WASHINGTON: A Russian propaganda campaign backed by the Kremlin that spread online disinformation in the United States and was boosted by artificial intelligence has been disrupted, the Justice Department said Tuesday.
US officials described the Internet operation as part of an ongoing effort to sow discord in the US through the creation of fictitious social media profiles that purport to belong to authentic Americans but are actually designed to advance the aims of the Russian government, including by spreading disinformation about its war with Ukraine.
US officials said the scheme was organized in 2022 after a senior editor at RT, a Russian-state-funded media organization that has registered with the Justice Department as a foreign agent, helped develop technology for a so-called social media bot farm. It received the support and financial approval of the Kremlin, with an officer of Russia’s Federal Security Service — or FSB — leading a private intelligence organization that promoted disinformation on social media through a network of fake accounts.
The RT press office did not respond directly to a question about the allegations.
The disruption of the bot farm comes as US officials have raised alarms about the potential for AI technology to impact this year’s elections and amid ongoing concerns that foreign influence campaigns by adversaries could sway the opinions of unsuspecting voters, as happened during the 2016 presidential campaign when Russians launched a huge but hidden social media trolling campaign aimed in part at helping Republican Donald Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton.
“Today’s actions represent a first in disrupting a Russian-sponsored Generative AI-enhanced social media bot farm,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement. “Russia intended to use this bot farm to disseminate AI-generated foreign disinformation, scaling their work with the assistance of AI to undermine our partners in Ukraine and influence geopolitical narratives favorable to the Russian government.”
Among the fake posts, according to the Justice Department, was a video that was posted by a purported Minneapolis, Minnesota resident that showed Russian President Vladimir Putin saying that areas of Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania were “gifts” to those countries from liberating Russian forces during World War II.
In another instance, the Justice Department said, someone posing as a US constituent responded to a federal candidate’s social media posts about the war in Ukraine with a video of Putin justifying Russia’s actions.
As part of the disruption, the Justice Department seized two domain names and searched 968 accounts on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
According to a joint cybersecurity advisory released Tuesday by US, Dutch and Canadian authorities, the software was used to spread disinformation to countries including Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Ukraine and Israel.
The advisory said that as of last June, the software — known as Meliorator — only worked on X but that its functionality probably could be expanded to other social media networks.
US disrupts Russian government-backed disinformation campaign that relied on AI technology
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US disrupts Russian government-backed disinformation campaign that relied on AI technology
- Kremlin, with an officer of Russia’s Federal Security Service — or FSB — leading a private intelligence organization that promoted disinformation on social media through a network of fake accounts
Relatives of 18 dead in Nepal plane crash demand answers
- 50-seater CRJ-200 aircraft that crashed this week was operated by Saurya Airlines
- Only the captain survived after it crashed in a field beside the runway and caught fire
The incident has cast a spotlight on the mountainous, landlocked nation’s poor record on air safety, with almost 360 people killed since 2000 in plane and helicopter crashes.
The 50-seater CRJ-200 aircraft that crashed this week was operated by Saurya Airlines, and was ferrying 15 technicians, two crew and two of a technician’s family to the central city of Pokhara, where it was scheduled for regular maintenance.
Only the captain survived after it crashed in a field beside the runway and caught fire.
“Nobody has contacted us,” said Krishna Bahadur Magar, a relative of Nava Raj Ale who was a ground handler at Saurya and died in the crash.
“Our relative was a member of the Saurya Airlines family,” Magar said. “Why is the airline now behaving as if they don’t care about him?”
Magar was among the dozens who crowded into a narrow alley outside the forensic unit of Katmandu’s Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital on Thursday, waiting for authorities to release the bodies of the dead.
Some said doctors had told them they would not receive the remains of loved ones before Saturday, while those bodies charred beyond recognition would require DNA tests to be identified, a process that could take two weeks.
The victims’ families felt as if Saurya officials were “deliberately hiding” from them, said Jageswar Giri, whose brother-in-law, Uddhab Puri, died in the crash.
“We want to know what technical problems the aircraft was facing, why so many people were on it yesterday, and why it was decided that maintenance work would be done in Pokhara instead of Katmandu where the plane was grounded,” he said.
Officials from the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) have said the plane was being sent to Pokhara because its new airport was equipped with aircraft maintenance hangars.
Responding to the families’ questions, the regulator said it was the airline’s responsibility to co-ordinate with them.
“It was not a passenger flight,” said CAAN spokesperson Gyanendra Bhul. “Saurya Airlines has officially said all people on board the plane were their staff, so they should co-ordinate with the family members.”
The airline did not respond to telephone calls and messages from Reuters seeking comment.
A government panel set up on Wednesday to investigate the crash will submit a report within 45 days.
Nepal’s worst crash in 1992 killed 167. Last January, 72 people died when a Yeti Airlines plane crashed just before landing in Pokhara.
Death toll from Ethiopia landslides could rise to 500, UN says
- Second landslide engulfed others who had gathered to help buried people on Monday morning
NAIROBI: The death toll from landslides in Ethiopia earlier this week has risen to 257, and is expected to rise to 500, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Thursday.
On Tuesday, Ethiopia’s National Disaster Risk Management Commission had put the death toll at 229.
Following heavy rain a landslide buried people in Gofa zone in Southern Ethiopia regional state on Sunday night, then a second one engulfed others who had gathered to help on Monday morning.
Media tycoon Jimmy Lai to testify in Hong Kong security trial
- The charges against Lai, founder of the now-shuttered Chinese-language tabloid Apple Daily, revolve around the newspaper’s publications
HONG KONG: Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai will take the witness stand for the first time in November in a high-profile national security trial where he is accused of sedition and colluding with foreign forces, a court said Thursday.
The charges against Lai — founder of the now-shuttered popular Chinese-language tabloid Apple Daily — revolve around the newspaper’s publications, which supported the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong in 2019 and criticized Beijing’s leadership.
Besides sedition, the 76-year-old is also accused of two counts of colluding with foreign forces — which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment — by calling for international sanctions against Chinese and Hong Kong officials.
Lai, who pleaded not guilty to the charges in a trial that started in January, “elects to give evidence in this case,” said his lawyer Robert Pang.
His testimony will start on November 20 and could run for weeks, said Esther Toh, one of the three senior judges handpicked by the Hong Kong government to try security cases.
Lai has been in custody for more than 1,300 days.
Following massive pro-democracy protests in 2019, Beijing imposed a sweeping security law to quell dissent.
The prosecution has so far called eight witnesses and played over 40 hours of Lai’s talk shows and video interviews since January to mount a case against him and eight others.
Dozens of Hong Kong and foreign politicians and scholars — including former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo — were named as his foreign contacts and “agents.”
But Lai’s lawyer argued Wednesday that the prosecution failed to prove he had continued to call for sanctions after Beijing criminalized such advocacy with the security law.
Judges on Thursday ruled against Lai’s defense team, calling on him to answer to all charges.
The other defendants in the case are six former executives of the newspaper and two activists, as well as three Apple Daily companies that have been taken over by the Hong Kong government.
France sees no Olympic spike in Covid cases: minister
- A few of the 10,500 athletes set to patricipate have tested positive for Covid since arriving
Paris: There has been no spike in Covid cases in France as tourists surge in for the Paris Olympic Games, a minister said Thursday, adding that the government would remain “vigilant.”
“Covid is still with us at a low level” but “we’re not in a period with an explosion or strong return” of the virus, junior health minister Frederic Valletoux told broadcaster Franceinfo.
He added that authorities were not “for now” expecting to introduce mask requirements in venues.
“There’s no kind of very strong alert signal at this stage,” Valletoux said.
A few of the 10,500 athletes set to patricipate have tested positive for Covid since arriving.
“We knew there is no such thing as zero risk,” Valletoux said.
Among the worst hit are Australia’s female water polo team, with the delegation’s head Anna Meares confirming five cases, while several Belgian competitors have also tested positive according to Olympic Committee doctors.
Some delegations have toughened up precautions in response.
For instance, France’s rowing team insisted on masks at media events ahead of the competition.
Video of violent arrest at Manchester Airport sparks protest
- One man was kicked and stamped upon as he lay face down on the floor. The second man also appeared to be struck in the head by an officer
LONDON, July 25 : A video showing a British police officer kick and stamp on a man’s head during an arrest at Manchester airport in northern England sparked a protest outside a police station late on Wednesday night.
Police said they had referred the actions to an independent complaints watchdog after the video, filmed by an onlooker, was posted on social media platforms and attracted immediate criticism.
It showed a chaotic scene in an airport car park in which several officers armed with tasers restrained two suspects. One man was kicked and stamped upon as he lay face down on the floor. The second man also appeared to be struck in the head by an officer.
A Greater Manchester Police (GMP) statement said the video showed “an event that is truly shocking, and that people are rightly extremely concerned about. The use of such force in an arrest is an unusual occurrence and one that we understand creates alarm.”
It said police had been responding to reports of an assault, and that three officers were themselves assaulted during their response. The officers required hospital treatment, including one female officer who had a broken nose.
“One male officer has been removed from operational duties and we are making a voluntary referral of our policing response to the Independent Office of Police Conduct,” the statement added.
The two men were arrested on suspicion of assault, assault of an emergency worker, affray, and obstructing police.
The incident sparked a protest outside a police station in a nearby town. One videos posted online showed the crowd of at least 100 people chanting “Shame on you GMP.”
Police, who have not confirmed any details about the identity of those arrested at the airport, said the protest concluded safely and without incident.
“We have spent the evening listening to community feedback and will continue to engage with communities and elected members to maintain strong partnership links and understand local views,” they said in a subsequent statement.
