Russia set up a network of websites impersonating credible news outlets to spread false information about the war in Ukraine, according to Meta.
The Big Tech company said on Tuesday that it had discovered what it describes as the “largest and most complex” network of Russia-connected information operations since the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. This network attempted to impersonate more than 60 news websites in order to spread false information about Ukrainian forces, including claims that Ukrainian soldiers were killing civilians. The websites impersonated included the Guardian and foreign news sites like Der Spiegel and Bild.
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While Facebook noted these websites and moved to block them, the network regularly attempted to set up new websites, “suggesting persistence and continuous investment in this activity,” according to Ben Nimmo, the global threat intelligence lead at Meta.
These false websites used the names of real reporters mixed with fake petitions and posts to push narratives about what was going on in Ukraine. For example, one site claimed Ukraine had staged the April massacre of civilians in Bucha.
While these networks were intended to sway the public’s view of the Ukraine war, the accounts connected to them were “smash and grab,” according to Meta. Several of these false accounts were detected by Meta’s automated systems before Meta’s investigation. “It presents as a really unusual combination of sophistication and brute force,” David Agranovich, Meta’s director of global threat disruption, said on a call with reporters.
Meta also said it had discovered a Chinese influence operation that targeted the United States and Czechia with false information in the weeks and months before the 2022 midterm elections. The accounts posted during the middle of the night in the U.S., and the posts received limited attention during that period. However, this is the first Chinese information operation “focused on US domestic politics ahead of the midterm elections, as well as Czechia’s foreign policy toward China and Ukraine,” the report notes.
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Meta’s report arrives a day after Google researchers claimed that pro-Russian hackers coordinated with the Russian military to assault Ukraine via cyberattacks.
The campaigns echo what Russian hackers attempted in the 2016 election. Russia’s Internet Research Agency created fake news websites to promote false claims about several controversial subjects in the U.S. during the election and promoted them on social media. While these actions earned Congress’s attention, it is uncertain if the campaign had a substantial impact on public opinion.
