Russia fabricated allegations of child abuse against Harris's deputy, Walz.
A Russian propoganda group is disrupting the US presidential election through deepfake videos. Their focus: Tim Walz, the vice-presidential candidate of Democrat Kamala Harris, who has been falsely accused of child abuse. Intelligence agencies are now cautioning about the upcoming weeks.
Russia is intruding in the US election process. Their method: A video presents an alleged victim accusing Tim Walz, the vice-presidential candidate of Democrat Kamala Harris, of sexually abusing him as a minor. The footage has been viewed by millions, generating intense emotions. However, the alleged video is a deepfake, a computer-generated fabrication that is over four minutes long.
The origin of the video was unclear until now. Now, US intelligence agencies report, according to "Fox News": Russia is responsible, responsible for creating and disseminating the video. It is just one of many false portrayals of Walz as a sex offender on social media. These are proof that Moscow is trying to sway the presidential election towards Republican Donald Trump via social media. Russia interfered in the elections in 2016 and 2020 in various ways.
Likely, Russia's propaganda unit "Storm-1516" is responsible for the video, writes the tech magazine "Wired". According to them, the group is known for spreading false news in US media at least 50 times since autumn 2023, as "NBC News" reports.
Fake video about Harris too
The group shares fake whistleblower and deepfake videos to promote Russian themes in the US media landscape. The propaganda unit is also responsible for a fake video about Kamala Harris from September. It falsely claimed that the presidential candidate fled the scene of an accident in San Francisco in 2011. The police say the accident never occurred, and the alleged local news station reporting it does not exist.
The allegations against Walz have been circulating since a week ago. The user account "Black Insurrectionist" posted alleged screenshots of a minor who claimed to have had a relationship with Walz and was now telling his story. Later, another person appeared in a video claiming to have spoken to one of Walz's victims. Finally, the deepfake video of a certain Matthew Metro from the high school where Walz taught appeared, accusing the vice-presidential candidate. It was viewed over 5 million times before it was removed.
The name is not fictional, Matthew Metro exists, and he attended Mankato West High School in Minnesota many years ago. But the face looked completely different, and the voice was off - this was discovered by the "Washington Post" after they traced down the real Matthew Metro in Hawaii. "That's obviously not me," the 45-year-old is quoted as saying. He never met Walz. Now, the original tweet's user account no longer exists.
QAnon peaked so far
Conspiracy theorists and some Trump supporters have spread allegations of child abuse against Democrats. During the 2020 election campaign, these claims reached a climax in the beliefs of QAnon supporters: Democrats worship Satan, run a child sex trafficking ring, and control politics and media. They supposedly engage in cannibalism of babies and children to extend their lives. Generals in the military allegedly chose Donald Trump to hold these cult members accountable for their actions. According to the conspiracy theory, members include U.S. President Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, former President Barack Obama, George Soros, and several other prominent Democrats.
US intelligence agencies warned not only about this particular case involving Walz, but also about possible disturbances on social media after the presidential election on November 5. If Harris wins the election, Russian actors are likely to become more active in causing unrest. Russia prefers a Trump victory.
The US presidential election of 2024 is once again under threat, with Russian actors being accused of creating and disseminating a deepfake video targeting Tim Walz, the vice-presidential candidate of Democrat Kamala Harris.
This deepfake video, which falsely accuses Walz of child abuse, is just one of many attempts by Russia to influence the election outcome, utilizing social media to spread false information and sway voters towards Republican Donald Trump.
