Fake videos with misleading visuals in circulation: MDR also affected by disinformation campaign

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Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR) has also been affected by the foreign disinformation campaign known as ‘Matryoshka’. This has been confirmed by MDR’s own investigations. A dataset also contained fake videos bearing an official MDR logo. MDR Editor-in-Chief Christin Bohmann commented: “The counterfeiting of journalistic brands and the spread of disinformation are attacks on the credibility of free media.”

“Since June, videos and articles have been appearing on social media that primarily defame German regional politicians. The authorities refer to this as the so-called ‘Matryoshka campaign’,” ZDF had already reported on 5 August.

The dataset available to MDR comprises a total of 338 posts since 24 July. In several cases, MDR was listed as the sender. Security authorities attribute the posts in question to the so-called ‘Matryoshka’ campaign. According to security authorities, this disinformation campaign – which experts believe is presumably orchestrated from Russia – is intended, amongst other things, to manipulate public opinion ahead of the state election in Saxony-Anhalt.

The method used involves accusing state and local politicians of, amongst other things, fabricated serious criminal offences in fake online videos. The posts are often AI-generated and use logos and front pages of well-known media brands such as Tagesschau and Spiegel – and Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk is also affected by the campaign.

The campaign is “purely destructive”, ZDF quotes unnamed officials as saying. “To spread the content, Russia is relying on an established bot network that is also used in other campaigns. Most of the posts have between 100,000 and 120,000 views – although it is unclear how many of these views are genuine or have been artificially generated by the network itself.”

“The counterfeiting of journalistic brands and the dissemination of disinformation are attacks on the credibility of free media,” emphasises MDR Editor-in-Chief Christin Bohmann. “MDR stands for reliable, fact-based and independent reporting and will continue to remain steadfastly committed to this.”

This comes against the backdrop of the upcoming state elections in Berlin, Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, where the election results are also at stake.

The investigation by MDR Aktuell can be found here.