Russian intelligence operatives created and spread AI-generated deepfake videos falsely accusing Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz of sexual assault, using the stolen identity of a real former student named Matthew Metro.
Between October 5-16, 2024, Russian intelligence operatives created and disseminated multiple fabricated videos and claims falsely accusing Minnesota Governor Tim Walz of sexual assault during his time as a high school teacher. The campaign was orchestrated by John Mark Dougan, a former Florida sheriff's deputy living in Moscow with ties to Russian military intelligence (GRU), and the propaganda network Storm-1516. The most prominent incident involved a deepfake video posted October 16 on X (formerly Twitter) by an account impersonating Matthew Metro, a real former student at Mankato West High School. The video featured an AI-generated man falsely claiming to be Metro and alleging sexual assault by Walz in 1997. The real Matthew Metro, contacted by The Washington Post, confirmed he was not the person in the video and that no such incident occurred. The fake video gained over 5 million views within 24 hours before being deleted, and was amplified by prominent right-wing figures including Jack Posobiec and Candace Owens. U.S. intelligence officials confirmed on October 22 that Russian influence actors created and amplified the fabricated content. The disinformation campaign included at least four separate false claims spread across multiple platforms including X, Rumble, Truth Social, and over 100 fake news websites simultaneously.
Domain classification, causal taxonomy, severity scores, and national security assessments were LLM-classified and may contain errors.
Using AI systems to conduct large-scale disinformation campaigns, malicious surveillance, or targeted and sophisticated automated censorship and propaganda, with the aim of manipulating political processes, public opinion, and behavior.
AI system
Due to a decision or action made by an AI system
Intentional
Due to an expected outcome from pursuing a goal
Post-deployment
Occurring after the AI model has been trained and deployed