Russians paid actress forfake news story about Kamala Harris' hit-and-run
A Russian disinformation campaign is spreading fake news that Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris committed a hit-and-run in San Francisco in 2011. Research by software company Microsoft has uncovered a lot of evidence that makes it clear that this did not happen and that this fake news was also created and spread by Russians.
According to a video that was published on the recently created fake news website KBSF-TV and that was shared on X, among others, a thirteen-year-old girl was paralyzed in the hit-and-run. The video has already been viewed at least 2.7 million times. But that turns out to be completely untrue.
Microsoft researchers discovered that Storm-1516, a Kremlin-affiliated "troll farm", is behind the video. The group paid an actress to pose as the victim.
Storm-1516 began producing “content implicating Vice President Harris and Governor (Tim) Walz in bizarre false conspiracy theories” in late August, Microsoft said.
(MH with SR for Tagtik/Illustration: Pixabay)