As the U.S. election approaches, the FBI issued a warning about two videos falsely attributed to the agency claiming U.S. election fraud. While the FBI has not confirmed a foreign nexus to the videos, investigations revealed that the videos are part of a Russian disinformation campaign designed to influence the 2024 U.S. election.
The Two Videos Impersonating the FBI Are Fake
Thomas Rid, director of the Alperovitch Institute for Cybersecurity Studies at Johns Hopkins University, debunked the viral video falsely claiming that the FBI arrested individuals for early vote-rigging.
Citing Bellingcat’s founder, Rid also clarified that X users' engagement on the second false video about the U.S. Second Gentleman is largely inauthentic, involving repetitive handle creation and accounts with almost no followers.
FBI Warns About Two Fake Videos Related to U.S. Election
The FBI announced it is aware of two fabricated videos falsely attributed to the agency and the 2024 U.S. election.
In the first video, the creators claim the FBI apprehended three groups involved in ballot fraud, while the second video involves Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris.
The fake videos did not receive a large amount of views on X.
In a statement, the FBI says, “These videos are not authentic, are not from the FBI, and the content they depict is false.”
“Attempts to deceive the public with false content about FBI operations undermines our democratic process and aims to erode trust in the electoral system,” the FBI added. “The FBI encourages everyone to seek election and voting information from reliable sources, such as your local election office. And if you suspect criminal activity, we ask that you report that information to state or local law enforcement or your local FBI field office.”
Russian Propaganda Videos Aim to Influence U.S. Election
The FBI did not confirm whether the videos have foreign origins. However, BBC Verify uncovered evidence connecting the clips to a larger Russia-based operation that has recently produced hundreds of fake videos targeting the 2024 U.S. election.
The contents of these clips are similar to over 300 videos BBC Verify identified since early this year in a joint investigation with the online research firm Logically.
These videos contain realistic graphics and text to impersonate content from U.S. government agencies and over 50 news outlets, including the BBC, France 24, and Fox News.
The videos, according to BBC Verify, spread false claims about Kamala Harris and promote messages about unrest and a “civil war.”
“Operation Overload”: Russian Disinformation Targets the U.S. Election
Finland-based analytics company CheckFirst conducted an independent investigation into the network behind the videos, tracing them to a Russian marketing agency and a Russian IP address. Videos from this operation have also been widely circulated on Russian-language Telegram channels.
CheckFirst further found that the videos’ style, messages, and themes are similar to other Kremlin-linked operations. However, it remains unclear who is running the operation or if it receives funding from the Russian government.
On September 12, 2024, CheckFirst, in collaboration with Reset Tech, released findings indicating that the disinformation campaign “Operation Overload” is increasingly targeting fact-checkers and newsrooms through propaganda emails.
According to the report, the campaign has recently shifted its focus to U.S. candidate Kamala Harris as a primary target.
The 2024 U.S. Election
The U.S. presidential election will be held on November 5, 2024. Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are concentrating their campaigns on key swing states, where every vote is crucial.
According to the University of Florida’s Election Lab, over 73 million Americans had already voted by Saturday.
National polling from FiveThirtyEight shows Harris narrowly leading Trump by 1 point, with neither candidate surpassing 50 percent; Harris holds 47.9 percent, and Trump 46.9 percent.
In the “Blue Wall” states, Trump leads slightly in Pennsylvania at 47.9 percent to Harris's 47.6 percent, while Harris holds a slim 1-point lead in Michigan and Wisconsin.
Trump is ahead by 1 percent in Nevada, 2 percent in Georgia and North Carolina, and 3 percent in Arizona.
However, in Iowa, a state Trump won in 2016 and 2020, Harris has gained a 3-point lead, polling at 47 percent to Trump’s 44 percent.
Harris further has increased support from women, though other state polls still place Trump ahead.
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