Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Kim Kardashian… these stars are serving Russian propaganda despite themselves

Fake quotes from Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Kim Kardashian and Justin Bieber are circulating online.

Objective ? To defame Ukraine by using the aura of these world-famous personalities.

There is a propaganda campaign coming from Russia.

This is a whole new weapon that Russia has found: celebrity endorsement. “How long will it run?” For example, Taylor Swift might have asked. The world-famous singer will appear to be Ukrainian, according to an image posted on French-language social networks “Behave like cheaters” while western people “Continue to pay” to finance the war,

A message similar to that of Kim Kardashian to Selena Gomez (broadcast in German), who may have said “It’s disappointing to see the way the Ukrainian people use our aid.”Or more recently, Elizabeth Debicki, who may have regretted it “Lie” around conflict, But if all the photos give the impression that the quotes are actually from these global stars, the originals do not feature any of the four women. A Microsoft report published in early December suggests that these images are all the result of a Russian disinformation campaign.

In total, the campaign reached out to more than 75 celebrities antibot4nevalny, a group of volunteers monitoring Russian-language influence operations. False comments have been attributed particularly to singing stars such as Beyoncé, Justin Bieber or Lady Gaga, but also to other Western celebrities such as footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, host Oprah Winfrey and model Gigi Hadid.

All of them were seen with their faces pressed against comments criticizing Ukraine. “Ukraine’s actions are destroying lives and society”This is what Oprah Winfrey, one of the most influential women in the world, would have said.

A new weapon in the information war

This method is not the only method used by these disinformation people. on 7th December new York Times Reveals that actor Elijah Wood, who plays one of the main characters in the trilogy Lord of the Rings, One was at the center of the deepfake. “Hello Volodymyr, I’m Eliza.”he says in the video before urging the Ukrainian president to seek treatment for drug and alcohol addiction. “I hope you get the help you need”He concluded.

If the strings seem large, the risk is real. “For most people casually browsing a platform like X, the content can easily be perceived as authentic,” Microsoft has underlined this in its report. However, this material is easy to manufacture.

In the first case, Internet users simply had to find a photo of a personality. In another, download Cameo, this application allows you to personalize the messages read by celebrities. According to a press release from the company, usage that violates the app’s community guidelines ensures “Take steps to remove the problematic content and suspend the buyer’s account”Such facts happen every time “Proven”.

Verifier – Doppelganger, the bottom of the Russian disinformation campaignSource : TF1 information

Two formats that are within everyone’s reach, quite reliable, and with devastating effects. In fact, their proliferation further weakens Western support for Ukraine. From there to seeing Moscow’s hand? In any case, this is the hypothesis presented by the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center.

Although researchers at the American company have not established the exact source of the videos, they said in a report that the material first appeared on Russian social networks Telegram and VKontakte. These messages were then shared by Tsargrad, a media network owned by Russia’s giant propaganda machine. Ultimately, articles about it were published in major Russian newspapers.

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Researchers believe that some elements of this campaign are similar to previous cyber influence campaigns conducted by Moscow. That is why they were successful in establishing that he “is part of a broader strategic effort deployed by the Russian government during the period from March to October (…) to slow Ukrainian military advances and reduce support for Kiev”,

Here, the novelty of exploiting celebrities through hyper-accessible montages or online applications reflects the persistence of efforts to try to discredit Ukraine. An innovation that adds a new weapon to Russia’s arsenal in the information war against the West.

Do you want to ask us a question or submit information that you don’t believe is reliable? Do not hesitate to write to us at lesverifiers@tf1.fr. Also find us on Twitter: our team is there behind the @verif_TF1LCI account.