Although Trump was a subject of the recent posts on Bluesky, most showed #Russia’s preoccupation with #France, which has emerged as the leader of #Europe’s efforts to bolster #Ukraine in the #war, & #Armenia, a former Soviet republic that #elections next month could move further from Moscow’s orbit.

#MediaLiteracy #disinformation #misinformation #Propaganda #RussianPropaganda #tech #SocialMedia #moderation #Bluesky

…#Ukraine is almost always the main target of Matryoshka’s operations, but previous campaigns also tried to discredit preparations for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris & #Trump’s dismantling of #USAID.

The latter was one of #Russia’s most successful #disinformation ops….It featured videos of fabricated news reports suggesting that USAID had paid celebrities, including the actor Ben Stiller, to travel to Ukraine. Millions saw those posts.

#MediaLiteracy #misinformation #Propaganda #SocialMedia

Russian news outlets also cite these fabricated posts, falsely suggesting that the content, mostly in English, originated in the West. The Social Design Agency did not respond to a request for comment.

#RussianPropaganda on #Bluesky first became notable during #Germany’s elections last year, when the Kremlin sought to bolster Germany’s #FarRight, led by the Alternative for Germany party, known as #AfD.

#MediaLiteracy #disinformation #misinformation #Russia #Propaganda #SocialMedia #moderation

#Bluesky has been tracking the activity & removing the posts—as many as a couple of thousand. They came in waves beginning in April & continuing until at least last week.

In a statement, the company called Russian influence operations “an industrywide problem.” “We dedicate significant resources toward detecting & disrupting coordinated inauthentic campaigns,” it said.

#MediaLiteracy #disinformation #misinformation #Russia #Propaganda #RussianPropaganda #tech #SocialMedia #moderation

The campaign, which the researchers at Clemson University linked to the #SocialDesignAgency, a company in Moscow, shows how #Russia continues to seek new ways to erode public support for #Ukraine….

While Russians have long flooded #SocialMedia platforms with fake accounts & #content, #hacking into real accounts appeared to be a novel strategy.

#MediaLiteracy #disinformation #misinformation #Propaganda #RussianPropaganda #tech #moderation

…The compromised #Bluesky accounts included those of people who are influential in their fields, though perhaps not famous. They were journalists & professors, a pollster in Texas, an anime artist & a filmmaker in Hollywood, whose account posted a video doctored by #AI to impersonate a Canadian police official criticizing France’s president, Emmanuel Macron.

#MediaLiteracy #disinformation #misinformation #Russia #Propaganda #RussianPropaganda #tech #SocialMedia #moderation