Putin’s disinformation networks flood social media in bid to skew German election

German officials identified more than 100 pseudo-news websites quietly accumulating content for months, according to officials.

“These platforms are structured similarly, filled with generic, often AI-generated articles,” one official told POLITICO, on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. “At a chosen moment, a fabricated story is inserted and then rapidly spread via social media and influencers. We must assume these sites were prepared to be activated in the run-up to the Bundestag election."

These sleeper websites mimic legitimate media outlets and remain inactive until a politically sensitive moment — such as an election — when they begin publishing false stories that spread rapidly through coordinated social media networks.

In recent years, European authorities have blamed Moscow for interference in a series of elections. Czech and Belgian authorities busted a major influence network they said was spreading pro-Kremlin propaganda in the runup to last year's European Parliament vote, and in December Romania's presidential elections were canceled after security services warned Russia was mounting “aggressive” hybrid attacks.

The issue is particularly sensitive in the German election, where the Russia-friendly, Elon Musk-backed far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) is running second in opinion polls.

Doppelgänger-linked websites have previously cloned outlets like Der Spiegel, altering domain names just slightly to deceive unsuspecting readers.