X did not respond to WIRED’s request for comment.
The posts did not generate much interest, but unlike China’s disinformation campaigns, some seemingly authentic users responded to the posts. One responded by writing, “Fuck Palestine,” while another responded with a picture that said, “Free Palestine.”
The covert doppelganger campaign echoed narratives from overt Russian outlets, including Telegram groups and state media, which last week highlighted the “threat of lethal police violence against protesters” and linked the current protests to the Kent State protests in 1970 Four students were shot dead by the National Guard. Although there have been over 2,000 arrests at campus protests in the United States, the protests have been largely peaceful and no one has been killed.
On Facebook, Sputnik wrote: “’Land of the free? How U.S. lawmakers are restricting students’ right to peaceful protest: U.S. lawmakers have once again shown where their sympathies lie with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by cracking down on student protests against the carnage in Gaza.”
The coordinated campaign also took place on Telegram, where Russian influencers with hundreds of thousands of subscribers amplified content surrounding the protests. On one channel, a military blogger with over 800,000 followers posted videos showing police officers on campuses across the U.S., claiming it showed “urban warfare training.” In a comment on the video, a subscriber asked when the conflict would begin: “North against South, Crips against Bloods, donkeys against elephants and everyone against everyone.” The post was viewed over 250,000 times.
Telegram channels appear to be coordinating around a narrative that accuses the U.S. government of hypocrisy when it comes to the freedom to protest and organize, according to an analysis provided to WIRED by Logically, a company that uses artificial intelligence to track disinformation campaigns were shared.
“As the 2024 U.S. election approaches, this is another example of signals emerging from Russian-language broadcasters that suggest Russia is shifting its approach to domestic U.S. issues after focusing primarily on Ukraine for nearly two years “Logically,” said Kyle Walter, global head of investigative research at Innovation. “Logically,” tells WIRED.
Russia is not alone in this. State media in the three countries, along with China and Iran, produced nearly 400 articles in English about the campus protests in two weeks, according to NewsGuard, an organization that tracks misinformation online. These governments have also used social media platforms in an official capacity to push their narratives: In a post on
The disinformation surrounding the protests was not limited to foreign actors, and U.S.-based far-right figures pushed numerous conspiracies surrounding Soros and others who funded the protests, including the purchase of student tents – which was repeated in mainstream media . But Russia is now trying to build on these narratives:
“Doppelganger is exploiting pre-existing conspiracies about the protests and co-opting and expanding them for the Kremlin’s own purposes, using multiple avenues to increase support for Trump while amplifying pre-existing ones and adding his own criticism of Biden,” they say the Antibot4Navalny researchers told WIRED.