DeepfakeHigh
Russian Influence Operation Allegedly Uses AI to Create Fake Kamala Harris Campaign Website and Rhino-Hunting Hoax
- Occurred
- Sep 25, 2024
- Published
- Oct 25, 2024
- Source
- AI Incident Database
Summary
A Russian disinformation campaign, linked to Storm-1516 and Kremlin propagandist John Mark Dougan, allegedly used AI-generated content to target Kamala Harris’s election bid. The operation included a fake campaign website promoting extreme policies and an AI-enhanced deepfake video falsely claiming Harris killed an endangered rhino in Zambia. The hoaxes were spread via Telegram, X, VK, and pro-Kremlin media outlets.
Developers
- Deepfake technology developers
- Synthetic audio generation technology developers
Deployers
- Storm-1516
- John Mark Dougan
- Russian state media
- Sputnik
- RT (Russia Today)
- Pravda network
Harmed parties
- Kamala Harris
- American voters
- Democratic integrity
Tags
- Deepfake
- American politics
- John Mark Dougan
- Storm-1516
- Russian disinformation
- Fake news
Classification
Category confidence: 90%
Severity confidence: 85%
Rationale: AI-generated deepfake video and fake website used in disinformation campaign targeting election.
Classifier: Qwen/Qwen3.5-35B-A3B-FP8