Russia has helped amplify and spread false and misleading internet claims about recent hurricanes in the United States and the federal government’s response, part of a wider effort by the Kremlin to manipulate America’s political discourse before the presidential election, new research shows.

The content, spread by Russian state media and networks of social media accounts and websites, criticizes the federal response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton, exploiting legitimate concerns about the recovery effort in an attempt to paint American leaders as incompetent and corrupt, according to research from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue. The London-based organization tracks disinformation and online extremism.

In some cases, the claims about the storms include fake images created using artificial intelligence, such as a photo depicting scenes of devastating flooding at Disney World that never happened, researchers say.

    • BakerBagel@midwest.social
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      13 hours ago

      Honestly, neoliberal states might have failed by now if the Soviet Union hadn’t collapsed. Capitalism has just aboit finished eating itself as evidenced by no one being able to afford housing or groceries anymore, no real work being done that isn’t just feeding Wall Street quarterly goals, and just about everything being turned into a subscription service.

      • jaybone@lemmy.world
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        14 hours ago

        Yeltsin seemed hopeful for good relationships with the west. He saw how communism failed. It’s Putin that misses his old KGB glory days. Fuck that guy.