A fake video of Pennsylvania ballots for Donald Trump being destroyed was created and spread by Russia, U.S. officials concluded on Friday.
The video, amplified throughout right-wing social media this week, was quickly debunked on Thursday by local election officials, but that didn’t stop the post from garnering hundreds of thousands of views, per NPR.
“This video is fake,” Bucks County election officials shared. “The envelope and materials depicted in this video are clearly not authentic materials belonging to or distributed by the Bucks County Board of Elections.”
American intelligence confirmed that the videos were manufactured by Russian actors seeking to influence the election.
“Russian actors manufactured and amplified a recent video that falsely depicted an individual ripping up ballots in Pennsylvania,” a joint statement from the FBI, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and CISA read. “This Russian activity is part of Moscow's broader effort to raise unfounded questions about the integrity of the U.S. election and stoke divisions among Americans.”
The video comes weeks after federal prosecutors unraveled a massive Russian propaganda operation involving payouts to American conservative content creators, with the Kremlin giving at least $10 million to pro-Trump Tenet Media and hosts like Tim Pool and Dave Rubin.
Experts warn that fabricated or deepfake videos are becoming increasingly prevalent in elections. In July, X owner Elon Musk shared an AI-edited video an AI-edited video of Vice President Kamala Harris saying misogynistic and racist remarks.
