…Clemson attributed the #SocialDesignAgency’s campaign to a Kremlin #InfluenceOperation that researchers have called Matryoshka, after the Russian nesting dolls.

The operation, which emerged in 2024, specializes in creating fake articles that look as if they were from real news organizations like Reuters or France 24. The goal seems to be to spread the claims by encouraging fact checkers to debunk them.

#MediaLiteracy #misinformation #Russia #RussianPropaganda #tech #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

Gee, ya don’t say …

#Bluesky Says #Kremlin Is Hacking Its Platform to Spread #Propaganda

The company said it was fighting Russian efforts to hijack real #users’ accounts to post fake #content, an apparently novel tactic.

#MediaLiteracy #disinformation #misinformation #Russia #RussianPropaganda #tech #SocialMedia
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/21/business/bluesky-russia-hacking-accounts.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share