Kremlin-backed influence campaign aims to denigrate Harris, Microsoft finds

Russian-government linked actors have pivoted their influence campaigns toward denigrating US Vice President Kamala Harris, according to a new report from Microsoft’s threat analysis center.

Since late August, the company has seen an increase in Russian groups producing and spreading fake videos to damage Harris, including one that showed a purported attack by Harris supporters on a Trump rally goer. The shift came about a month after President Joe Biden bowed out of the race.

Microsoft concluded that the synchronized anti-Harris messages across several groups “results from top-down direction from the top of the Kremlin,” the report says. Earlier this month, the Justice Department seized over two dozen internet domains used by a Russian influence campaign known as “Doppelganger,” but Microsoft warned that the group has already moved to new domains so that it can still spread propaganda.