Hacker News with Generative AI: Disinformation

Russia's Pravda Network: AI-Driven Disinformation on a Global Scale (bisi.org.uk)
A widespread Russian-linked network, 'Pravda' and 'Portal Kombat' operates hundreds of websites globally, mimicking local news outlets to amplify pro-Kremlin narratives.
Disinformation, Artificial Intelligence, Russia, News Media, Global Politics
36 points by haizhung 3 days ago | 1 comments
Leaked Interview with NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya (disinformationchronicle.substack.com)
“Jocelyn, you know, I just, I'm really uncomfortable with this conversation because you're like actually spreading rumors that you don't know anything about.”
Public Health, Interviews, Disinformation, Science
4 points by gadders 14 days ago | 0 comments
A Russian fake news ring was struggling. Then it targeted USAID (informedalarmist.substack.com)
Russian disinformation doesn’t always work.
Russia, Disinformation, Politics, Foreign Aid, News Media
11 points by hn1986 16 days ago | 0 comments
A Moscow-Based 'News' Network Has Infected AI Tools with Russian Propaganda (newsguardtech.com)
A Moscow-based disinformation network named “Pravda” — the Russian word for “truth” —  is pursuing an ambitious strategy by deliberately infiltrating the retrieved data of artificial intelligence chatbots, publishing false claims and propaganda for the purpose of affecting the responses of AI models on topics in the news rather than by targeting human readers, NewsGuard has confirmed.
Artificial Intelligence, Disinformation, Russia, Propaganda, News
7 points by Michelangelo11 20 days ago | 1 comments
Russian disinformation network flooded training data to manipulate frontier LLMs (meduza.io)
A Russian disinformation network called Pravda (“Truth”) has influenced leading AI chatbots’ output by publishing numerous articles that made their way into the bots’ training data, a new report from the analysis group NewsGuard reveals.
Generative AI, Disinformation, Language Models, Russia
10 points by aussieguy1234 21 days ago | 0 comments
Americans Believe Russian Disinformation 'To Alarming Degree' (forbes.com)
A third of Americans have fallen for Russian disinformation — and for other false online claims.
Disinformation, Russia, United States, Social Media, Politics
13 points by doener 29 days ago | 3 comments
Russian Propaganda Has Now Infected Western AI Chatbots – New Study (forbes.com)
A troubling trend in which most western AI chatbots are unknowingly spreading Russian propaganda has been uncovered by a NewsGuard audit published last week.
AI, Propaganda, Russia, News, Disinformation
49 points by nabla9 34 days ago | 55 comments
Firehose of Falsehood (wikipedia.org)
The firehose of falsehood, also known as firehosing, is a propaganda technique in which a large number of messages are broadcast rapidly, repetitively, and continuously over multiple channels (like news and social media) without regard for truth or consistency.
Propaganda, Disinformation, Social Media, Communication, Information Warfare
11 points by titaphraz 35 days ago | 0 comments
US office that counters foreign disinformation is being eliminated (technologyreview.com)
The only office within the US State Department that monitors foreign disinformation is to be eliminated, according to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, confirming reporting by MIT Technology Review.
Politics, Disinformation, Technology, United States, Foreign Policy
12 points by af78 37 days ago | 0 comments
E.U. Prepares Major Penalties Against X (nytimes.com)
European Union regulators are preparing major penalties against Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, for breaking a landmark law to combat illicit content and disinformation, said four people with knowledge of the plans, a move that is likely to ratchet up tensions with the United States by targeting one of President Trump’s closest advisers.
European Union, Social Media, Regulation, Censorship, Disinformation
139 points by dotcoma 47 days ago | 242 comments
Hacking Democracy: Russia's Digital War on German and European Elections (vsquare.org)
Russia’s disinformation machine didn’t just meddle in Germany’s 2025 elections — it built an entire fake media ecosystem to do it.
Politics, Elections, Cybersecurity, Disinformation, Russia
12 points by josefslerka 49 days ago | 0 comments
In a first, OpenAI removes influence operations tied to Russia, China and Israel (npr.org)
OpenAI, the company behind generative artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT, announced Thursday that it had taken down influence operations tied to Russia, China and Iran.
Generative AI, OpenAI, Geopolitics, Social Media, Disinformation
7 points by Teever 57 days ago | 0 comments
Can people be persuaded not to believe disinformation? (economist.com)
Anyone following American politics in recent months will have been treated to their fair share of bogus claims: USAID, the country’s main development agency, sent $50m worth of condoms to the Gaza Strip; tens of millions of deceased centenarians are continuing to receive social-security payments; disaster-relief funding was spent on housing migrants in luxury hotels in New York City.
Disinformation, Politics, Social Media, Psychology, Media
30 points by helsinkiandrew 61 days ago | 19 comments
Hackers played AI-generated video of Trump kissing Musk's feet on Gov TVs (snopes.com)
On Feb. 24, 2025, an unauthorized video appeared on TV monitors in the Washington headquarters of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development featuring the caption “LONG LIVE THE REAL KING” superimposed over fake, AI-generated footage of President Donald Trump kissing the feet and toes of tech billionaire and government efficiency adviser Elon Musk.
Artificial Intelligence, Politics, Social Media, Disinformation
18 points by freeqaz 88 days ago | 3 comments
OpSec: Trump Dismantles Government Fight Against Foreign Influence Operations (nytimes.com)
The Trump administration is targeting government officials who had been flagging foreign interference in U.S. elections, despite continuing concerns that adversaries are stoking political and social divisions by spreading propaganda and disinformation online, current and former government officials said.
Politics, Government, Foreign Interference, Disinformation, Elections
19 points by DrNosferatu 92 days ago | 4 comments
AI Distortion is new threat to trusted information (bbc.co.uk)
Disinformation. By now we are all aware of its polarising effects and real world consequences.
Artificial Intelligence, Disinformation, Information Integrity
13 points by ChrisArchitect 101 days ago | 1 comments
Russian disinformation campaigns discover Bluesky (heise.de)
With the growing popularity of the Twitter alternative Bluesky, this network is also becoming increasingly interesting for disinformation campaigns. Currently, the pro-Russian influence operations "Doppelganger" and "Matryoshka" are apparently expanding their activities to Bluesky.
Disinformation, Social Media, Russia, Twitter Alternatives, Bluesky
7 points by doener 124 days ago | 0 comments
LA wildfires disinformation reveals limits of fact-checking (weaponizedspaces.substack.com)
Meta, formerly known as Facebook, announced last week that it is ending its fact-checking initiative and following in the footsteps of X (formerly Twitter) in implementing a community notes feature in place of professional fact-checkers.
Disinformation, Social Media, Fact-Checking, News
27 points by rbanffy 129 days ago | 35 comments
Substack Is at It Again (kottke.org)
Marisa Kabas correctly asserts that Substack’s latest announcement reaffirms their status as a publication (and not a platform) and as a place that will publish disinformation and hate under the guise of “free speech”.
Substack, Free Speech, Journalism, Disinformation
5 points by Tomte 156 days ago | 2 comments
Spain introduces bill to combat online fake news (theguardian.com)
Spain’s leftwing government has announced a bill extending a requirement to publish corrections to posts by digital platforms and social media influencers in an attempt to fight disinformation.
Spain, Legislation, Fake News, Social Media, Disinformation
5 points by isaacfrond 156 days ago | 4 comments
Russian Hackers Leverage ElevenLabs for Multilingual AI Disinformation Campaigns (winbuzzer.com)
Investigators have uncovered how ElevenLabs’ AI voice technology has been utilized in Operation Undercut, a Russian campaign aimed at destabilizing Western alliances.
AI, Disinformation, Cybersecurity, Russia, International Relations
6 points by Jasondells 163 days ago | 0 comments
Mind Bomb – How Russia wages an international war on truth (youtube.com)
Russia, Propaganda, International Relations, Information Warfare, Disinformation
5 points by jalict 168 days ago | 1 comments
MPs to summon Elon Musk to testify about X's role in UK summer riots (theguardian.com)
MPs are to summon Elon Musk to testify about X’s role in spreading disinformation, in a parliamentary inquiry into the UK riots and the rise of false and harmful AI content, the Guardian has learned.
Elon Musk, Disinformation, UK Riots, AI
5 points by 2OEH8eoCRo0 182 days ago | 0 comments
MPs to summon Elon Musk to testify about X's role in UK summer riots (theguardian.com)
MPs are to summon Elon Musk to testify about X’s role in spreading disinformation, in a parliamentary inquiry into the UK riots and the rise of false and harmful AI content, the Guardian has learned.
Social Media, Disinformation, UK Politics, Artificial Intelligence
7 points by peutetre 185 days ago | 0 comments
Brazil leads new international effort against climate lies at the G20 summit (theverge.com)
Brazil and the United Nations launched a new international effort to combat disinformation on climate change.
Climate Change, Disinformation, International Relations, Brazil
27 points by rntn 185 days ago | 22 comments
You're being targeted by disinformation networks (reddit.com)
You know that Russia and other governments try to manipulate people online.  But you almost certainly don't how just how effectively orchestrated influence networks are using social media platforms to make you -- individually-- angry, depressed, and hateful toward each other.
Disinformation, Social Media, Russia, Political Manipulation, Online Influence
10 points by Raed667 190 days ago | 2 comments
Images of Spain's floods weren't made by AI. Trouble is, people think they were (theguardian.com)
My eye was caught by a striking photograph in the most recent edition of Charles Arthur’s Substack newsletter Social Warming. It shows a narrow street in the aftermath of the “rain bomb” that devastated the region of Valencia in Spain.
Disinformation, Spain, Floods, AI, Media
11 points by edward 194 days ago | 6 comments
Russian disinformation network is taking aim at US presidential election (cnn.com)
Disinformation, Politics, US Elections, Russia
8 points by rbanffy 199 days ago | 0 comments
Voting machine companies are fighting the next disinformation war (theverge.com)
Smartmatic and Dominion are trying to debunk false stories and rebuild trust — but that’s a tall order in 2024.
Election Integrity, Disinformation, Technology, Politics, Trust
14 points by rntn 203 days ago | 2 comments
Musk and Friends Are Smothering the Internet's Truth Seekers (bloomberg.com)
Not long after Hurricane Helene wrought destruction across the southern US, a more bewildering storm blew through: Officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) bumped up against angry residents and armed militia in Tennessee and North Carolina, people who’d been riled up by rumors that the officials were there to take their homes.
Social Media, Conspiracy Theories, Disinformation
22 points by srameshc 207 days ago | 1 comments