Russian disinformation campaign targets West with 'Doppelgänger' tactics
Journalists from the Vot Tak portal have examined the type of information disseminated on the internet by Russian bots. "This is how Moscow's network campaign for spreading disinformation works," they argue. Deliberate actions by the Kremlin directed against the West have been codenamed "Doppelgänger."
Pro-Kremlin propaganda is thriving in Western countries and Ukraine itself, and the Russians ensure it is effectively disseminated.
Lies about the Ukrainian Armed Forces being rife with neo-Nazis and Ukrainian refugees negatively impacting the countries that took them in are just some examples of disinformation narratives that, repeated by bots on social media, reach millions of recipients.
This picture emerges from analysing the "Doppelgänger" campaign by journalists associated with the Vot Tak portal. However, it turns out that it's not just about social media.
The tools for spreading propaganda have also become clones of websites of popular media such as Der Spiegel, Fox News, or "The Washington Post" - emphasizes Belsat TV.
The first traces of the action, codenamed "Doppelgänger", were revealed in the autumn of 2022. Investigators within the DisinfoLab project did this. According to the data collected by them within Doppelgänger, Ukraine, the EU, and the USA were attacked by promoting the Kremlin's stance on the invasion of Ukraine and attempting to turn Western countries' residents against supporting the Ukrainian army.
Belsat adds that in November 2023, the US State Department reported similar activities by Moscow in Latin America. Propaganda within the action is spread via social media platforms.
Besides regular text posts, "Kremlobots" publish fake quotes from well-known figures, such as actors and musicians. Using artificial intelligence, videos and memes are created. The disinformation campaign also uses websites—clones of well-known Western and Ukrainian media, which are virtually indistinguishable from the originals—the only difference being a few characters in the address bar - writes Belsat.
Some sites closely resemble news portals, but there is no information on who owns and manages them.
