ALBAWABA - Russia's aggressive misinformation campaign around the presidential election, including false news and violent films, has alarmed U.S. security authorities.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), FBI, and CISA released a joint statement Monday highlighting foreign adversaries, particularly Russia, intensifying efforts to undermine U.S. election trust. The services expect these foreign influence efforts to intensify on Election Day and last weeks to exacerbate social tensions.
The statement called Russia the “most active threat,” with Russian-linked organizations allegedly spreading fake news and films to scare voters. Officials say some of this fake media shows Americans using violence over politics.
Russian agents spread a bogus story alleging election fraud by authorities in swing states. Another video fakes a whistleblower interview to accuse Arizona of fraud.
Officials worry that misinformation efforts may incite violence and threaten election workers. They anticipate Russian operatives to distribute more fake information on Election Day and thereafter.
U.S. intelligence officials say Russia's influence activities aim to weaken public trust in elections and aggravate political conflict. As in 2016 and 2020, Russia seems to prefer the Republican candidate this election cycle, and they expect these influence actions to continue beyond Election Day.
U.S. officials accuse Russian state media of a multimillion-dollar clandestine program to push pro-Russian narratives to Americans, including false news and films. This includes several internet sites that authorities claim propagate Russian propaganda.
The statement also highlighted Iran's alleged electoral interference, including hack-and-leak activities against former President Trump. The DOJ indicted three Iranian hackers for this activity in September.
According to Microsoft experts, Iranian spies have built fake news websites and impersonated activists to mislead votes. Microsoft revealed that Iranian actors, renowned for sending frightening emails to American voters in 2020, are watching election-related websites and news sources, raising worries of future influence.
U.S. tech corporations and intelligence agencies criticize foreign influence, but Russia, China, and Iran deny it. Russian actors posted an Arizona video on social media on Monday, claiming an anonymous source revealed electoral fraud. Arizona's Secretary of State has refuted this video, according to federal authorities.
