Disinformation Campaign Targets Kamala Harris in Run-Up to 2024 Elections

Disinformation Spread By Russian Troll Farm

A false claim that Vice President Kamala Harris was involved in a June 2011 hit-and-run incident, leaving a 13-year-old girl paralyzed, was created by a Russian troll farm, according to a report by Microsoft. The fabricated story was linked to Storm-1516, a Kremlin-aligned group targeting the Harris-Walz campaign ahead of the November presidential election.

Details of the Fabricated Incident

• The claim surfaced in early September on the KBSF-TV site, which masqueraded as a local news outlet.
• Microsoft's report identified the woman in a video included in the article as a paid actor.
• The website was created on Aug. 20 and was taken offline shortly after publishing.

Additionally, CBS News debunked the hit-and-run story, revealing no public records supported it. The San Francisco Police Department confirmed no such incident existed. A closer analysis of the accompanying video uncovered unrelated photographs from different news stories.

Disinformation's Viral Impact

The story gained substantial traction, amassing over 7 million views across social media platforms including X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube. Pro-Russian channels on Telegram also fueled its dissemination.

Microsoft Report Insights

Further investigations by Microsoft indicated that another group, Storm-1679, produced videos discrediting Harris, featuring fake billboards with false policy claims.