St Petersburg outfit hijacks discussions on Twitter, TikTok, world leaders’ social accounts and media websites, as well as manipulating opinion polls
Highlights
- Research funded by the UK government found operatives were ordering followers to target western media outlets and politicians.
- The St Petersburg outfit hijacks discussions on Twitter, TikTok, world leaders’ social accounts and media websites.
- The research said TikTok influencers were being paid to amplify pro-Kremlin narratives.
- The troll farm is said to recruit and hire salaried workers openly, justifying the work as ‘patriotic activity’ in support of the “special military operation” in Ukraine.
- Daft Punk, David Guetta, Tiesto and Rammstein appear to have been targeted by the disinformation operation.
- The Foreign Office was not identifying the researchers behind the work amid concerns over their safety for conducting work critical of the Russian regime.