ALBAWABA - The U.S. intelligence agency has accused Russian operatives of making “misleading videos” about the presidential election, warning of probable rises in misinformation in the coming weeks.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), FBI, and CISA announced that Russian operatives may have created a video falsely showing Haitian immigrants voting illegally in multiple Georgia counties. Intelligence and Russian misinformation tactics informed this conclusion, according to the agencies.
“These Russian actions are part of a larger effort by Moscow to cast doubt on U.S. elections and amplify American society divisions,” the statement said.
Russia is expected to continue developing media material before and after Election Day to undermine trust in the democratic process and increase societal tensions, according to the intelligence community.
CNN said that Clemson University misinformation specialist Darren Linville believes Storm-1516 created the Georgia video. He said that the video of an apparent Haitian immigrant claiming several votes for Vice President Kamala Harris resembles this group's prior misinformation attempts.
On Thursday, X (previously Twitter) posted the video, which has over 500,000 views. The initial post was removed, but the clip circulates on social media as voting fraud proof in the battleground state.
In a post on X, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger called the video “clearly fake” and “likely part of Russian disinformation efforts.” He said state and federal officials are probing its origins to determine its source.
Raffensperger also urged Elon Musk and other social media executives to remove the video, which was “likely produced by Russian propaganda firms.”
Former CISA Director Chris Krebs termed the video “more nonsense from Russian propaganda firms,” predicting more deception in the coming weeks.
Politico noted that the Biden administration's early and strong reaction to foreign intervention suggests enhanced vigilance in exposing misinformation in this election, compared to past elections when public pronouncements were delayed.
