Virtually a thousand Twitter accounts managed by a big bot farm pushing Russian propaganda and domains used to register the bots had been taken down in a joint worldwide regulation enforcement operation led by the U.S. Justice Division.
Organized and managed by a deputy editor-in-chief at Russian state-run information group Russia As we speak (RT) and a Russian FSB officer, the bots disseminated disinformation focusing on Twitter customers worldwide since 2022 utilizing an AI-enabled software program named Meliorator.
RT associates used Meliorator to create authentic-looking social media accounts posing as actual individuals from a number of international locations worldwide to amplify false narratives and Russian malign overseas affect on Twitter.
The social media bot farm allowed RT to disseminate data broadly, aligning with RT’s management aim to broaden data distribution past conventional TV broadcasts.
“As early as 2022, RT had entry to Meliorator, an AI-enabled bot farm era and administration software program to disseminate disinformation to and about a variety of international locations, together with america, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Ukraine, and Israel,” the FBI stated.
“Meliorator was designed for use on social media networks to create ‘genuine’ showing personas en masse, permitting for the propagation of disinformation, which may help Russia in exacerbating discord and making an attempt to change public opinion as a part of data operations.”
Whereas in June 2024, Meliorator solely labored on X (beforehand often known as Twitter), evaluation means that its operators would seemingly broaden its performance to assist different social media networks.
Meliorator diagram (FBI)
The bot farm registered new Twitter bots utilizing personal e mail servers on the mlrtr[.]com and otanmail[.]com domains, which had been seized [affidavit] as a part of the DOJ-led operation.
X additionally took down 968 social media profiles [affidavit] recognized as being a part of RT’s bot farm, usually claiming to belong to people in america.
“As we speak’s actions symbolize a primary in disrupting a Russian-sponsored Generative AI-enhanced social media bot farm,” stated FBI Director Christopher Wray on Tuesday.
“Russia meant to make use of this bot farm to disseminate AI-generated overseas disinformation, scaling their work with the help of AI to undermine our companions in Ukraine and affect geopolitical narratives favorable to the Russian authorities.”
The FBI and the Cyber Nationwide Mission Power (CNMF) revealed a joint advisory [PDF] with extra technical particulars on the Meliorator software program powering the bot farm in partnership with the Canadian Centre for Cyber Safety (CCCS), the Netherlands Common Intelligence and Safety Service (AIVD), the Netherlands Army Intelligence and Safety Service (MIVD), and the Netherlands Police.
…. to be continued
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