Putin’s bot army tries to swing German election – POLITICO
www.politico.eu

Summary

A German government report reveals a surge in Russian disinformation on X ahead of Germany’s Feb. 23 election, driven by the Kremlin-backed Doppelgänger operation.

This network uses fake news sites, sleeper accounts, and AI-generated content to spread false narratives, mainly targeting Germany’s support for Ukraine.

Coordinated bot activity spiked dramatically in January, with thousands of posts daily. Berlin is intensifying countermeasures, collaborating with allies, and considering sanctions.

The campaign mirrors past Russian election interference across Europe, highlighting ongoing cybersecurity threats.

  • SL3wvmnas@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
    6·
    3 hours ago

    This article is itself just a diversion. The owner is a local oligarch who for example invited musk to his birthday party. This is anything to not talk about the massive multi year Russian sabotage campaign in the real world Der Spiegel recently uncovered.( archive ) This campaign often masqueraded as a green party/progressively motivated sabotage to further damage the image of the only party who is all-in on heat pumps, wind turbines and solar, a cause doepfner and his oligarch allies despise. So they talk about inconsequential shit like this in their rags.

    • cmhe@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      2 hours ago

      Now they will likely spin any critique and demonstrations against the AfD&CDU as “influenced by russia”.

      And long term CDU voters will eat it up, since “russia is on the extreme left” or whatever.

      We live in an inverted world it seems. It looks like making stuff up is more difficult then just inverting facts.