The FBI has successfully infiltrated a Russian propaganda network on Twitter/X, driven by up to 1,000 AI-controlled accounts. These accounts were posting misinformation en masse, attempting to influence and disrupt US interests on the internet.
Two domain names were part of the operation: MLRTR.com and OTANMAIL.com. Both domains are registered with Namecheap and a subpoena was issued on the matter. These domains now display the following image:
Apparently, the registrants’ information was bogus so the FBI had to dig deeper.
Digging further into the registration accounts, the FBI agents uncovered that the Gmail accounts used by the perpetrators were traced to Russia.
The US Department of Justice noted:
“With these actions, the Justice Department has disrupted a Russian-government backed, AI-enabled propaganda campaign to use a bot farm to spread disinformation in the United States and abroad,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland.
“As the Russian government continues to wage its brutal war in Ukraine and threatens democracies around the world, the Justice Department will continue to deploy all of our legal authorities to counter Russian aggression and protect the American people.”
Read more information about the domain seizures and the investigation that led to the uncovering of the Russian propaganda accounts.
