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In order to undercut Western support for Ukraine during the Russian-Ukrainian War, a Russian misinformation effort has been discovered circulating phony articles under the guise of real reports from prominent media sites, including The Washington Post and Fox News.
Unmasking Doppelganger: Disinformation Operation Exposed by Meta
According to Meta’s most recent danger analysis, Structura National Technology and Social Design Agency, two businesses that have previously targeted France and Germany, are responsible for this misinformation campaign. After being discovered by Meta, both corporations have already received sanctions from the European Union.
The operation, known as Doppelganger, spoofs the domains for these well-known news sites and spams the linked articles on social media, some of which are especially complex. Even though none of the genuine journalists who work for these media outlets have commented on the impersonations, the operation also utilizes their bylines.
The activity, in Meta’s words, “shows how effectively individuals use malicious domains to insulate themselves from punishment.” The large-scale technology corporation will keep stifling the extensive activity related to these efforts, but it has also offered policy proposals to help combat domain name misuse.
Due to the expensive cost and subsequent legal repercussions, many companies are unable to undertake the effort of launching a domain name dispute administrative procedure, which is why Meta calls on registrars and registries to take action in combating domain registration misuse.
“This signifies that fraudulent individuals tend to operate online, understanding that the expenses of shutting down abusive domains are prohibitively large for many institutions – including news outlets, civil society organizations, or governments,” – Meta said.