Jump to content

Russian interference in the 2024 United States elections

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2024 U.S. presidential election
Democratic Party
Republican Party
Third parties
Related races
← 2020 2024 2028 →

The Russian government has interfered in the 2024 United States elections through disinformation and propaganda campaigns[1] aimed at damaging Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and other Democrats while boosting the candidacy of Donald Trump and other candidates who support isolationism and undercutting support for Ukraine aid and NATO.[2][3][4][5][6] Russia's efforts represent the most active threat of foreign interference in the 2024 United States elections and follows Russia's previous pattern of spreading disinformation through fake social media accounts and right-wing YouTube channels[7][8] in order to divide American society and foster anti-Americanism.[9][10] On September 4, the Department of Justice indicted members of Tenet Media for having received $9.7 million as part of a covert Russian influence operation to co-opt American right-wing influencers to espouse pro-Russian content and conspiracy theories.[11][12]

Background

[edit]

Russia has previously interfered with the 2016, 2018, 2020, and 2022[13] United States elections.

The Russian government's goals in 2016 were to sabotage the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton, boost the presidential campaign of Donald Trump, and increase political and social discord in the United States. According to the U.S. intelligence community, the operation—code named Project Lakhta[14][15]—was ordered directly by Russian president Vladimir Putin.[16][17] The "hacking and disinformation campaign" to damage Clinton and help Trump became the "core of the scandal known as Russiagate".[18] The 448-page Mueller Report, made public in April 2019, examined over 200 contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian officials but concluded that there was insufficient evidence to bring specific "conspiracy" or "coordination" charges against Trump or his associates.

The United States Intelligence Community concluded in early 2018 that the Russian government was continuing the interference it started during the 2016 elections and was attempting to influence the 2018 mid-term elections by generating discord through social media. Primaries for candidates of parties began in some states in March and would continue through September.[19] The leaders of intelligence agencies noted that Russia is spreading disinformation through fake social media accounts in order to divide American society and foster anti-Americanism.[9][10] In 2022, it was reported that a Federal Election Commission investigation had found that American Ethane Company, which had received investments from Russian oligarchs, had contributed Russian money to US political candidates in the 2018 midterm elections, largely in Louisiana. FEC commissioners Ellen Weintraub and Shana M. Broussard criticized the Republicans in the FEC for a "slap on the wrist" civil penalty.[20]

Russian interference in the 2020 United States elections was a matter of concern at the highest level of national security within the United States government, in addition to the computer and social media industries.[21][22] In February and August 2020, United States Intelligence Community (USIC) experts warned members of Congress that Russia was interfering in the 2020 presidential election in then-President Donald Trump's favor.[23][24][25] USIC analysis released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) in March 2021 found that proxies of Russian intelligence promoted and laundered misleading or unsubstantiated narratives about Joe Biden "to US media organizations, US officials, and prominent US individuals, including some close to former President Trump and his administration."[26][27][28] The New York Times reported in May 2021 that federal investigators in Brooklyn began a criminal investigation late in the Trump administration into possible efforts by several current and former Ukrainian officials to spread unsubstantiated allegations about corruption by Joe Biden, including whether they had used Trump personal attorney Rudy Giuliani as a channel.[29]

A declassified intelligence report in December 2023 assessed with "high confidence" that Russian interfered during the 2022 midterms in efforts that grew from its prior attempts during the 2018 midterms. Efforts were described as seeking "to denigrate the Democratic Party before the midterm elections and undermine confidence in the election, most likely to undermine US support for Ukraine". It highlighted efforts to delay a withdraw from the Ukrainian city of Kherson until after the midterms to avoid giving a named political party a political win, targeting constituencies more sympathetic to Russia's "traditional values", and weakening confidence in Western democratic institutions by casting "aspersions on the integrity of the midterm elections, including by claiming that voting software was vulnerable, Americans expected cheating to undermine the midterm elections, and Democrats were stealing the elections".[13]

Analysis

[edit]

Senior officials with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence describe Russia's 2024 efforts as "more sophisticated than in prior election cycles".[30] Rather than simply relying on fake accounts, Russian tactics involve co-opting real American right-wing influencers to spread pro-Kremlin propaganda narratives to Americans.[11] Officials from the ODNI and FBI have outlined Russia's use of generative artificial intelligence to denigrate Harris with doctored and fake text, images, video, and audio content and outlined efforts to promote divisive content to spread anti-Americanism. Officials have assessed that Russia is attempting to fool unwitting Americans into spreading its messages and is imitating websites of established media and using human commentators to increase traffic towards those sites, which have content generated by artificial intelligence.[31]

Efforts to interfere with the 2024 United States elections

[edit]

According to disinformation experts and intelligence agencies, Russia spread disinformation ahead of the 2024 election to damage Joe Biden and Democrats, boost candidates supporting isolationism, and undercut support for Ukraine aid and NATO.[2][3] American intelligence agencies have assessed that Russia prefers Trump to win the election, viewing him as more skeptical of U.S. support for Ukraine.[4][5] Following the withdrawal of Biden from the presidential race, Microsoft reported that Russian intelligence "struggled to pivot" to attacking Harris, but by late August and early September videos attacking Harris and her supporters started to appear.[6]

In August 2024, the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided the homes of former United Nations weapons inspector Scott Ritter and political advisor Dimitri Simes for their connections to Russian state media.[32] Indictments against Dimitri Simes and his wife Anastasia Simes were announced in early September. The two were charged with laundering funds and violating sanctions in order to benefit the state-controlled broadcaster Channel One Russia, as well as violating sanctions to benefit a Russian oligarch.[33][34][35]

On September 4, 2024, the United States publicly accused Russia of interfering in the 2024 election and announced several steps to combat Russian influence including sanctions, indictments, and seizing of Doppelganger-linked web domains used to spread propaganda and disinformation.[36] Two employees of the Russian state-owned propaganda network RT (Kostiantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afansayeva) were indicted for conspiracy and violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act for operating a money laundering operation that had sent at least $9.7 million[12] to support the creation and distribution of propaganda videos on American social media.[37][4][5][38] The indictment revealed a key Russian tactic to interfere with the 2024 United States presidential election is to recruit right-wing influencers. Right-wing podcasters and influencers paid for the creation of pro-Russia content included Tim Pool, Dave Rubin, and Benny Johnson, among others.[37][39] The indictment does not name the influencers, who claim not to have known about any Russian ties.[37] This prompted YouTube to remove several channels,[7][40] and Tenet Media, a company implicated in the affair, abruptly shut down.[41]

On September 13, the United States, Canada, and Britain announced new sanctions to cut off financing for disinformation operations and accused Russian state-owned broadcast company RT as acting as a covert arm of Russian intelligence and taking orders from the Kremlin. The announcement highlighted RT's cooperation with the FSB, the Social Design Agency and Structura, and highlighted its efforts in other countries across the globe to subvert democratic processes and shift opinion towards pro-Russian viewpoints.[12] In response to the indictment, Meta and YouTube banned RT channels and other Russian media outlets.[42]

On September 17, Microsoft reported that Russian operatives had intensified attacks against Kamala Harris by creating videos highlighting "outlandish conspiracy theories" aimed at stoking racial and political divisions. Mentioned videos that had been viewed millions of times included a fake video of a Harris supporter attacking an attendee at a Trump rally and another staged video that falsely claimed Harris had paralyzed a young girl in a hit-and-run accident in 2011. The video was promoted through a fake website masquerading as a local San Francisco media outlet.[6][43][44][45]

On September 23, Reuters cited a US Intelligence official saying that of the foreign adversaries, Russia was creating the most AI content to influence the 2024 election and improve Donald Trump's chances of winning.[46] The anonymous official from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence reported artificial intelligence was officially being used to create negative media, often posted under the guise of fake U.S. news publications.[47] Though officials continue to monitor the use of AI in election interference, they currently assess these efforts as "a malign influence accelerant, not yet a revolutionary influence tool."[45]

By October, state-run media campaigns by Russia had spread false conspiracy theories about the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season that The Associated Press described as using "social media and state news stories to criticize responses to past U.S. natural disasters" and sow division among Americans,[48] including the spread of AI-generated images of flooding damage at Cinderella Castle at Walt Disney World, among other images.[49]

On October 19, the State Department announced a $10 million reward for information leading to any foreign individual or entity engaging in election interference. It also highlighted Russian media company Rybar LLC, which it said attempts to "sow discord, promote social division, stoke partisan and racial discord, and encourage hate and violence in the United States" and advance "pro-Russian and anti-Western narratives". It specifically singled out nine individuals involved in the companies malign influence operations and encouraged individuals to contact the Rewards for Justice tipline.[50]

On October 21, Wired reported that the Russian propaganda network Storm-1516 had been spreading fabricated claims about Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz.[51] Experts on disinformation campaigns had also linked Storm-1516 to the conspiracy theory about Harris' supposed hit-and-run accident.[52] Two days later, the Washington Post reported that John Mark Dugan, a former deputy sheriff of Palm Beach County, has been paid by the GRU to produce misinformation attacking the Harris campaign.[53] On October 25, the U.S. Intelligence Community assessed that Russia had made a fake, viral video of mail-in ballots for Trump being ripped up and burned in Pennsylvania.[54]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Myers, Steven Lee; Barnes, Julian E. (July 10, 2024). "U.S. and Allies Take Aim at Covert Russian Information Campaign". The New York Times.
  2. ^ a b De Luce, Dan (February 26, 2024). "Russia's 2024 election interference has already begun". NBC News. Archived from the original on April 1, 2024. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Barnes, Julian E.; Sanger, David E. (March 27, 2024). "Russia Amps Up Online Campaign Against Ukraine Before U.S. Elections". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 2, 2024. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c Barnes, Julian E.; Thrush, Glenn; Myers, Steven Lee (September 4, 2024). "U.S. Announces Plan to Counter Russian Influence Ahead of 2024 Election". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c Roebuck, Jeremy (September 4, 2024). "Feds in Philly announce takedown of Russian-backed propaganda effort aimed at influencing U.S. presidential vote". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
  6. ^ a b c Lyngaas, Sean (September 17, 2024). "Microsoft says Russian operatives are ramping up attacks on Harris campaign with fake videos". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 17, 2024.
  7. ^ a b De Vynck, Gerrit (September 6, 2024). "YouTube takes down right-wing channels linked to DOJ Russia indictments". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
  8. ^ Zadrozny, Brandy (October 16, 2024). "The disinformation pipeline: How Russian propaganda reaches and influences the U.S." NBC News. Retrieved October 17, 2024. Russia is the most active foreign threat to the 2024 election, according to U.S. officials.
  9. ^ a b Riechmann, Deb (February 13, 2018). "Intelligence chiefs say they're seeing signs of Russian meddling in America's upcoming midterm elections". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on February 14, 2018. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
  10. ^ a b Sheth, Sonam (February 13, 2018). "Top intelligence chiefs issue a dire warning about the Kremlin's ongoing efforts to influence the US, defend against Trump's attacks on the FBI, and explain what happened with a shady Russian offering dirt on Trump". Business Insider. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
  11. ^ a b Lyngaas, Sean (September 5, 2024). "Russian trolling 2.0: How the Kremlin shifted tactics from its 2016 election strategy". CNN. Archived from the original on September 8, 2024. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  12. ^ a b c Myers, Steven Lee; Crowley, Michael (September 13, 2024). "U.S. Accuses Russian TV Network of Conducting Covert Intelligence Acts". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on September 16, 2024. Retrieved September 17, 2024.
  13. ^ a b Bo Lillis, Katie (December 18, 2023). "China, Russia, Iran and Cuba all tried to meddle in 2022 US congressional elections, intelligence assessment finds". CNN. Archived from the original on August 18, 2024. Retrieved September 7, 2024.
  14. ^ Schick, Nina (2020). Deep Fakes and the Infocalypse. United Kingdom: Monoray. pp. 60–75. ISBN 978-1-913183-52-3.
  15. ^ "Russian Project Lakhta Member Charged with Wire Fraud Conspiracy". justice.gov (Press release). September 10, 2020. Retrieved September 5, 2021.
  16. ^ Ross, Brian; Schwartz, Rhonda; Meek, James Gordon (December 15, 2016). "Officials: Master Spy Vladimir Putin Now Directly Linked to US Hacking". ABC News. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  17. ^ Hosenball, Mark (August 19, 2020). Mohammed, Arshad (ed.). "Factbox: Key findings from Senate inquiry into Russian interference in 2016 U.S. election". Reuters. Washington. Retrieved September 5, 2021.
  18. ^ Rutenberg, Jim (November 2, 2022). "The Untold Story of 'Russiagate' and the Road to War in Ukraine". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 5, 2024.
  19. ^ Rosenberg, Matthew; Fandos, Nicholas (February 13, 2018). "Russia Sees Midterm Elections as Chance to Sow Fresh Discord, Intelligence Chiefs Warn". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
  20. ^ Friedman, Dan. "Russians used a US firm to funnel funds to GOP in 2018. Dems say the FEC let them get away with it". Mother Jones. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
  21. ^ Kroll, Andy (January 17, 2020). "Hackers Are Coming for the 2020 Election — And We're Not Ready". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on January 17, 2020. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
  22. ^ Foer, Franklin (June 2020). "Putin Is Well on His Way to Stealing the Next Election". The Atlantic. ISSN 1072-7825. Archived from the original on November 1, 2020. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  23. ^ Desiderio, Andrew (March 8, 2020). "Senators say intel officials will give more details on 2020 election interference". Politico. Archived from the original on November 18, 2020.
  24. ^ "Statement by NCSC Director William Evanina: Election Threat Update for the American Public". www.dni.gov. Office of the Director of National Intelligence. August 7, 2020. Archived from the original on November 19, 2020.
  25. ^ Pickrell, Sonam; Sheth, Ryan (August 7, 2020). "US intel community believes Russia wants Biden to lose the 2020 election while China wants him to win". Business Insider. Archived from the original on October 17, 2020. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
  26. ^ Cohen, Zachary; Cohen, Marshall; Polantz, Katelyn (March 17, 2021). "US intelligence report says Russia used Trump allies to influence 2020 election with goal of 'denigrating' Biden". CNN. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
  27. ^ "READ: ODNI's declassified Intelligence Community assessment of foreign threats to the 2020 US federal elections". CNN. March 16, 2021. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  28. ^ Collinson, Stephen (March 17, 2021). "Analysis: New US intel report shows Russia, Trump and GOP acolytes have same goals". CNN. CNN. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
  29. ^ Rashbaum, William K.; Protess, Ben; Vogel, Kenneth P.; Hong, Nicole (May 27, 2021). "Prosecutors Investigating Whether Ukrainians Meddled in 2020 Election". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  30. ^ Nakashima, Ellen (September 7, 2024). "Russia's election influence efforts show sophistication, officials say". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on September 7, 2024. Retrieved September 7, 2024.
  31. ^ Menn, Joseph (September 23, 2024). "Russia, Iran use AI to boost anti-U.S. influence campaigns, officials say". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on September 24, 2024. Retrieved September 23, 2024.
  32. ^ Myers, Steven Lee; Barnes, Julian E. (August 21, 2024). "U.S. Investigating Americans Who Worked With Russian State Television". The New York Times.
  33. ^ Tucker, Eric; Klepper, David (September 5, 2024). "Former 2016 Trump campaign adviser is charged over working for sanctioned Russian TV". Associated Press. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
  34. ^ Lynch, Sarah N. (September 5, 2024). "US charges Russian TV contributor Dimitri Simes with sanctions violations". Reuters. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
  35. ^ Rabinowitz, Hannah; Lybrand, Holmes (September 5, 2024). "US prosecutors charge Russian-American political pundit of violating sanctions". CNN. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
  36. ^ Scott, Mark (September 25, 2024). "The Real Way to Fight Russian Disinformation". Politico. The Department of Justice shut down 32 faked Russian websites, and Kremlin officials have either been sanctioned or indicted.
  37. ^ a b c Sunderman, Alan; Swenson, Ali (September 5, 2024). "Right-wing influencers were duped to work for covert Russian operation, US says". AP News. Retrieved September 17, 2024.
  38. ^ Nakamura, David; Belton, Catherine; Sommer, Will (September 4, 2024). "Justice Dept. charges two Russian media operatives in alleged scheme". Washington Post. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
  39. ^ "US conservative influencers say they are 'victims' of Russian disinformation campaign". The Guardian. September 5, 2024. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
  40. ^ "YouTube terminating Tenet Media channel after US indictment". Reuters. September 6, 2024. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
  41. ^ Merlan, Anna (September 6, 2024). "Tenet Media shutters after being accused of taking $10 million in covert Kremlin funding". Mother Jones. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
  42. ^ Isaac, Mike; Frenkel, Sheera (September 17, 2024). "Meta and YouTube Crack Down on Russian Media Outlets". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on September 17, 2024. Retrieved September 17, 2024.
  43. ^ Nazzaro, Miranda (September 19, 2024). "Speaker Johnson talks AI, deepfakes and foreign election interference with The Hill". The Hill. Retrieved September 24, 2024.
  44. ^ Bond, Shannon (September 23, 2024). "U.S. officials say Russia is embracing AI for its election influence efforts". NPR.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  45. ^ a b Lyngaas, Sean (September 23, 2024). "US intel says AI is boosting, but not revolutionizing, foreign efforts to influence the 2024 elections". CNN. Retrieved October 1, 2024.
  46. ^ Landay, Jonathan; Brunnstrom, David (September 23, 2024). "Russia produced most AI content to sway presidential vote, US intelligence official says". Reuters.
  47. ^ Bond, Shannon (September 23, 2024). "U.S. officials say Russia is embracing AI for its election influence efforts". NPR.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  48. ^ Klepper, David (October 5, 2024). "After the deluge, the lies: Misinformation and hoaxes about Helene cloud the recovery". The Associated Press. Retrieved October 10, 2024.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  49. ^ Makuch, Ben (October 10, 2024). "Russia shares AI images of Hurricane Milton as disinformation abounds in US". The Guardian. Retrieved October 10, 2024.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  50. ^ "US Posts $10 Million Reward Citing Russian Election Interference". Agence France-Presse. October 19, 2024. Retrieved October 19, 2024.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  51. ^ Bond, Shannon (October 22, 2024). "U.S. intel officials say Russia is behind attempts to smear Tim Walz". NPR. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
  52. ^ Gilbert, David (October 21, 2024). "Russian Propaganda Unit Appears to Be Behind Spread of False Tim Walz Sexual Abuse Claims". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved October 21, 2024.
  53. ^ Belton, Catherine (October 23, 2024). "American creating deepfakes targeting Harris works with Russian intel, documents show". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 24, 2024.
  54. ^ Timotija, Filip (October 25, 2024). "Russian actors made fake video of mail-in ballots burning". The Hill. Retrieved October 25, 2024.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

Further reading

[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Russian_interference_in_the_2024_United_States_elections&oldid=1253465155"