US Officials Link ‘Haitian Voters’ Video to Russian Disinformation Campaign

According to US intelligence agencies, “Russian influence actors” are responsible for a purportedly fabricated video featuring a man identified as Haitian, who asserts he cast ballots “multiple times” in Georgia. The 20-second clip, which has garnered hundreds of thousands of views across X and other social media platforms, depicts two individuals inside a vehicle who state they are Haitian. One individual claims they acquired US citizenship within half a year of their arrival and cast votes for Kamala Harris in Georgia’s Gwinnett and Fulton counties. The video concludes with them urging other Haitians to immigrate to the United States. The BBC has identified distinct evidence, such as incorrect addresses and stock photographs, suggesting the video is fabricated. A joint statement issued by three US security agencies asserted that the video “falsely depicted individuals claiming to be from Haiti” and was produced by “Russian influence actors.” The joint statement from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency declared, “This Russian activity is part of Moscow’s broader effort to raise unfounded questions about the integrity of the US election and stoke divisions among Americans.” The Russian embassy in the US dismissed the allegations as “baseless,” stating via Telegram that Russia “has not and does not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries.” However, researchers at Clemson University indicated that the video exhibited characteristics typical of Storm-1516, a Russian disinformation campaign. Darren Linvill of Clemson commented, “This narrative is consistent with what we’ve seen from Storm-1516, especially in recent weeks since they’ve turned their focus squarely on the US election.” Linvill further stated, “We should absolutely not be surprised that they are focused on undermining the integrity of the US election. This is consistent with Russian strategy over the last two election cycles.” He added that the “narrative focus, style and production of the video” align with prior endeavors by the Russian operation, which Clemson researchers associate with an entity named the Russian Foundation to Battle Injustice. Yevgeny Prigozhin, the mercenary leader who led the Wagner Group before initiating a rebellion against Moscow and subsequently perishing in a plane crash, established this organization. Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s Secretary of State and chief elections official, characterized the clip as “fake and part of a disinformation effort.” He requested that Elon Musk, owner of X, and the proprietors of other social media platforms take down the video. In the video, one individual displays several driving licenses to the camera, ostensibly as identification. BBC Verify captured screenshots of these licenses and enhanced them to decipher the information. The addresses listed on two of the licenses correspond to a commercial property and a spot in the middle of a road near a petrol station, rather than residential dwellings. A reverse image search of the photo on one license revealed it to be a stock image of a man, initially created by a production company in South Africa. Last week, US intelligence agencies reported that a video purportedly depicting a poll worker destroying mail-in ballots designated for Donald Trump in Pennsylvania had been “manufactured and amplified” by Russians.