300 platforms in 7 languages: Russian hackers have led a massive disinformation campaign for years

For almost six years, the Russian disinformation campaign has operated covertly on 300 social media platforms using seven languages, analysts at Graphika say. "Voice of America".

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The campaign, which researchers called "Secondary Infection," included the spread of false tweets, allegedly published by US and European officials, as well as conspiracy theories regarding coronavirus.

Most of the false content concerned discrediting Ukraine, the researchers note. Ukraine was presented on social networks as a “failed or unreliable state.” Other themes included portraying the US and NATO as aggressors and Europe as weak and divided.

Critics of the Russian government were portrayed as immoral or alcoholics; Muslims were portrayed as aggressors, and the Russian government as a victim of Western insincerity and conspiracies.

Elections in the West were called unfair, Turkey was called an aggressive power, and world sports institutions and competitions were called unprofessional, unfair and Russophobic.

The campaign tried to support the Russian authorities, attacked and undermined the confidence of its opponents, says Graphika researcher Ben Nimmo, noting that it is not known whether the campaign was “conducted by the government; one associated with the government; or someone who wanted to support the government. "

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Nimmo noticed a new tactic this campaign was using - instead of spreading propaganda through popular accounts, they created one-off accounts that would spread one message at a time and then disappear.

The six-year campaign began in 2014 and lasted until early 2020, according to official research site. During the disinformation process, 2500 pieces of content - articles and graphics - were created and published on more than 300 platforms in 7 languages.

Hackers actively participated in political campaigns, including the 2016 U.S. elections, the 2017 French elections, and attempts to discredit the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). According to the researchers, the attackers consistently used sophisticated schemes to cover the tracks, but struggled to achieve any measurable involvement in the campaigns they needed.

Most campaign materials were not popular.

“They didn't seem to be very successful at creating viral content,” Nimmo notes.

At the moment, there is no specific subject to which responsibility for discredit campaigns would be attributed.

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