Stolen Faces: European Influencers Unwittingly Become Faces of Pro-Trump Propaganda on X

[Social Media]

 

Luna, a 32-year-old who describes herself as a devoted “MAGA Trump supporter” from Wisconsin, has been a prominent voice on X, formerly Twitter, since joining the platform in March. Her profile, filled with posts supporting the “Make America Great Again” movement, praising Donald Trump’s re-election campaign, and spreading conspiracy theories about Vice President Kamala Harris, has garnered nearly 30,000 followers.

 

 

Addressing her followers as “patriots,” Luna’s presence has become a digital megaphone for Trump supporters. “Would You Support Trump Being The President forever? I wonder if you all support Trump for president just like me,” she posted on July 29, along with a selfie in a white bikini, urging her followers to respond with an American flag emoji if they agreed. This post alone reached around 54,000 views. 

Pls watch this. pic.twitter.com/vQkFqlI5lR

— Olga Nesterova (@onestpress) August 29, 2024

 

However, Luna does not exist. The images associated with the @Luna_2K24 account are stolen photos of Debbie Nederlof, a German fashion influencer. Nederlof, a single mother who works two jobs and lives in Germany, has nothing to do with U.S. politics and is not even eligible to vote in the upcoming election. When CNN contacted Nederlof, she expressed shock and anger at how her identity was being used to promote pro-Trump propaganda on X. “To be honest, ‘what the f**k?’ was my reaction. That was my reaction, because I have nothing to do with the United States. With Trump, the political things over there. What the hell do I – from a small place in Germany – care about US politics?”

 

Nederlof is not alone. She is among 17 European women whose photos have been hijacked by anonymous entities to promote Trump and his running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, according to a CNN investigation in collaboration with the Centre for Information Resilience (CIR). CIR is an independent organization dedicated to exposing human rights abuses and receives funding from various sources, including governments and NGOs. The investigation identified 56 fake profiles on X that appear to be part of a coordinated campaign supporting the Trump-Vance ticket ahead of the 2024 presidential election. There is no evidence linking these accounts to the Trump campaign itself, but experts suggest this may be only the beginning of a larger pattern.

 

An analysis of the 56 pro-Trump accounts reveals a systematic and deceptive approach. These accounts frequently use photos of young, attractive women—many stolen, while others seem to be AI-generated—who express their support for Trump, often using hashtags like #MAGAPatriots and #MAGA2024. In some instances, images were digitally altered to include MAGA slogans. Posts from these accounts often contain language errors, suggesting potential foreign interference, and frequently repost each other’s content. Despite appearing to be American, many of these accounts were recently created and have rapidly gained followers, with several displaying blue check marks that imply verification. Of the 56 accounts, eight were found to be using stolen images, and CNN’s outreach to X for comment went unanswered. Just before the story was published, many of the accounts were removed.

 

CNN reached out to most of the European women whose images were stolen, interviewing four of them, including Nederlof. Speaking from her home in Trier, Germany, Nederlof shared her frustration. Although she has encountered image theft before, this was the first time her likeness had been used to push a political agenda. The fake account using her photos posted conspiracy-filled messages, claiming election rigging and assassination attempts on Trump, while also promoting anti-LGBTQ, anti-transgender, anti-vaccination, racist, and xenophobic rhetoric. The emergence of these profiles coincides with the intensifying 2024 presidential race between Harris and Trump, evoking memories of Russian interference in the 2016 election that aimed to influence voter behavior through disinformation on platforms like Facebook and then-Twitter.

 

Today, the political and digital environments have evolved significantly. Trump now has his social media platform, Truth Social, and tech magnate Elon Musk, who recently bought Twitter, has reinstated Trump’s account. During a recent X Spaces chat, Musk and Trump discussed the 2024 election and voiced their shared disdain for mainstream media. Musk emphasized the importance of unrestricted free speech, while Trump made multiple false statements on topics ranging from immigration to the economy.

 

Under Musk’s ownership, X has dismantled many of its measures designed to combat misinformation, raising concerns about its compliance with regulations such as the European Union’s Digital Services Act. This law seeks to prevent harmful activities online, including the spread of disinformation, and to limit the power of social media platforms. It is meant to protect users like Nederlof, but she and other influencers have found it difficult to get social platforms to act when their images are stolen. This highlights the challenges of enforcement and the increasing threat to women’s bodily autonomy online.

 

For Nederlof, life revolves around her son, her job, her dog, and her growing presence as an influencer on Instagram. “The cost of living – it’s hard. And all I want is for my son to have a better future,” she said while walking through Trier’s winding roads with her dog Lou. Nederlof started posting on Instagram, hoping it might lead to more modeling opportunities, and her following has since grown to over 74,000. But with this exposure has come a darker side: her images being misappropriated across various platforms, often with no response from those platforms when she reports the theft. “They always say there’s not enough proof that it’s fake.” Only once, when a photographer friend threatened legal action, was she able to get a fake profile removed.

 

Among the followers of the pro-Trump profile that misuses Nederlof’s photos is the official X account of Republican Senator Doug Mastriano of Pennsylvania, who was an early supporter of Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. CNN reached out to Mastriano’s office but received no response. Nederlof is resolute about her disinterest in U.S. politics, saying, “I don’t give a damn about Trump.”

 

Another woman whose photos were used is 27-year-old Demi Maric, an Instagram influencer and business student from Amsterdam. Her images were stolen and used by a fake X account named @queen0_gabriela. The profile frequently changes its pinned tweet, cycling through various photos of Maric and urging followers to support Trump. Maric, who started focusing on her Instagram in 2020, has experienced repeated instances of image theft. One such incident even pulled her into a lawsuit in the U.S. after a scammer used her photos to defraud someone. “It feels weird that I have to be part of a lawsuit even though I had nothing to do with the case.”

 

Neriah Tellerup Andersen, a 22-year-old influencer from Copenhagen, whose photos have been used by another fake pro-Trump account, described feeling violated by the experience. “I feel used, like someone is taking something from me. It’s my image. I don’t want to think people think that I do what those profiles are sometimes promoting.” Kamilla Broberg, another influencer from Copenhagen, shares this sense of violation. A trained psychologist who posts about fitness and lifestyle, Broberg was disturbed to see her images manipulated, including one instance where a bikini photo was edited to make her appear naked. “That was the worst,” she said.

 

Despite X’s policies against misleading and deceptive identities, these fake accounts persist. The platform’s guidelines clearly prohibit impersonation and the unauthorized use of images, yet enforcement remains inconsistent. Meanwhile, the debate between Musk and European regulators over X’s compliance with the Digital Services Act has escalated. The law aims to protect users from deceitful impersonation and other harmful online behaviors. In an open letter, EU commissioner Thierry Breton warned Musk to prevent the amplification of harmful content, or face potential penalties. Musk’s response was dismissive, underscoring the tension between platform regulation and free speech.

 

 

The orchestrated nature of these fake profiles suggests a coordinated effort to manipulate public opinion. Experts, including Emily Horne, a former Twitter policy leader, suggest that the sophistication of the campaign points to the possibility of state actor involvement. “This could be a state actor. The level of sophistication indicates it could be any of the hostile state actors, including Russia, Iran and China,” she noted. Former Facebook policy director Katie Harbath added that the ability to buy verification marks has compromised the platform’s integrity, making it easier for misinformation to spread.

 

There is also a gendered element to the way these fake accounts operate, relying on images of women to attract engagement, particularly among young and disaffected men. The use of these stolen photos reflects broader issues of online misogyny and the commodification of women’s bodies without consent. As women like Nederlof, Maric, Andersen, and Broberg navigate the emotional toll of seeing their identities stolen and manipulated, the broader political implications continue to unfold. With the battle over women’s rights playing a significant role in the 2024 U.S. election, the misuse of women’s images adds another layer of complexity to an already contentious political landscape.

 

For Nederlof, the ongoing theft of her photos feels like a constant invasion of her privacy. “Every day, my face and my body, my pictures, my identity is stolen, and that makes me very mad. That is definitely not me, definitely it was never me, and it will never be me, and (people) have to unfollow” the fake account. She and other women caught in this web of misinformation are left to wonder when, or if, there will be stronger safeguards to protect their identities in an increasingly unregulated digital world.

 

Credit: CNN 2024-08-30

 

 

 

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[Chomper Higgot]

Algorithms that are able to identify people in social media are very capable of identifying for removal any image, be that a ‘scraped’ photo or any other form of online image abuse.

 

The tech industry has the tools to deal with this, they choose not to do so.

[animalmagic]

If this is what is done to help him win, imagine what will be done if he does win.

[Nickcage49]

I guess this is his new strategy. Of course, lying and cheating aren't new for this guy.

Edited August 30 by Nickcage49

[john donson]

wow... filters much... one supermodel AI and then the real thing

 

but who is stupid to take any advice from so called influencers?

[Purdey]

Either his team or supporters think it is fine to break the law.

[Chomper Higgot]

5 hours ago, Purdey said:

Either his team or supporters think it is fine to break the law.

Him and his supporters, both foreign and domestic.

 

 

[JCauto]

On 8/30/2024 at 10:04 AM, john donson said:

wow... filters much... one supermodel AI and then the real thing

 

but who is stupid to take any advice from so called influencers?

 

Oooh, you're getting close! Just a little bit further and you'll be there.