German foreign ministry concerned about extensive Russian disinformation on Twitter (X)

Experts at the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs have identified a systematic disinformation campaign favouring Russia on the social media platform Twitter (X). The government is concerned about potential interference in upcoming elections.

The Spiegel editorial team obtained a confidential report from analysts in the Department of Strategic Communications at the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Through specialised software, they examined a vast dataset on Twitter from 20 December to 20 January. 

Over that month, analysts identified over 50,000 accounts not belonging to real individuals and engaged in coordinated information campaigns in the German language. On certain days, these bots generated around 200,000 tweets per day. Their activity notably decreased on weekends and holidays, aligning with Russia's official days off.

A prevalent narrative in these posts suggests that Germany neglects the interests of its population to support Ukraine. Bots, posing as first-person accounts, express opinions such as finding it "strange that the government does more for other countries than its citizens." 

It appears that the coordinators of this campaign are targeting existing dissatisfaction among Germans and attempting to amplify it. Analysts believe the campaign aims to fuel discontent, and undermine trust in the government, democratic institutions, and the media. German assistance to Ukraine is a priority target, along with narratives about the "failure of Ukraine" and the "influx of Ukrainian refugees."

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs analysts believe that Russia is behind this campaign, which has been ongoing since 2022. 

Concerns are rising within the department that such extensive bot activity on the platform could genuinely impact future elections, both for the European Parliament and in three federal states. 

Analysts are particularly alarmed by the seemingly automated nature of a significant portion of the campaign, with bots from a large group of accounts posting tweets simultaneously at uniform rates, creating the impression of algorithmic control.

Furthermore, coordinators of the campaign have repeatedly created fake primary sources to disseminate specific tweets through bots to a large audience. For instance, in September, they began spreading a screenshot of a thread supposedly from the real page of Annalena Baerbock, Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs of Germany, falsely quoting her saying, "The war in Ukraine will end in three months." The thread is, in fact, a meticulous Photoshop creation, but the falsifiers capitalised on using a template from the Russian-language interface.

Similarly, they occasionally fabricate messages in reputable media outlets, attributing non-existent news and articles that bots then massively propagate. For this, they create counterfeit websites meticulously copying the layout of genuine media, even "stealing" the names of journalists for deceptive news. Only the domain address gives away the ruse, and to prevent immediate detection, bots share shortened links.

While some accounts are eventually banned, many continue their activities successfully. These findings were shared with the specialised EUvsDisinfo centre.

Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, believes that elections to be held this year in various countries around the world will be a major target for disinformation by countries such as Russia which seek to undermine democracy.

The United States believes that Russia will conduct information operations aimed at turning public opinion against Ukraine before the elections in various European countries.