Securing Democracy Dispatch

US foreign adversaries understand that state and local communities are foundational to the strength of American democracy and are increasingly targeting Americans with information manipulation closer to where they live. Research Assistant Krystyna Sikora and Senior Fellow Bret Schafer outline examples of foreign information manipulation in all 50 states and Washington, DC in ASD’s latest report. 

Russian-registered but little investigated, the TV BRICS media outlet boasts agreements with media outlets in 17 countries and broadcasts daily in five major languages to shape global coverage about BRICS members and candidate countries, Investigative Data and Research Analyst Peter Benzoni, former Research Trainee James Conway, and Open-Source Intelligence Analyst Larissa Doroshenko write.

Russian diplomats and state media focused on two main narratives this week:

• War in Ukraine: Russian state media last week discussed the potential for “peace talks” with Ukraine, while amplifying allegations of widespread Ukrainian corruption. Sputnik Brazil shared comments from a US-based blogger, who predicted that Russia would seize all territories east of the Dnipro River and sign a “peace deal” that US President Donald Trump can present as “a triumph” to his supporters. TASS blamed American politicians for the devastation in Ukraine, while RT’s Going Underground claimed that the war has supposedly been “a laundromat” for the US military-industrial complex and for “corrupt Ukrainian officials”. Russian propagandist Vladimir Solovyov amplified Tucker Carlson’s comments, which alleged that the Ukrainian military sells “up to a half” of the American weapons it receives. RT en Español further boosted Carlson’s claim that those weapons purportedly end up “in the hands of drug cartels” and, as a result, Ukrainians are now “the richest” in Europe.
• Clinton Foundation: Sputnik renewed attacks on the Clinton Foundation on the heels of last week’s allegations of corruption at the US Agency for International Development (USAID). Sputnik International published an article that accused the Clinton Foundation of laundering US tax dollars from USAID and engaging in a “multibillion dollar theft”. Sputnik International called the story “bigger than the USAID scandal”, while also connecting the Clinton Foundation to George Soros and Jeffrey Epstein. Sputnik Mundo labeled accusations against the foundation as “the biggest uninvestigated fraud”, while Sputnik International created another post about the organization, attempting to refute the Clintons’ response to the allegations. Newsweek labeled the claims that Russian state media promoted false. 

The People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) diplomats and state media focused on two main narratives this week: 

• Trump’s Plan for Gaza: PRC diplomats and state media pushed back against Trump’s suggestion that the United States could “buy and own” Gaza. The spokesperson for the PRC Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) stated that the territory is “not a bargaining chip for political games”. PRC diplomats relayed the MFA’s attacks, rebuffed US officials’ defense of the plan, and amplified other countries’ denouncements. Similarly, Xinhua commented that Washington’s latest proposal would cause “only more hardship”, CGTN highlighted the “global backlash” against the plan, and a state media commentator called it “typical ethnic cleansing”.
• AI: PRC messaging covered several developments surrounding the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Summit in Paris. CGTN Europe amplified US Vice President JD Vance’s threats to Europe on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. The spokesperson for the MFA also responded to Vance’s remarks about authoritarian regimes by warning against “overstretching the concept of national security, or politicizing trade and tech issues”. Xinhua and the spokesperson of the PRC Embassy in the United States amplified a PRC official’s signaling of Beijing’s willingness to work with others on AI. China News quoted Sam Altman saying that he “would like to work with China”, while PRC diplomats and state media outlets continued to hype up DeepSeek, China’s AI-powered chatbot seen as a threat to the United States’ AI dominance.

Fabricated video falsely claims USAID funded celebrity trips to Ukraine: A video that went viral online and bears the hallmarks of a known Russian information operation falsely bore the logo of entertainment news outlet E! News and alleged that USAID paid celebrities millions of dollars to visit Ukraine. Senior Fellow Bret Schafer told the Dispatch, “The virality of the video is frankly far less important than the fact that it reached, and was seemingly endorsed, by the person responsible for dismantling parts of the US government. That’s a pretty good incentive for foreign threat actors to continue to flood X with falsehoods if they believe that those falsehoods can lead to desirable policy outcomes.”

Cybercriminals use AI to impersonate Italian defense minister in calls with business leaders: Cybercriminals employed AI to mimic Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto and his staff’s voices on calls with several Italian business elites, requesting donations—and offering eventual reimbursement—to help rescue Italian journalists kidnapped in the Middle East; at least one businessman wired the scammers €1 million. Co-Managing Director Rachael Dean Wilson said, “As with any emerging technology, scammers often lead the way in exposing how it can be used to manipulate and deceive, usually for money. We saw a similar episode—although lacking the significant monetary loss—in the United States last year when a malign actor used deepfake technology to pose as a top Ukrainian official in a Zoom video call with the then-Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Ben Cardin. As AI continues to evolve at a rapid pace, we need to raise awareness about such episodes to build up our defenses against such tactics.” 

Autocratic countries turn to cybercriminals for foreign malign activities: Authoritarian regimes—namely Russia, the PRC, Iran, and North Korea—have increasingly turned to cybercriminal groups to conduct espionage, hacking campaigns, and financial crimes in service of their geopolitical agendas, including in Ukraine, according to a Google Threat Intelligence report. Co-Managing Director David Salvo said, “Cybercriminals have long been useful proxies for authoritarian governments. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship. The criminals operate with impunity in pursuit of their own financial ends, while the state uses them to move money, conduct hacking operations, and destabilize institutions and services in target countries. There’s greater awareness of the enormity of this threat landscape in democratic countries, but too many vulnerabilities remain. One ransomware attack can paralyze critical infrastructure, local governance, and big business. There ought to be more collaboration between allied and partner governments, between federal and local governments, and between public and private sector actors to address this challenge. It’s unclear whether that is now a priority in Washington.”

In Case You Missed It

• A German court ruled that X must disclose data regarding upcoming German elections to researchers, citing the EU’s Digital Services Act. 
• French President Emmanuel Macron posted a montage of AI-generated deepfakes depicting him in an effort to promote France’s stance on AI ahead of an international summit, raising questions about the normalization of such fake content.
• New York banned the use of DeepSeek, a Chinese AI app, on government devices out of concern over foreign surveillance and censorship of content critical of the PRC.
• The US Department of Justice will redirect the focus of a task force created under the Biden administration to enforce sanctions on oligarchs close to the Kremlin.

Why Russia keeps trading prisoners for hackers. Co-Managing Director David Salvo quoted and ASD research/“The State(s) of Foreign Information Manipulation” highlighted in POLITICO Pro’s Morning Cybersecurity newsletter

The first weeks of Trump in power, seen from Brussels. Co-Managing Directors David Salvo and Rachael Dean Wilson interviewed on Euronews’ Radio Schuman podcast

ウクライナ停戦交渉の行方は　専門家の見方 – 日本経済新聞 (Experts’ views on the future of Ukraine ceasefire negotiations). Co-Managing Director David Salvo quoted in Nikkei (in Japanese)

Las razones tras el ascenso de la extrema derecha en Europa (The reasons behind the rise of the far right in Europe). Senior Manager for Europe and Fellow Vassilis Ntousas quoted in La Tercera (in Spanish)

Savaitė – 2025.02.09 (Week – 2025.02.09). Senior Manager for Europe and Fellow Vassilis Ntousas interviewed on LRT (in Lithuanian)

Správy – Televízny archív – pôvodná tvorba i športové relácie online. Senior Manager for Europe and Fellow Vassilis Ntousas interviewed on STVR (in Slovak)

Správy – Televízny archív – pôvodná tvorba i športové relácie online. Senior Manager for Europe and Fellow Vassilis Ntousas interviewed on STVR (in Slovak)

“At a chosen moment, a fabricated story is inserted and then rapidly spread via social media and influencers. We must assume these sites were prepared to be activated in the run-up to the Bundestag election.”

—An unnamed German Office of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, in an interview with POLITICO published on February 6 about the Kremlin-linked influence group Doppelganger’s concerted efforts to influence German voters before the country’s election this month, including through fake news sites.

The views expressed in GMF publications and commentary are the views of the author alone.