Thaksin Shifts from Cheerful Power Broker to Cautious Strategist

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A recently viral video allegedly showing a man destroying ballots marked for Donald Trump in Pennsylvania has been identified as part of a Russian disinformation campaign, according to US officials. The video, which has attracted millions of views on platforms like X (formerly Twitter), purports to show a man sorting through and tearing up mail-in ballots from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, specifically those cast in favor of the former president. Officials have determined the video is fabricated, raising fresh concerns about foreign influence operations targeting the upcoming November election.

 

On Thursday, the Bucks County Board of Elections released a statement declaring the video to be “fake” and pointed out that the envelope and other items in the footage were “clearly not authentic materials” used by the county. This assessment was further supported by a joint statement from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the FBI, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Friday. “Russian actors manufactured and amplified a recent video that falsely depicted an individual ripping up ballots in Pennsylvania,” the agencies noted. They added that this misinformation is part of a larger Russian effort “to raise unfounded questions about the integrity of the US election and stoke divisions among Americans.”

 

The statement emphasized that Russian operatives are anticipated to create and distribute similar content as election day approaches to “undermine trust” in the electoral process. American authorities are on high alert, expecting a wave of disinformation to flood social media in the closing days of a closely contested election between Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. 

 

AFP fact-checkers have also debunked the video, tracing it back to a Kremlin-aligned disinformation network known as Storm-1516. According to Darren Linvill, co-director of Clemson University’s Media Forensics Hub, this network has a history of producing false videos aimed at discrediting American candidates. Linvill noted that the account on X, which shared the video, has been known to promote narratives from the Storm-1516 network, linking it directly to previous attempts to undermine confidence in US elections.

 

This is not the first instance of such activities; in September, the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center reported that Russian operatives were intensifying disinformation efforts specifically targeting Harris’s campaign, with conspiracy-laden videos surfacing online. Researchers pointed out that Storm-1516 has previously attempted to discredit the campaigns of Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz.

 

Russia is not the only foreign power reportedly aiming to influence American opinion and erode faith in the democratic process. The ODNI warned in a memo earlier this week that Iran and China are also spreading divisive narratives to destabilize the United States politically. The ODNI report highlighted that these foreign influence efforts would likely escalate as election day nears, particularly through social media posts, some of which may even be AI-generated or enhanced. “These actors probably perceive that undermining confidence in the elections weakens the legitimacy of our democracy and consequently makes the United States less capable of effectively pursuing policies that are counter to their interests,” the report concluded.

 

With just days remaining before the November election, the risk of disinformation, particularly from Russia, remains a key concern for US officials as they strive to safeguard the integrity of the democratic process.

 

Based on a report from the Guardian 2024-10-29

 

 

 

[gargamon]

And in Georgia (country not state) Russia just rigged the vote in yesterday's election.

 

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/10/28/west-calls-for-probe-into-georgia-election-russia-denies-interfering

 

Thousands of Georgians have taken to the streets to protest against the disputed parliamentary election after the pro-Western opposition and president called for mass protests against what they called a “rigged” vote.

Demonstrators gathered outside the main parliament building in the capital, Tbilisi, on Monday to denounce the election results that saw the ruling Georgian Dream party win by 54 percent of the votes.

The country – rocked by mass protests earlier this year – has plunged into political uncertainty since Saturday’s vote, with Brussels, Washington, France and Germany condemning “irregularities”. Georgian election monitors claimed to have uncovered a large-scale fraud scheme that altered the election outcome in favour of the ruling party.