Microsoft says Russia’s election interference efforts have pivoted to Harris and Walz

September 17, 2024
NPR/PBS
Shannon Bond



Military musicians perform in Moscow's Red Square on Sept. 1, 2024. Researchers at Microsoft say Russia is pivoting its online influence operations to focus on Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, in the final stretch of the election.Stringer/AFP via Getty Images/AFP

Russia is using fake videos and phony social media accounts to target Vice President Kamala Harris as the U.S. presidential election draws closer, according to a new report from Microsoft.

The Kremlin’s influence operations "initially struggled to pivot operations aimed at the Democratic campaign following President Biden’s departure from the US 2024 presidential race" in July, researchers at Microsoft’s Threat Analysis Center wrote. But starting in August, influence campaigns the company has been tracking began to churn out content about Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
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"The shift to focusing on the Harris-Walz campaign reflects a strategic move by Russian actors aimed at exploiting any perceived vulnerabilities in the new candidates," Clint Watts, the general manager of the Threat Analysis Center, wrote in a blog post accompanying the report.

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In recent weeks, the U.S. government has stepped up its efforts to call out and disrupt Russian influence operations targeting American voters that intelligence officials say are aimed at helping former President Donald Trump regain the White House.

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The Microsoft report identified a number of recent Russia-linked campaigns that have shifted focus to Harris. That included a baseless claim accusing Harris of being involved in a hit-and-run in 2011 that was spread via a website claiming to be a local San Francisco TV station. The article was accompanied by a video in which a woman, whom Microsoft identified as an actor, claimed to be the victim of the crash. There is no evidence any such incident occurred, and the purported TV station does not exist.

Microsoft said the video and its laundering through a sham news site was consistent with the tactics of an influence operation it has tracked in previous reports. Researchers at the misinformation-tracking company NewsGuard have linked that operation to a former deputy sheriff from Florida who now lives in Moscow.
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Another inauthentic video Microsoft attributed to the same operation appeared to depict "an attack by alleged Harris supporters on what the video’s amplifiers claim is a Trump rally attendee." It racked up millions of views.

Microsoft attributed other videos pushing conspiracy theories and falsehoods about Harris’s policies to a separate Russian influence operation that previously aimed to spread fear around the Paris Olympics.

One video, purporting to show a fake billboard in Times Square with false claims about Harris, was posted on a Telegram channel that claimed the phone message was commissioned by Trump supporters "to troll the Democrats." It was viewed more than 100,000 times on the social media site X, formerly Twitter, within four hours of being posted on Telegram, Microsoft said.


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A third influence campaign noted in the report "continues to operate covert social media channels that target US audiences." It amplifies materials obtained by Russian-linked hackers and posts fake investigations, alongside attacks on Harris and posts about the U.S. southern border.

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The operations will likely ramp up their attacks on the Harris-Walz campaign in the run-up to Election Day, Microsoft said.

Iran and China are also seeking to sway U.S. voters, Microsoft said, echoing assessments by federal intelligence officials and researchers at other companies.