Using a fictitious San Francisco news outlet, Russian surrogates have circulated “manufactured videos designed to sow discord and spread disinformation” about Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, Microsoft says so in a statement last week.
A video, which “used an on-screen actor to fabricate false claims about Vice President Harris’ involvement in a hit-and-fly accident,” was allegedly published by a San Francisco news outlet that was created days before the video was posted, the statement said. A spokesperson for the Harris campaign was not immediately available for comment.
The video generated millions of views, according to Microsoft, and was produced by a Kremlin-linked troll farm.
Digital experts say the Russians will likely “continue to use cyber proxies and hacktivist groups to amplify their messages through media websites and social channels aimed at spreading divisive political content, staged videos and AI-enhanced propaganda,” Microsoft said.
On Monday, officials from the Department of National Intelligence and the Federal Bureau of Investigation confirmed that a fictitious San Francisco news outlet called KBSF-TV published a story on Sept. 2 that falsely claimed Harris was involved in a hit-and-run accident in 2011, according to Mercury News.
The video claimed that a woman was paralyzed after the incident. There was no evidence to suggest any of the events in the video ever occurred, officials said.
Of the countries tracked by the Department of National Intelligence, Russia has generated the most AI content around the upcoming election, This is what DNI says in a statement.
The Russian influence actors were responsible for staging the hit-and-run video, the DNI said, and had also worked to manipulate text, images and audio elsewhere.
Registration online indicates that KBSF-TV’s website was created in late August and registered in Reykjavik, Iceland.
The website was down on Tuesday.
The FBI did not immediately respond to requests for comment.