Russian Bots Spam Internet with Fake Celebrity Quotes Against Ukraine
Russian bots affiliated with Russian disinformation network published 120,000 fake anti-Ukraine quotes under famous names, Jennifer Aniston & Scarlett Johansson in one day. Independent Russian media outlet Agentsvo reported June 15.
Quotes appeared over celebrity photos, displaying messages calling to end aid to Ukraine and describing European collapse.
The images were published between June 14–15 by the Russian disinformation network Dvoynyk, a representative of the Bot Blocker project told Agentsvo. The fake quotes have since garnered over 500,000 views.
The campaign reportedly began with Dvoynyk publishing 50 fake celebrity quotes and images on the social media platform X, then retweeting them over 120,000 times. Bot Blocker said this was standard for disinformation campaigns of this type, and that the project has recorded six similar operations over the past six months.
The bots published posts in English, French, German, and Polish. The statements were connected to a range of famous people, including Ashton Kutcher, Jennifer Aniston, Scarlett Johansson, Angelina Jolie, Alain Delon, Luc Besson, Elton John, and Lionel Messi.
