence actors, including videos and other disinformation activities. The Georgia Secretary of State has already refuted the video’s claims as false."
In a statement released on X/Twitter, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger called the video "an example of targeted disinformation we’ve seen this election."
— GA Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (@GaSecofState) November 1, 2024
'A fire hose of disinformation'
The joint statement comes amidst reports from government agencies in charge of protecting the vote that the influx of false claims is greater than years prior. The New York Times reported that a senior official from the cybersecurity agency called it a “fire hose of disinformation.”
Firehosing is a Russian propaganda technique where mass amounts of information are broadcast rapidly and repeatedly over various media channels without regard for accuracy or consistency. According to research from the US Army War College, the aim is to have those who come across it accept the propaganda because of familiarity with the message.
The video, which gained hundreds of thousands of views on X/Twitter, showed a man claiming to be a recent immigrant from Haiti to the US. He claims to have gotten citizenship and identification documents.
He then shows what appears to be Georgia driver's licenses and urges “all Haitians to come to America.”
The New York Times reported that one picture on an identification card in the video is a stock photo — the address on another to an office park.
“We’re voting Kamala Harris,” the man says. “Yesterday we voted in Gwinnett County, and today we’re voting in Fulton County.”
The intelligence agencies also said that Russian troll farms had created a video that falsely claimed that an official linked to the Harris-Walz campaign took a bribe from an American entertainer.
The agencies called the videos part of "Moscow’s broader effort to raise unfounded questions about the integrity of the US election and stoke divisions among Americans", noting that in the lead-up to Tuesday's election, the agencies expected to see an influx of content intending to undermine trust in the results of the election.
The video particularly features a major Trump campaign claim that Democrats are skewing the election by allowing immigrants to vote.
US election officials have repeatedly struck down Trump's claim that widespread noncitizen voting is an issue.
There is no evidence that the Democratic party is granting citizenship to immigrants to obtain more votes.
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