A viral video purporting to show Haitian immigrants admitting to voter fraud in Georgia was deemed fake by three United States intelligence agencies Friday, with the agencies accusing Russian influence actors of manufacturing the video as part of a larger effort to seed division among Americans in the leadup to Election Day.
The original video appears to have been removed from X. (Photo by MARK FELIX/AFP via Getty Images)
The video “falsely depicted individuals claiming to be from Haiti and voting illegally in multiple counties in Georgia,” according to a joint statement from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
The video, which is still circulating on X despite the original post appearing to be removed, shows a group of men purporting to be Haitian immigrants who claimed they voted in Georgia’s Gwinnett County and planned to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris in Fulton County.
The intelligence agencies said they arrived at their conclusion based on “information available to the [intelligence community]” and on prior videos and disinformation activities conducted by Russian influence actors, though they did not provide specifics on what aspects of the alleged voter fraud video stood out to them.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Thursday the video was likely produced by “Russian troll farms” and asked X owner Elon Musk and other social media app leaders to remove the video from their platforms.
X told Forbes the video and posts resharing the video violated its civic integrity policy and that it is “taking action” on the matter.
The Russian Embassy did not immediately respond to Forbes’ inquiry about the video.
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More than 900,000. That is how many views the video drew by Friday morning, according to The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the intelligence agencies’ intent to accuse Russia of producing the video.
The viral video marks the latest instance of the U.S. accusing Russia of election interference. Last month, the Justice Department reported the seizure of 32 internet domains used by Russians to influence U.S. voters, strengthen support for Russian policies and reduce support for Ukraine, which has been engaged in an escalating war with Russia for years. Russians have also targeted swing state voters and attempted to drum up support for former President Donald Trump on social media forums frequented by members of the far right, according to The New York Times, which cited internal Justice Department documents disclosed last month. The U.S. intelligence community also accused Moscow of waging influence campaigns that disparaged the Democratic Party and sought to undermine public trust in the electoral process during the 2020 election. Russia also targeted the 2016 presidential election, triggering bipartisan investigations into Russian election interference and an indictment against 12 Russian military intelligence officers accused of engaging in election-related hacking campaigns.
U.S. Sanctions Russia For 2024 Election Meddling (Forbes)
How Russia, China and Iran Are Interfering in the Presidential Election (The New York Times)