A coordinated network of at least 317 fake Twitter accounts spread disinformation about Honduran opposition candidate Xiomara Castro ahead of the November 2021 election, falsely suggesting she might ally with a convicted felon and discouraging voters from participating.
On October 7, 2021, at 10:16pm, nineteen Twitter accounts simultaneously posted identical opinions about Honduras' upcoming presidential election, falsely claiming opposition candidate Xiomara Castro might join forces with Yani Rosenthal, who had served prison time for money laundering. Analysis by cybersecurity firm Nisos revealed these were part of a coordinated network of at least 317 fake Twitter accounts operating from October 6-14, 2021. The accounts used stolen profile photos from unsuspecting Peruvians and spread conspiracy theories about Castro's alleged political alliances, corruption, and money laundering, while encouraging Hondurans not to vote. Most accounts were up to a decade old, likely purchased farmed or compromised accounts. The disinformation campaign was amplified by a fake news website called La Tribuna Honduras, which reported on the fake Twitter discourse, creating a feedback loop. The campaign appeared designed to benefit ruling party candidate Nasry Asfura by discouraging votes for Castro. Twitter removed the network after Nisos shared their research in early November 2021.
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.
Human
Due to a decision or action made by humans
Intentional
Due to an expected outcome from pursuing a goal
Post-deployment
Occurring after the AI model has been trained and deployed