Official announcements from the U.S. Justice Department or major news outlets

U.S. Justice Department Disrupts Russian AI-Enhanced Social Media Bot Farm on Twitter/X, Seizes 968 Accounts

Jul 9, 2024, 04:09 PM

The U.S. Justice Department announced that it has disrupted a Russian operation using AI-enhanced fake social media profiles to spread pro-Kremlin messages on Twitter/X. The operation, described as a 'social media bot farm,' involved the seizure of two domain names and 968 social media accounts. The covert effort was part of a coordinated campaign by Russian state-sponsored entities, including RT and FSB, to disseminate disinformation in the United States and abroad. The Justice Department led the effort in collaboration with international and private sector partners, including the FBI and law enforcement agencies from Canada and the Netherlands. The affidavit includes all of the accounts requested from Twitter/X, highlighting the use of generative artificial intelligence in the operation.