Feds Seize Domains Linked to Russia’s AI Dissemination Campaign

The United States Department of Justice The agency announced Wednesday that it has seized 32 Internet domains linked to a Russian disinformation campaign to target artificial intelligence and fake influencers ahead of the 2024 election.

According to the agency, Russian entities have used cybersquatting and AI-generated content to spread disinformation targeting Americans—an ongoing influence campaign called “Doppelganger.”

“Today's announcement exposes the scope of the Russian government's influence operations and reliance on AI for disinformation,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement. “Companies operating at the behest of the Russian government created websites to trick Americans into ingesting Russian propaganda.”

Cybersquatting refers to malicious websites or domains that look like legitimate ones. According to the DOJ, the doppelganger used fake social media profiles and AI-generated ads.

“Among the methods used by the doppelgänger to drive audiences to cybersquatted and specialized media domains are the global deployment of ‘influencers', paid social media ads (in some cases created using artificial intelligence tools), and the creation of social media profiles as US (or other non-Russian) ) citizens to post comments related to cybersquatted domains on social media platforms,” the agency said.

The Justice Department cited an affidavit detailing how foreign agents set up a fake website designed to look like The Washington Post but contain articles critical of US policies.

One official added: “Today's announcement shows that Russia is willing to compromise our free and open press with its outrageous plans.”

In connection with the announcement of the DOJ's seizure of the website, the US Treasury Department said that two companies and ten individuals – including executives from the Russian government-funded RT (Russia Today) media organization and members of the Kremlin hacktivist group RaHDit – were involved in the campaign.

The Treasury Department said these entities used a variety of tools, including artificial AI and AI-generated deep fakes, to try to deceive voters.

Names named by the department are RT's deputy chief editors Elizaveta Yuryevna Brodskaya and Anton Sergeevich Anisimov, as well as RT's deputy director of English-language broadcasting Andrey Vladimirovich Kyashko and Elena Mikhailovna Afanasyeva, an employee of RT's digital media department.

The RAHD members who were summoned were Alexei Alekseevich Garashchenko, Anastasia Igorevna Yarmoshkina, and Alexander Vitalievich Nezentsev.

According to the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), all assets and interests held by US designated individuals or controlled by US persons are frozen and must be reported to the agency. So is the risk of being sanctioned or sanctioned.

“Today's action underscores the U.S. government's continued efforts to hold government-sponsored actors accountable for actions that undermine public trust in our institutions,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement. “Treasury will not waver in our commitment to protecting the principles of our democracy and the integrity of our electoral system.”

In July, the Justice Department identified nearly 1,000 Twitter accounts linked to a Russian bot farm that used generative AI to create fake social media profiles, many claiming to be American and used to post pro-Russian messages on Twitter.