Russians launch fake news about US elections on social media
Russians publish fake news about alleged destruction of votes for Trump (photo: Getty Images)
The US presidential election will take place on November 5. On the eve of this, Russians launched a fake news story on social media alleging that ballots for Donald Trump were being destroyed, reports The Guardian.
The video falsely showed how mail-in ballots for Republican candidate Donald Trump were being destroyed in the swing state of Pennsylvania. In particular, the video shows a man sorting through mailed ballots from Bucks County and tearing up those with a vote for the former US president. This video has become particularly popular on social networking site X, gaining millions of views.
On Thursday, the Bucks County Board of Elections declared the video “fake,” saying that the envelope and other materials depicted in the footage are “clearly not authentic” materials owned or distributed by them.
The next day, in a joint statement, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the FBI, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said the video was part of a Russian disinformation operation.
“Russian actors manufactured and amplified a recent video that falsely depicted an individual ripping up ballots in Pennsylvania. This Russian activity is part of Moscow’s broader effort to raise unfounded questions about the integrity of the US election and stoke divisions among Americans,” the statement said.
It also said that Russia is expected to create and publish more such content in an attempt to “undermine trust” in the integrity of the November 5 presidential election.
The Guardian writes that the video comes as US authorities brace for a surge of disinformation in the final days of a tight election between Republican candidate Trump and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.
