White House seizes 32 domains, issues criminal charges in massive election-meddling crackdown
The Biden administration on Wednesday seized 32 websites and charged two employees of a state-owned media outlet connected to a $10 million scheme to distribute pro-Kremlin propaganda, and claimed the actions were necessary to counter Russia’s attempts to influence the upcoming US presidential election.
"The Department's seizure of 32 internet domains secretly deployed to spread foreign malign influence demonstrates once again that Russia remains a predominant foreign threat to our elections," deputy attorney general Lisa Monaco declared in a statement. "At Putin's direction, Russian companies SDA, Structura, and ANO Dialog used cybersquatting, fabricated influencers, and fake profiles to covertly promote AI-generated false narratives on social media."
This is all part of the ongoing Doppelgänger operation – a Russian-government-backed influence campaign that has been active since at least 2017. It uses a network of "thousands" of phony social media accounts, fake-news websites and deepfakes to influence American voters and spread pro-Moscow messaging.
