Andy Carvin, the Managing Editor and Research Director of the Digital Forensic Research Lab, informed WIRED that his organization, which conducts extensive research on disinformation and other online threats, has been monitoring the Doppelganger operation for over two years. According to Carvin, the predictability of the operation should not be surprising, as the fake news sites follow a straightforward template, and filling them with AI-generated content is relatively uncomplicated.
Carvin described Russian operations like Doppelganger as scattershot efforts, akin to “throwing spaghetti at a wall” to see what sticks.
On Tuesday, Meta issued a written statement announcing the global ban of RT’s parent company, Rossiya Segodnya, along with other related entities across Instagram, Facebook, and Threads, citing their involvement in “foreign interference activity.” The Kremlin responded by accusing Meta of damaging its own reputation and claiming the ban jeopardized prospects for “normalizing” relations with Russia.
During his testimony on Wednesday, Nick Clegg, Meta’s President of Global Affairs, emphasized the industry-wide challenge of online electoral interference. He remarked that those attempting to meddle in elections seldom target a single platform and expressed confidence in Meta’s ability to safeguard the integrity of elections worldwide, including those in the United States.
However, concerns were raised by Warner, who noted the utilization of paid advertisements in recent malign influence campaigns. He expressed disappointment that, despite eight years having passed, there was still a need for improved advertiser screening processes.
Warner also mentioned that, seven months earlier, over two dozen tech firms had signed the AI Elections Accord in Munich. This agreement was aimed at investing in research and developing countermeasures against harmful AI. While some companies have been responsive, others have ignored repeated inquiries from US lawmakers seeking updates on those investments.
During a discussion on Google’s efforts to identify problematic accounts, especially concerning election ads, Alphabet’s Chief Legal Officer, Kent Walker, faced an interruption. Warner, referencing conversations with the Treasury Department, asserted that both Google and Meta had, as recently as February, permitted Russian influence actors, including sanctioned entities, to utilize their advertising tools.
Warner emphasized the necessity for Congress to know exactly “how much content” these bad actors had paid to promote to US audiences within the year. He also called for rapid disclosure of how many Americans had been exposed to this content. Walker responded that Google had removed approximately 11,000 efforts by Russian-associated entities to post content on YouTube and similar platforms.
In closing, Warner cautioned against treating Election Day as the ultimate goal. He underscored the continuing importance of maintaining the integrity of the news reaching voters in the days and weeks that follow.
