Behind the scenes of the peace summit, a play of shadows and light unfolds. The Russian Federation, a master in the art of disinformation, is ramping up its spread of false information on social media. A sly strategy that calls into question the reliability of information as this major diplomatic event approaches.
Russia’s social media manipulation strategy
As the global peace summit approaches, Russia has intensified its efforts to spread false information on social media. Using Kremlin bots, around 120,000 false messages have been published, claiming to come from well-known celebrities such as Jennifer Aniston, Scarlett Johansson, and Alain Delon.
The role of the Dvoynyk network
The Dvoynyk bot network, one of the largest infrastructures for spreading false information from the Kremlin, played a crucial role. Beginning on Friday evening, these bots started posting false quotes and images of famous personalities, primarily on the X platform. About 50 images with fabricated statements were uploaded, then republished over 120,000 times.
Themes propagated by misinformation
The themes addressed in this campaign of false information primarily concerned the supposed collapse of Ukraine and the European Union. Falsified messages urged the public to stop supporting Ukraine. For example, a false quote attributed to Jennifer Aniston stated: “We are impoverished, it is time to forget Ukraine.” Other false messages linked Ukraine to an alleged fall of the EU, like in this quote attributed to Elton John: “We have fallen into the Ukrainian trap. The EU is collapsing now.”
The multi-language target of the campaign
To reach a broader audience, Kremlin bots published false statements in several languages, including English, French, German, and Polish. This allowed biased information to be spread across linguistic borders and to manipulate public opinion on an international scale.
The impact and vigilance measures
The posts created and republished by the bots have accumulated over 500,000 views. About 62% of the bots used for this campaign were usually dedicated to spreading images and videos. This situation highlights the ongoing challenges posed by the dissemination of false information and the need for continuous vigilance to combat disinformation.
The necessity of vigilance
The use of bots to spread false information remains a serious threat to global stability. As important international summits like the peace summit approach, it is imperative for the international community to be aware of these tactics and take appropriate measures to counter them.
