Evidence of Russian group participation in fake news about Kate Middleton

Security researchers believe a Russia-based disinformation group has amplified and heightened the frenzy of social media conspiracies about the health of Princess of Wales Kate Middleton.

Days before Kate revealed her cancer diagnosis in a video message, there was a surge in online rumors and often completely unfounded claims about her health, increasing the emotional pressure on the princess and her husband, Prince William.

Now, security experts analyzing social media data say there is strong evidence of a coordinated campaign, sharing and escalating false claims and divisive content, both in support and criticism of the Princess of Wales.

The researchers say this is consistent with past patterns from a Russian disinformation group.

The accounts involved also published content contrary to France’s support for Ukraine, suggesting a broader international context for the real rumors.

This particular network of foreign influence has a history in this area, focusing on the erosion of support for Ukraine following Russia’s invasion.

The BBC has previously tracked amateur researchers and real social media users who have started and driven speculation and conspiracy theories.

Even without any artificial boost, these statements have racked up millions of views and likes. And the algorithms were already promoting this topic on social media about royalty, without the intervention of networks of fake accounts.

But Martin Innes, director of the Institute for Innovation in Security, Crime and Intelligence at Cardiff University, says his researchers found systematic attempts to further fuel the wave of rumors about the princess, with royal hashtags shared billions of times across a network. series of social media platforms.

Innes identified a Russian disinformation group involved in this. It is not a state entity, but is linked to people who were recently targeted by sanctions in the United States for claiming they were part of a “malign influence campaign” that spread fake news.

“The messaging around Kate appears to be wrapped up in her other ongoing campaigns to attack France’s reputation, promote the integrity of Russian elections and harm Ukraine as part of the broader war effort,” says Innes.

He claims that the agents running this rumor machine would be seen in Russia as “political technologists.”

Their approach is to stoke online interest in an existing story – exploiting disputes and doubts that already exist – which Professor Innes says is a much more effective and harder-to-track approach than starting misinformation from scratch.

He says they “hijack” popular doubts and inject more confusion and chaos. And then it becomes harder to separate coordinated disinformation from individuals sharing conspiracies and chasing clicks.

But social media data analyzed by the Cardiff University team shows extreme spikes and the simultaneous sharing of messages in a way they consider consistent with the operation of a network of fake accounts.

Jon Roozenbeek, a disinformation expert at King’s College London, says this Russian involvement in conspiracy theories is “agnostic to the subject” – insofar as they don’t really care about the subject, it could be anything that “triggers clicks.” ” and add social tensions.

He says they look for “middle issues” opportunistically.

Showing the growth of the challenge, TikTok claims it has taken down more than 180 million fake accounts in just three months.

Many of the accounts pushing Kate’s conspiracy theories were created this month, Innes says. They fed from an account called “master”, which in this case had a name that gave the idea of ​​”boss”, with a cascade of other fake accounts responding and sharing messages and attracting other users.

Identical phrases – such as “Why do these major media outlets want us to believe that this is Kate and William?” – were shared by multiple accounts. While real people are known to re-share the same message on their own accounts in this way – a tactic referred to as “copypasta” – there are other clues about the accounts that suggest a more organized network.

Another quote about Kate was shared at the same time by apparently 365 different accounts on X, formerly Twitter. There were also new TikTok accounts created in the last few days that seemed to spread nothing but actual rumors.

The Cardiff researchers highlight an overlap with a Russian-linked fake news website published in English, which has a “fact-check” logo, which contains a series of macabre and bizarre stories about Kate.

Additionally, the UK embassies in Russia and Ukraine had to issue fake news warnings last week over rumors circulating that King Charles III was dead.

When it comes to pinpointing who is responsible for such activities, it can be difficult to attribute this disinformation network to a particular group, organization or state.

And to make things even more difficult, there are all kinds of individuals, interest groups and other foreign actors commenting on the same topic on social media.

Experts in this area tend to believe that a specific network is linked to an existing influence operation or a specific group. Are your tactics the same? Is engaging in this conversation on social media in line with your interests?

For example, in this case, a clue was a video of Russian origin that frequently appeared in social media exchanges about Kate and that had previously been identified with a particular disinformation group.

This same group that spread rumors against the princess was also part of destabilizing online campaigns in France, says Innes.

President Macron, who is seen as taking an increasingly tough stance on Ukraine, has faced a storm of hostile personal rumors.

The French state agency to combat disinformation, Viginum, has warned about extensive networks of fake news spread by websites and social media accounts linked to Russia.

The UK Royal Family, including Prince William, has openly supported Ukraine since Russia’s invasion.

These foreign influence operations aim to undermine public trust, sow discord, amplifying and fueling conspiracy theories that already exist. This makes them much more difficult to track, because there can be a combination of real people who start false claims and then inauthentic accounts who take them even further.

It might start with “internet detectives” asking genuine questions and then fake accounts turn it into a social media storm.

Anna George, who researches extremism and conspiracy theories at the Oxford Internet Institute, says a characteristic of Russian disinformation is that it doesn’t necessarily care about the narrative that is conveyed, as long as it spreads doubt about what is real and unreal: “They want to sow confusion about what people can trust.”

The actual rumors spread with unusual speed, George says, reaching the general public more quickly than most conspiracy theories, reflecting how any outside influence was exploiting high levels of public curiosity.

Professor Innes says disinformation engines could also be a commercial proposition. Its researchers have identified the role of troll networks, which they believe are in Pakistan, hired to spread messages.

Following Kate’s cancer treatment video, there appears to be a shift in mood online. While conspiracy theorists and internet sleuths continue to share unproven claims, many social media users have recognized the real harm done to those at the center of a frenzy like this.

Last week, X users were actively being recommended content by the site’s algorithms, falsely suggesting that a video of the Princess of Wales shopping was actually a stunt.

But X CEO Linda Yaccarino has since said: “Her request for privacy, to protect her children and allow her to move forward, seems like a reasonable request for respect.”

The UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology says it “will engage in disinformation where it poses a threat to UK democracy”.

This text was originally published here.