An American influencer reveals he was paid by a pro-Kremlin propagandist to post a fraudulent video, exposing a Russian attempt to influence the 2024 presidential election.
A pro-Trump influencer, active under the pseudonym @AlphaFox78 on the X platform, revealed that a pro-Kremlin agent had paid him $100 to publish a fake video featuring fake Haitian voters.
In this video, actors pretended to be able to vote several times in favor of Kamala Harris, vice president of the United States. That video has since been denied by Georgia's secretary of state, who said everything about it was fake, from the actors to the ID cards.
The video shared by the influencer is one of several posts he allegedly agreed to post on behalf of Simeon Boikov, a Russian propagandist registered as a foreign agent in Australia. Boikov, who recently obtained Russian citizenship and resides at the Russian consulate in Sydney, is well known for spreading pro-Kremlin disinformation.
Repeated payments to spread disinformation
The American influencer explained that he did not measure the extent of his actions, simply thinking of sharing memes “harmless“. Over the course of their collaboration, Boikov allegedly asked him to publish more and more electoral content, including the fraudulent video in Georgia. According to the influencer, Boikov paid him $100 on around ten occasions to broadcast similar messages .
A disinformation expert, Darren Linvill, points out that Russia's tactics rely on the trust users place in influencers they have followed for a long time. He explains that “the digital world has become the real world, and people trust influencers as much as their real-life friends.”
A lasting impact despite the removal of the video
AlthoughAlphaFox deleted the video after his interview with CNN, his message continues to circulate in different forms on social networks, thus amplifying the initial misinformation.
Brad Raffensperger, Georgia's Secretary of State, condemned the spread of this type of content, stating that “we must not let our enemies use lies to divide us and undermine our trust in our institutions and in each other“.
Despite the criticism and his declaration of regret, AlphaFox continues its publications on the 2024 election, its messages continuing to reach a wide audience.
american elections 2024 donald trump Kamala Harris
