{"text":[[{"start":6.88,"text":"Russia has significantly expanded an online disinformation campaign ahead of next month’s election in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt and appears to have targeted unwitting Maga-aligned social media users in the US to amplify false claims, according to security officials."}],[{"start":23.4,"text":"The tactic, which relies on English-language posts being spread on platforms including Elon Musk’s X, is intended to help propel the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) into power, officials said. It marks a departure from previous Russian attempts to influence German elections, which focused more directly on German audiences."}],[{"start":43.1,"text":"Voters in the eastern German state go to the polls on September 6. Recent surveys put the pro-Russian AfD on more than 41 per cent of the vote, which would make it the largest party."}],[{"start":54.08,"text":"German intelligence and security agencies say they have been tracking a sharp increase in Russian interference since June. Russian state actors are behind efforts to discredit mainstream local politicians by spreading sexual smears and corruption allegations as part of the latest iteration of the “Matryoshka” influence operation, officials told the FT."}],[{"start":73.14,"text":"Matryoshka is a Russian disinformation campaign that inundates social media platforms with fabricated videos designed to mimic the branding and reporting of established news organisations. It has primarily targeted audiences in Germany, France, Moldova, Hungary and the US."}],[{"start":90.08,"text":"The smear campaign in Saxony-Anhalt is notable for its brutality and multi-layered approach, officials said. Fake stories about mainstream politicians accuse them of paedophilia, sexual assault and corruption."}],[{"start":102.36,"text":"So far more than a hundred videos have been logged by German officials as part of the campaign. They are slickly produced and purport to be made by reputable media outlets such as German state broadcaster ARD or the BBC."}],[{"start":115,"text":"They also stand out because they are almost entirely in English, which German officials believe signals a new, more cunning approach by Russian intelligence actors."}],[{"start":124.24,"text":"Russian propagandists are increasingly seeking to use a multi-layered approach to “launder” their disinformation through easily manipulable users of social media networks, in particular those on X."}],[{"start":133,"text":"The assessment of the German authorities is that the campaign’s initial target audience is not in Germany but in the US, where Maga supporters and other rightwing users of X have become avid consumers of narratives portraying Europe as being in societal decline and its liberal political elites as weak."}],[{"start":151.92,"text":"Officials argue that changes to X under Musk have made such communities a more effective vector for amplifying Russian disinformation back into Germany."}],[{"start":160.8,"text":"The campaign’s apparent aim is to persuade influential US-based, non-German-speaking X users to amplify realistic-looking but fabricated stories about Germany until they gain enough traction to be echoed by local politicians or picked up by mainstream German media."}],[{"start":178.34,"text":"Even if German media report the claims only to debunk them, officials say, doing so still risks amplifying the allegations by exposing them to a wider audience."}],[{"start":187.48,"text":"The Russians are looking at more subtle but effective ways to “poison” news narratives, one European intelligence official said. For voters already sceptical of the political establishment, simply hearing the allegations repeated — even in the context of a fact-check or debunking — can be enough to reinforce and spread them, the official added."}],[{"start":208.64,"text":"A German interior ministry spokesperson said the campaign involved mostly English-language videos posted on social media making allegations of corruption, addiction, populism, nepotism and antisemitism against candidates in the state election. “We are keeping a close eye on this campaign,” the spokesperson said."}],[{"start":227.86,"text":"The spokesperson added that its impact remained unclear, citing that the videos had limited reach among German-speaking audiences and that many had already been removed."}],[{"start":237,"text":"The stakes are nevertheless high. The outcome of September’s election will have repercussions far beyond Saxony-Anhalt. An AfD majority would deal a major blow to Chancellor Friedrich Merz and his centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU)."}],[{"start":253.2,"text":"Even the strong result suggested by opinion polls would intensify pressure on the CDU over how to respond to the AfD’s rise. A growing number in the party’s right favour breaking the so-called “firewall” — the longstanding pledge by Germany’s mainstream parties not to govern with or rely on the AfD."}],[{"start":274.76,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1786078806_1791.mp3"}