U.S. officials have figured out that Russia is behind a video that’s been making the rounds online lately, which Georgia state election officials are calling disinformation.
Georgia’s Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, pointed out that the video claims to show Haitians saying they illegally voted for Kamala Harris, but he insists it’s fake and probably created by a Russian troll farm.
In the video shared on social media this past Thursday, a guy claims he and others in the clip are from Haiti, came to the U.S. six months ago, got their citizenship during that time, and are voting for Kamala Harris in multiple counties in Georgia.
He even says things like, Yesterday we voted in Gwinnett County, and today we’re voting in Fulton County, adding that they have all their paperwork ready and encouraging other Haitians to come to America with their families.
However, Fulton County officials told CBS News they couldn’t find any record of a registered voter with the name on that driver’s license. Raffensperger mentioned that his office is collaborating with state and federal partners to trace where this video came from, and he urged Elon Musk and other social media leaders to take it down.
According to Darren Linvill, a Russian disinformation expert and co-director of the Media Forensics Hub at Clemson University, an anonymous X account called AlphaFo posted a video that’s been linked to misinformation from a Russian influence group known as Storm-1516.
This group has a history of sharing fake content, including videos that falsely depicted election workers destroying ballots in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. They’ve also released misleading videos about Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, as noted by various researchers and officials. The AlphaFo account has since taken down the video.
When CBS News reached out through direct messages on X, the person behind the account revealed they got the video from someone who pays them regularly to share content.
They believe this source is based in Australia and mentioned that their account was recently suspended on X. On Friday, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, along with the FBI and CISA (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency), stated that they believe this video was created by Russian influence actors. They emphasized that this activity is part of Russia’s ongoing strategy to cast doubt on the integrity of U.S. elections and create divisions among Americans.
Georgia Secretary of State Raffensperger chimed in on Friday too: “The Russians picked the wrong Georgians to mess with.”