cover of episode How Russian propaganda and ordinary Americans build ‘bespoke realities’

How Russian propaganda and ordinary Americans build ‘bespoke realities’

2024/10/26

The Naked Pravda

C

Catherine Belton (华盛顿邮报)

D

David Gilbert (WIRED)

K

Kevin Rothrock (Meduza)

N

NBC 新闻

R

Renee DiResta

记

记者 (WIRED 和华盛顿邮报)

俄罗斯支持的宣传网络利用深度伪造视频和虚假信息，试图影响美国选举，散布针对美国副总统候选人的不实指控。这些行动涉及多个参与者，包括一个名为“Storm-1516”的组织和前佛罗里达州警察John Mark Dougan，后者与俄罗斯军事情报总局（GRU）合作。社交媒体平台在识别和应对这些宣传活动方面发挥着关键作用，但平台与研究人员和政府之间的合作关系因各种因素而复杂化，包括埃隆·马斯克对Twitter的收购以及围绕政府审查和内容审核的法律诉讼。研究人员利用公开数据和行为分析来识别虚假信息网络，但他们缺乏平台内部数据（如设备ID和网络信息），这使得归因分析变得困难。俄罗斯宣传利用了“定制现实”的现象，通过有针对性地接触特定群体（如QAnon支持者）来传播信息，并利用付费影响者来扩大其影响力。即使事实被揭露，宣传活动的目标仍然可能实现，因为人们倾向于坚持自己的信仰，这反映了信任危机和机构合法性危机。俄罗斯宣传活动利用人工智能和更复杂的机器人网络，已经发展到利用深度伪造技术和有针对性的影响力行动来传播虚假信息，并试图影响美国政治进程。 John Mark Dougan等参与者与俄罗斯情报机构合作，利用虚假新闻网站和社交媒体平台散布针对美国政治人物的不实指控，并利用AI生成虚假视频。社交媒体平台曾与研究人员和政府合作打击虚假信息，但这种合作关系因各种因素而中断，包括法律诉讼和对审查的担忧。本集讨论了俄罗斯宣传的演变，以及美国社交媒体平台在2024年大选前如何应对（或未应对）这些挑战。社交媒体平台在识别和应对虚假信息方面发挥着关键作用，但平台与研究人员和政府之间的合作关系因各种因素而复杂化，包括埃隆·马斯克对Twitter的收购以及围绕政府审查和内容审核的法律诉讼。研究人员利用公开数据和行为分析来识别虚假信息网络，但他们缺乏平台内部数据（如设备ID和网络信息），这使得归因分析变得困难。俄罗斯宣传利用了“定制现实”的现象，通过有针对性地接触特定群体（如QAnon支持者）来传播信息，并利用付费影响者来扩大其影响力。即使事实被揭露，宣传活动的目标仍然可能实现，因为人们倾向于坚持自己的信仰，这反映了信任危机和机构合法性危机。

Deep Dive

This chapter explores the role of Russian propaganda, specifically the Storm-1516 network and John Mark Dougan, in spreading false sexual misconduct allegations against Tim Walz using AI-generated deepfakes and fake news websites. The sophisticated use of technology and coordinated efforts across multiple platforms are highlighted.

Storm-1516 network's history of creating deepfake videos to push Kremlin narratives
John Mark Dougan's collaboration with the GRU and use of AI to create false videos
Coordinated campaign across multiple fake news websites and platforms
Pre-existing campaign against Walz before the deepfake video surfaced

Shownotes Transcript

Earlier this week, journalists at WIRED and The Washington Post reported that a “Russian-aligned propaganda network notorious for creating deepfake whistleblower videos” appears to be behind a coordinated effort to promote false sexual misconduct allegations against vice presidential candidate Tim Walz.

At WIRED, David Gilbert wrote) that researchers have linked a group they’re calling “Storm-1516” to the campaign against Walz. “Storm-1516 has a long history of posting fake whistleblower videos, and often deepfake videos, to push Kremlin talking points to the West,” Gilbert explained. A few days earlier, NBC News also reported) on Storm-1516, citing its work as demonstrative of Russian propaganda’s growing utilization of artificial intelligence and more sophisticated bot networks.

Two days after the WIRED report, Washington Post journalist and Russia expert Catherine Belton reported) on another bad actor implicated in spreading the allegations against Walz: John Mark Dougan, a former Florida cop with a long and winding record that includes internal affairs investigations, early discharge from the Marines, and a penchant for posting confidential data about thousands of police officers, federal agents, and judges on his blog, which led to 21 state charges of extortion and wiretapping. To escape that indictment, Dougan fled to Moscow, where he soon put his conspiratorial blogging skills to work, effectively enlisting in the Russian intelligence community’s “Internet war” against America.

Records show and disinformation researchers argue that Dougan is responsible for content on dozens of fake news sites with deliberately misleading names like DC Weekly, Chicago Chronicle, and Atlanta Observer. Lately, he’s reportedly started using a GRU-facilitated server and AI generator to create phony videos like the deepfake video showing one of Walz’s former students accusing him of sexual abuse.

With a little more than a week until the U.S. presidential election, Meduza spoke to Renée DiResta) — the author of Invisible Rulers: The People Who Turn Lies Into Reality) and an associate research professor at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy — about Russian propaganda, how it’s evolved over the years, and how American social networks are responding (and not responding) ahead of the November 2024 vote.

Timestamps for this episode:

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(5:00) The Role of Social Networks in Identifying Fake Accounts

(9:35) Government and Platform Collaboration on Inauthentic Behavior

(16:46) A Case Study: Maxim Shugaley and Russian Influence in Libya

(21:45) Twitter’s Public Data Dilemma

(24:25) Bespoke Realities and Content Moderation

(25:57) The Tenet Media Case

(27:28) The Role of Influencers in Propaganda

(35:26) Marketing and Propaganda: A Historical Perspective

(38:27) The Democratization of Propaganda

(39:36) Name Your Poison: Tyranny or Chaos

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