Russia continues to use a range of
a range of information influence against Ukraine. A new investigation has revealed a covert
operation of Russian influence on the basis of the social network TikTok, which was aimed at
to accuse Reznikov and the entire Ukrainian government of corruption, Voice of America reports. This is stated
in the conclusions of the Digital Forensic Research Laboratory (DFRLab) at the
based on a joint investigation with the BBC Verify project,
reports UNN.
Details
The campaign
included the publication of videos in at least seven languages accusing
Reznikov of buying luxury mansions and cars, implying that he and the
the Ukrainian government in general were profiting from the war. The TikTok company has already
describe this case as the largest information operation ever detected on the platform.
on the platform, and considers it a Russian covert operation.
DFRLab has launched an
an investigation into suspicious activity on another social network, X (formerly
Twitter). In July, videos from TikTok were published here one after another,
targeting Reznikov.
The accounts
that posted these videos uploaded only one video on a newly created
account and used audio generated by artificial intelligence. Subsequently.
BBC Verify found hundreds of accounts that used a similar technique.
So far, TikTok
has identified and deleted more than 12,800 accounts that it estimates were involved in the
participated in the operation, attracting over 847,000 followers and likely generating
hundreds of millions of views.
It is indicated that among the
methods of fake publications include the dissemination of videos voiced by a voice generated by
generated by artificial intelligence. One such video claimed that
Reznikov's daughter, ICTV executive director Anastasia Steinhaus, "bought a villa
in Madrid through a shell company in Cyprus."
Addendum
Oleksiy Reznikov resigned as Minister of Defense in September 2023, amid several
corruption scandals in the Ministry of Defense regarding the purchase of
at inflated prices. At the time, several senior officials of the ministry were suspected of
of embezzlement. However, Reznikov's involvement was not proven. "My
conscience is absolutely clear," Reznikov said when he resigned.
To recap
The TikTok report
report shows that more than 12,000 fake accounts, mostly operated from
Russia, spread pro-Kremlin disinformation about the Russian-Ukrainian war,
targeting millions of users. TikTok deleted these accounts after
investigations.
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