They have been proliferating for several weeks. Hundreds of pro-Russian “bots” are spreading false information about Democratic candidate for the US presidential election Kamala Harris on the X platform (formerly Twitter), according to a study published Thursday by the American Sunlight Project (ASP).
The organization describes these accounts as “sleeper agents” since most have been active for several years and have escaped the moderation of the platform, bought in 2022 by billionaire Elon Musk, major supporter of former president and Republican candidate Donald Trump.
Posts scattered among others to better “disguise their objectives”
The American Sunlight Project analyzed more than 1,200 accounts whose profile and activity – more than 100 million posts between their creation and July 2024 – allowed them to be associated with “bots”. These accounts massively distribute propaganda favorable to the Kremlin, content supporting Donald Trump and false information concerning his Democratic rival and the elections.
According to some posts, the candidate admitted that she would be a “puppet” at the mercy of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky if she were elected. Others massively share misleading posts from Elon Musk, who claimed that the Democrats brought “illegal” migrants to the United States to manipulate the result of the next presidential election. These posts are scattered among others on sport or cryptocurrencies to better “disguise their objectives”.
“Sleeper agent networks active for more than ten years”
“We were not surprised to find another pro-Russian bot network but shocked to learn that some of the accounts in this sleeper agent network have been active for over a decade,” said ASP co-founder Nina Jankowicz. Former executive director of an official commission on disinformation, since deleted, she calls on X to dissolve this network.
According to researchers, “bots” are key instruments in the Kremlin’s strategy to spread false information abroad.
The social network calls itself “vigilant”
“Our security team remains vigilant against any attempts to manipulate the platform by malicious actors and networks,” an X spokesperson said in a statement. “We have a robust policy in place to prevent spam and manipulation of the platform, and we regularly remove accounts that engage in this type of behavior,” the platform added.
Before buying Twitter, which became X, Elon Musk promised “to defeat the bots or die trying”. He ultimately reduced the teams dedicated to moderation. “Despite Elon Musk’s stated objectives to get rid of bots, they still exist on X, even those that are affiliated with states,” denounces Nina Jankowicz.