DOJ Finds 1000 Kremlin Sock Puppet Accounts On X

July 9, 2024 Russia, Social Media

The Justice Department said Tuesday it had uncovered and dismantled a Russian propaganda network with nearly 1,000 accounts pushing pro-Russia posts on the social media platform X.

The accounts on X posed as Americans, including a bitcoin investor in Minneapolis, but in reality they were masks for Russian operatives who had the approval and financial support of the Kremlin, the Justice Department said in court affidavits and in a news release.

The Russian operatives made the fictitious accounts with the help of artificial intelligence, which made it easier to produce images and generate text, the department said. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the network was a bot farm used to spread disinformation in the U.S. and abroad, including about Russia’s claims to Ukraine.

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NEW: The DOJ, with help from the Netherlands and Canada, has seized domains and X accounts from a Russian bot operation spreading pro-Putin propaganda using AI. A total of 968 accounts were shut down in this operation. Read more… https://t.co/LzjOEdUZO3

— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) July 9, 2024

NEW: @TheJusticeDept just disrupted a Russian-run AI-enabled Twitter disinformation bot farm.

Almost 1000 accounts on @X.

Masqueraded as Americans & promoted Russian government narratives.

Fascinating sleuthing behind this 1/https://t.co/QOsWnoVUCf pic.twitter.com/pvbVZM3nLj

— John Scott-Railton (@jsrailton) July 9, 2024