That video was a viral hit, spread by X accounts with as a many as a half-million followers, despite first appearing on a newly minted San Francisco news outlet that soon vanished. Posts featuring the video racked up 7 million views on X alone, and were also on Facebook, TikTok and YouTube.

Another video manufactured an assault on an attendee of a rally for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, garnering millions of views, Microsoft said. One depicted a fake New York billboard with vulgar messages saying Harris wanted to change children’s gender. It drew hundreds of thousands of views on X.

In all, Microsoft called out three Russian government-backed groups in addition to those described in federal charges last week against employees at propaganda network RT.

One group was “adept at grabbing headlines with its outlandish fake videos and scandalous claims,” Microsoft said, while another “will likely only escalate its targeting of the Harris-Walz campaign in the lead-up to Election Day.”

  • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldOP
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    24 hours ago

    Trump was more than happy to sell Ukraine surplus munitions back in 2018, when a diplomatic solution was still possible.

    Drenching the conflict with lighter fluid and waiting for someone to light a match.