Disinformation effort targets German vote: experts

WARSAW: A coordinated disinformation network has been targeting the upcoming German election with claims about vote-related terror threats or corruption allegations against politicians, a research group said on Thursday.

The Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) discovered a network of around 50 X accounts using AI-generated content or impersonating legitimate media organisations to “undermine trust in German elections”.

“This is consistent with information manipulation strategies employed by the Kremlin in recent European elections,” ISD said in its report seen by AFP. Germany´s intelligence services have been sounding the alarm for months about possible Russian attempts to meddle in German politics, particularly ahead of the national election on February 23.

The network discovered by ISD experts became active in November but last month “turned its attention to the German elections”, called after Chancellor Olaf Scholz´s coalition collapsed. It has propagated allegations that the security of the German polls was under threat, targeted political candidates and promoted content discrediting Ukrainian refugees or aid to war-torn Ukraine.