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Russian trolls spreading far-right conspiracy theories online managed to fool Donald Trump Jr. into thinking a fake post by Kid Rock was real.
In one of many attempts to interfere in the US election, Russian trolls created a fake account pretending to be a MAGA musician. A post from the account “KitrackOfficial”, which posited a conspiracy theory about ivermectin, a fake covid treatment and oil supply, caught the attention of the former president’s son.
Donald Trump Jr., who is said to be friends with Kid Rock in real life, took a screenshot of the post from Gettr and then posted it. Instagram With the title “Yes”.
The post is just one small part of a broader trend of bad actors taking advantage of social media apps like Gab, Gettr and Truth Social, a platform created by former President Donald Trump. .
The trolls impersonate different American conservatives, cross-post on different platforms, and are said to spread pro-Russian propaganda, disinformation already popular among far-right groups, as well as conspiracy theories about Ukraine and bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
The new report links the accounts to Russia
These findings a New report Social media monitoring firm Graphica and Stanford University’s web monitoring tracked 35 accounts on the Newsroom for American European-Based Citizens (NAEBC) — a fake outlet linked to Russian trolls. Between them, the accounts have amassed around 33,000 unique followers across Truth social, Gab and Gettr.
Researchers discovered that “KidRockOfficial” was identical to another account on Gab that had already been flagged by the FBI in 2020, which was run by the Russian Troll Farm, an Internet research firm. It reappeared on another platform with the same handle.
This isn’t the first time posts on right-wing sites have been linked back to Russian trolls; However, this is the first time such accounts have been identified on Truth Social.
“Due to the apparent lack of enforcement, actors have established stability not available in most major platforms and are able to conduct their operations with relative ease,” the report said.
Coop founder Andrew Dorba said In a statement Had the platform been notified of such an action by law enforcement, “we would have investigated and taken action.”
Gettr’s CEO said in a statement that the company “takes a strong and proactive approach to moderation, and earlier this year removed all Russia Today accounts for the breach. [its] Terms of Service. Our site always complies with local law enforcement authorities and has been repeatedly praised for its moderate approach by third parties such as Bot Sentinel CEO Cristopher Bouzy.
Truth Social, Kid Rock and Donald Trump Jr. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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