Using a fictitious San Francisco media outlet, Russian agents have spread “fabricated videos designed to sow discord and spread disinformation” about Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, Microsoft said in a statement last week.
A video, which “used an on-screen actor to fabricate false claims about Vice President Harris’ involvement in a hit-and-run accident,” was allegedly posted by a San Francisco news outlet created days before the video was posted, according to the statement. A spokesperson for Harris’ campaign was not immediately available for comment.
The video generated millions of views, according to Microsoft, and was produced by a troll farm with ties to the Kremlin.
Digital experts say the Russians will likely “continue to use cyber proxies and hacktivist groups to amplify their messages across media websites and social channels intended to spread divisive political content, staged videos, and AI-enhanced propaganda,” Microsoft said.
On Monday, officials from the Department of National Intelligence and the Federal Bureau of Investigation confirmed that a fictitious San Francisco news outlet called KBSF-TV published a story on Sept. 2 falsely claiming that Harris was involved in a hit-and-run accident in 2011, according to the Mercury News.
The video claims a woman was paralyzed after the incident. There is no evidence to suggest any of the events in the video occurred, authorities said.
Of the countries tracked by the Department of National Intelligence, Russia has generated the most AI content around the upcoming election, the DNI said in a statement.
Russian-influenced actors were responsible for staging the hit-and-run video, the DNI said, and had also worked on manipulating text, images and audio elsewhere.
Online registration records indicate that the KBSF-TV website was created in late August and registered in Reykjavik, Iceland.
The website was down on Tuesday.
The FBI did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
