The Department of Justice on Tuesday announced that an AI-powered information operation run from Russia, including nearly 1,000 accounts pretending to be Americans, had been shut down.
The US justice department said the operation was devised by a deputy editor at Kremlin-owned RT, formerly Russia Today.
The US Department of Justice, along with their counterparts in the Netherlands and Canada, seized the domains and searched the Twitter (X) social media accounts of the Russian bot farm that had been spreading pro-Putin propaganda.
- According to court documents, a bot farm is an enhanced software package which allows for the creation of false personas on social media platforms. Bot farms are enhanced by integrating components which contain artificial intelligence, such as image production or text generation.
The DOJ seized two websites that were used to issue emails associated with the bot accounts, and ordered X to turn over information relating to 968 accounts that investigators say were bots.
The DOJ stated that X has suspended all the bot accounts for violating the company’s terms of service.
While an encouraging development, there are still thousands of obvious Russian and other foreign bot accounts operating on Twitter. Many of these accounts pay for blue check verification so their replies go to the top of most posts under Elon Musk’s algorithm.
Virtually every pro-Zelensky post is swarmed by blue-checked bots posting Russian disinformation.
Of course, there are plenty of legit MAGA and pro-Trump accounts with huge followings on Twitter who continue to spread Russian disinformation for Putin. They have been subjected to so much Russian propaganda from influencers and right-wing media that they operate in a dystopian online world of dangerous and destabilizing un-American and anti-democratic fiction.
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You can also read the full DOJ Statement.