Germany Exposes Extensive Pro-Russian Disinformation Campaign on Social Media Platform X
Germany has uncovered a significant “pro-Russian disinformation campaign” utilizing thousands of fake accounts on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. The campaign aimed to fuel resentment against Berlin’s support for Ukraine, as reported on Friday. Experts, commissioned by the German foreign ministry, employed specialized software to monitor X between December 20 and January 20, discovering over 50,000 fake user accounts that collectively disseminated over a million German-language tweets.
A common narrative within the campaign alleged that Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government prioritized aiding Ukraine in its conflict with Russia over addressing the needs of Germany’s own population. The fake accounts frequently shared links to fabricated news stories on websites designed to mimic legitimate media outlets, suggesting a connection to the Russia-linked “Doppelganger” campaign known to authorities. These revelations raise concerns about the impact of increasingly sophisticated disinformation campaigns, particularly with upcoming regional elections in eastern Germany and the European Parliament election in June, involving 400 million voters across the European Union.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell emphasized the critical nature of 2024 in combating disinformation, highlighting elections as a prime target for foreign actors, particularly Russia. The World Economic Forum has ranked disinformation as the top threat over the next two years.
