Russia seeks to sow chaos ahead of US midterms, lawmakers warn
There’s no need to hack the ballot if you can undermine Americans’ trust in voting machines.
Midterm elections. By Shutterstock
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- Democratic lawmakers say Russia is running a covert online campaign before the US midterm elections.
- They say Russia aims to weaken trust in voting machines, democratic institutions, and candidates who support Ukraine.
- Lawmakers claim Russia now uses artificial intelligence to spread deceptive content faster and at larger scale.
- X recently removed over 13,000 accounts tied to suspected foreign influence operations targeting US political debate.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
The Russian government has launched a covert online influence campaign in an attempt to harm the Democratic Party and undermine both Democrats and Republicans sympathetic to Ukraine ahead of the midterm elections in the US, Democrat lawmakers claim.
Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chair Mark Warner (Democrat-Virginia) and House Intelligence Committee ranking member Jim Himes (Democrat-Connecticut) told reporters on Wednesday that Russia is trying to sway public opinion to influence the outcome of the midterm elections, which will take place in 2 weeks.
“It’s a carnival out there,” Himes said about Russia’s efforts to generate “a sense of chaos and anarchy.” Russia’s disinformation tactics vary from sowing distrust in democratic institutions to the validity of voting machines.
Warner claims that “every election cycle since 2016, Russia has spread disinformation” to undermine Democrats.
“That’s just a factual basis.”
According to Warner, Russia is using artificial intelligence (AI) to spread deceptive information faster and on a larger scale than ever before to target Americans more effectively.
According to Politico, Himes and Warner didn’t specify which politicians are targeted specifically by the Russian government. However, supporters of Ukraine on both sides of the aisle are likely on Russia’s radar.
The statements of both politicians were detailed in a classified report on foreign election interference sent to their offices by the US intelligence community earlier this week.
Rick Crawford, Chair and spokesperson for the House Intelligence Committee, wasn’t too happy with the Democratic politicians’ statements, calling it “cherry-picking” to leak specific details to the press.
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“This is at best an egregious breach of trust which would have consequences for the employees of the intelligence community, and at worst a clear attempt to deceive the American people. Further, it is always interesting that the Democrats are perfectly willing to highlight Russian actions, but never those of the Chinese Communist Party,” Crawford told Politico.
Last week, social media platform X reported that it had removed over 13,000 accounts involved in three suspected foreign influence operations linked to Iran, Russia, and China that targeted US political conversation.
According to X, inauthentic accounts were used to “post and amplify content about US politics, targeting candidates, and public figures across the political spectrum.”
