A network of pro-Kremlin accounts on X pushed fake Fox News articles in the hours ahead of Thursday’s presidential debate, attempting to spread false narratives including one about former President Donald Trump’s support in the business community.
The fake articles, first reported on X by the account @antibot4navalny, an anonymous group of analysts tracking Russia-related influence operations, directed people to a fake version of Fox News’ website. That website appears to be part of a known Russian disinformation campaign that has mimicked legitimate news websites from Le Monde in France to The Washington Post. E.U. researchers dubbed it the doppelgänger network in 2022.
In March, Alethea, a company that researches online risks including disinformation, identified 81 websites and more than 5,000 X accounts as part of the campaign.
The messages posted Thursday on X from some of those accounts, many of which rarely post, were unique but carried similar messaging and had been reposted thousands of times by early afternoon. “Biden’s presidency could be our downfall. Trump seems to be our only hope of recovery,” one read. Many pointed to a fake article with the headline “Businesses Chooses Trump and a Great America” that claimed businesspeople from Silicon Valley and beyond were lining up to support Trump.
Laundering propaganda through Kremlin-created or approved news outlets is a tried and true tactic, but this campaign has taken on a modern twist. It uses a fake website that credibly imitates a legitimate news outlet, sharing links through a network of seemingly automated accounts in a way that is not easily detected by platforms and researchers.
Another article shared by accounts in the network with the headline “Mission: Almost Impossible” included an argument that President Joe Biden would need only to remain on his feet to win the debate and that Democrats were plotting to steal the election. It also included dehumanizing language about immigrants, in furtherance of the conspiracy theory of widespread illegal voting by immigrants.
Efforts to manipulate social media discussion around the debate — arguably the first major event of the campaign season — underscore the warnings that many researchers, technologists and political scientists have issued regarding the threat that disinformation continues to pose, particularly as technology platforms have pulled back on moderation efforts.
The fake version of the Fox News website along with the accounts on X also highlight how foreign manipulation efforts have evolved in recent years. The fake website looks almost identical to Fox News’ real website, and the fake article uses the name of a real Fox News reporter.
“The story is fake,” a Fox News spokesperson confirmed in an email.
The X accounts are also more convincing than previous manipulation efforts that often posted in broken English and used similar or identical phrases across dozens of accounts.
The aims, however, appear to be similar to those from previous election cycles. The doppelgänger network uses X accounts that mostly pose as conservative voters to spread the manufactured articles and ultimately attempt to stoke division in the U.S. Subjects of previous articles have included Taylor Swift, military aid funding to Ukraine and the border crisis.
The doppelgänger operation, while prolific in content creation, often fails to reach and engage Americans, C. Shawn Eib, head of investigations at Alethea, said in an email to NBC News.
Its latest efforts, “while widespread, do not appear to be gaining substantial engagement from authentic U.S. audiences.”
