Russian-backed troll farms revive, flooding social media with pro-GOP content

Russia’s Social Design Agency is behind the “Doppelgänger” influence operation, which has unleashed a wave of pro-Trump content on social platforms. More than 50 fake personas posing as Israeli women began posting in coordinated bursts on the three-year anniversary of the Hamas attack, and a larger network of over 1,000 accounts inserted these messages into high-traffic discussions, totaling roughly 150,000 posts. U.S. intelligence officials sought to deliver a classified briefing on the midterm election threat to state officials, but the Trump administration failed to establish a secure virtual link.

Platform X announced the removal of 13,000 accounts tied to Iran, Russia and China, yet the ease of creating new accounts means the threat persists. The campaign specifically targets Democratic candidates, echoing past Kremlin-linked efforts that favored Trump and opposed Ukraine-supportive Democrats. Researchers note that the volume and engagement of the posts suggest the messaging is reaching a broad audience, underscoring ongoing foreign interference in U.S. elections.