US officials have confirmed that Russian actors were behind a widely circulated video that falsely depicted mail-in ballots for Donald Trump being destroyed in Pennsylvania. The video, which was shared on social media on Thursday, was quickly debunked by local election officials and law enforcement after members of the public reported it. Despite being taken down, the video’s impact was still felt, with both Republicans and Democrats in the county expressing concern about how it could affect the election. According to US officials, the video is part of “Moscow’s broader effort to raise unfounded questions about the integrity of the US election and stoke divisions among Americans.”
The video was identified as fake by the Bucks County Board of Elections, which stated that the envelope and other materials in the video “are clearly not authentic materials belonging to or distributed by” the board. Researchers who study Russian disinformation had previously connected the video to a Russian disinformation network known as Storm-1516 or CopyCop, which has previously shared numerous videos with false claims about Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz.
The network’s methods are designed to spread misinformation and confusion, and this latest video is no exception. According to Darren Linvill, the co-director of the Media Forensics Hub at Clemson University, the user who popularised the Bucks County video on social media had been an early amplifier of several other narratives from the network. The style and appearance of the latest video matches other videos from the network, and the user who popularised it eventually deleted the original post and shared multiple posts from other accounts decrying it as fake.
Russian Hoaxsters Fake Ballot Destruction Video (Image via Getty)
The video’s release comes as the midterm elections are just days away, and both parties are working hard to get their supporters to the polls. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who is also the former president of the United States, has been accused of spreading misinformation on social media, and his campaign has been linked to several incidents of disinformation.
The Bucks County Republican Committee has spoken out against the video, calling it “disinformation” aimed at scaring voters and dissuading them from using mail-in ballots or on-demand voting. The committee has seen “dirty underhanded tactics” this year, including the defacing of signs and letters threatening Trump supporters. Pennsylvania Senator Steve Santarsiero, chairman of the Bucks County Democratic Committee, has also called the video an attempt to “cast doubt on our vote by mail system and, ultimately, the outcome of the Presidential Election.”
The video’s release has sparked outrage across the political spectrum, with many calling for more action to be taken against disinformation. The Russian disinformation network’s methods are designed to undermine faith in the election process, and the video’s release is a clear attempt to do just that. With the midterm elections just days away, it is more important than ever that we take action to protect the integrity of our democratic process and prevent the spread of misinformation.
