Federal agencies, including the FBI, have determined that Russian actors were behind the creation and promotion of a viral video that falsely showed a person tearing up ballots in Pennsylvania. This is part of Russia’s larger effort to undermine trust in the US election and divide American citizens. The video, which was quickly circulated and viewed by hundreds of thousands of people, was debunked by local law enforcement in Bucks County.
Experts attribute the video to a Russian disinformation group known as Storm-1516, which has a history of undermining democratic processes. The use of actors with West African accents to pose as Black Americans is a common tactic used by this group. The FBI and other agencies have been warning about foreign efforts to meddle in US elections, including recent attempts by China and Iran to hack the phones of former President Trump and his running mate.
The intelligence community expects Russia to continue creating and releasing content that questions the integrity of the election. Experts believe that more disinformation campaigns, like the one seen in the viral video, will be launched in the lead-up to the election. The FBI and CISA are investigating unauthorized access to telecommunications infrastructure. Additionally, Iranian nationals were recently indicted for attempting to hack the Trump campaign and provide stolen material to President Biden’s campaign, although there is no evidence that individuals associated with Biden’s campaign responded to the emails.
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