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The Invisible War in the U.S.: How Russian Disinformation, 'Show Politics,' and AI Are Eroding Truth
🇦🇷 Argentina /Culture & Society

The Invisible War in the U.S.: How Russian Disinformation, 'Show Politics,' and AI Are Eroding Truth

From Clarín · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

Analysis Named sources Context piece
  • Russian disinformation campaigns, amplified by AI and "show politics," are increasingly eroding the concept of truth in the United States.
  • Journalists and verification specialists in Europe are encountering sophisticated tactics, including deepfake videos and coordinated saturation campaigns.
  • The U.S. has become a primary target, amplifier, and exporter of this new era of information chaos, a trend that intensified after the 2016 presidential election.

A growing concern in Europe is that the United States has become a central hub for a new era of information chaos, acting as a target, amplifier, and exporter of disinformation. This complex ecosystem, where propaganda, entertainment, artificial intelligence, and politics increasingly intertwine, makes distinguishing reality from fiction a significant challenge.

The repetition of narratives is even more powerful than a single exposure: it increases the perception of veracity and the likelihood that people will believe them.

— JournalistExplaining the effectiveness of repeated disinformation narratives.

Journalists and verification specialists are facing sophisticated tactics. One Berlin newsroom reported a deepfake video of a journalist presenting news in his own voice and likeness, which fooled his family. In Madrid, reporters described a complex pro-Russian saturation campaign dubbed "Matryoshka," where disinformation agents flooded verifiers with daily emails asking them to fact-check fake news. The goal was to amplify the disinformation when the verifiers published their debunkings.

The United States has become simultaneously the main target, amplifier, and exporter of a new era of information disorder where propaganda, entertainment, artificial intelligence, and politics begin to mix until it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish between reality and fiction.

— European officials and specialistsDescribing the U.S. role in the global disinformation landscape.

Lithuanian diplomats near the Belarusian border view Russia not as a distant adversary but as a constant threat utilizing information, social media, and political chaos as tools for attrition. These observations emerged from conversations with researchers, verifiers, digital intelligence specialists, and European officials during meetings in various European cities, organized by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF).

We are no longer simply talking about fake news (the great oxymoron of our era) circulating on social media. Nor about isolated foreign propaganda. It is a much more complex ecosystem.

— AnalystsCharacterizing the current state of disinformation as a complex ecosystem rather than isolated incidents.

What was once a fringe phenomenon associated with internet conspiracy theories has evolved into a major political and strategic challenge for the U.S. The 2016 presidential election is often cited as a turning point, revealing how digital platforms, data mining, and coordinated operations could influence public debate. An FNF report from 2024 noted that these elections highlighted technology's potential to sway public opinion and undermine trust in democratic institutions.

Those elections made visible 'how technology can be used to influence public opinion and undermine trust in democratic institutions.'

— FNF reportReferencing a report on the impact of technology on public opinion and democratic trust, particularly after the 2016 U.S. elections.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Clarín in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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