Russian deepfake campaign targets US midterms with celebrity videos
Kremlin-backed operation uses AI-cloned voices and fake audio on real footage to discredit Democrats.
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
Russian deepfake campaign targets US midterms with celebrity videos
Photograph: MS NOW (embedded from source)
What this story says
- A Russian disinformation campaign is using doctored celebrity videos with AI-cloned voices to target US midterm elections.
- The videos feature fake audio overlaid on real footage, often branded with unauthorized news logos, and specifically target Democratic candidates.
- Researchers attribute the campaign to a Kremlin-backed operation known as Matryoshka, Operation Overload, or Storm-1679.
- Some social media platforms have taken action against accounts posting the content, while others have not yet responded.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 10 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 7 of the 17 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .
Trust
60/100
Craft
65/100
Hype
45/100
17 sources · methodology
A Russian disinformation campaign is using doctored celebrity videos to influence the US midterm elections, according to researchers. The campaign employs artificial intelligence to clone the voices of actors, overlaying fake audio onto real footage. These manipulated videos are often branded with unauthorized news logos and are designed to spread false claims targeting specific Democratic candidates.
The operation is attributed to a Kremlin-backed group known by researchers as Matryoshka, Operation Overload, or Storm-1679. This group has a history of seeding social media with manipulated videos, sometimes using bot networks, to spread false narratives and erode public trust. The current campaign features actors such as Sarah Jessica Parker, Julia Roberts, Emma Caulfield, Christopher Lloyd, and Ed Begley Jr. The videos push false claims, including that Democrats are conspiring with Big Pharma or promoting sinister agendas.
Disagreement on platform responses
MS NOW reported that X, formerly Twitter, had not immediately returned a request for comment regarding its response to the videos, while Bluesky had suspended seven accounts posting the content. Other reports did not specify which platforms had taken action or not.
Omissions
None of the right-rated digests mention the specific Democrats being targeted by the campaign, nor do they detail the specific false claims made against them. The unrated digests also do not name specific Democratic candidates targeted or the false claims made against them.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 6 times, most recently on 16 Sept 2026, 14:30, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
3 rated outlets
- The left-rated reports focused on the specifics of the disinformation campaign, including the use of AI-cloned voices and fake audio. MS NOW provided detailed examples of the manipulated videos, naming actors like Sarah Jessica Parker, Julia Roberts, Emma Caulfield, Christopher Lloyd, and Ed Begley Jr. This report also detailed the specific Democrats being targeted, such as Chris Pappas and Sherrod Brown, and the false claims made against them. It highlighted the branding of the videos with unauthorized CNN logos and the use of hashtags like #AllDemocratsAreCriminals. The report also noted the response from Bluesky, which suspended accounts, and X's lack of immediate comment.
Centre
4 rated outlets
- The centre-rated reports highlighted the core elements of the Russian disinformation campaign, stating that it involves manipulated videos of celebrities attacking Democrats. BFM TV and Sud Ouest mentioned researchers warning about the dissemination of these videos to discredit the Democratic camp. Radio France Internationale and France24 noted that the videos appeared on social media with hashtags like #AllDemocratsAreCriminals and showed actors chastising the Democratic Party, with some branded with CNN's logo. France24 also mentioned that researchers indicated more such videos were expected.
Right
3 rated outlets
- The right-rated reports focused on the existence of a Russian disinformation campaign targeting the US midterms using deepfake videos of celebrities attacking Democrats. Free Malaysia Today News and Barron's both stated that researchers said more such videos were expected. Barron's also mentioned that the videos spread on social media with hashtags such as "#AllDemocratsAreCriminals" and showed Hollywood actors chastising the Democratic Party in self-recorded statements branded with CNN's logo.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Russian deepfake campaign targets US midterms with celebrity videos?
- Of the 10 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 30% are rated left, 40% are rated centre, 30% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 17. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Russian deepfake campaign targets US midterms with celebrity videos left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 10 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of Russian deepfake campaign targets US midterms with celebrity videos biased?
- Russian deepfake campaign targets US midterms with celebrity videos is one event reported by 17 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which outlets covered Russian deepfake campaign targets US midterms with celebrity videos?
- 17 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- What is the Russian disinformation campaign targeting the US midterms?
- A Russian disinformation campaign is using doctored celebrity videos with AI-cloned voices and fake audio to discredit Democratic candidates in the US midterm elections. These manipulated videos are often branded with unauthorized news logos and are attributed to a Kremlin-backed operation.
- Who is behind this disinformation campaign?
- Researchers attribute the campaign to a Kremlin-backed operation known interchangeably as Matryoshka, Operation Overload, or Storm-1679. This group is known for using manipulated videos and bot networks to spread false narratives.
- Which social media platforms have responded to the content?
- Bluesky has suspended seven accounts that posted the content. X, formerly Twitter, had not immediately returned a request for comment regarding its response to the videos at the time of reporting.
Read it at the source
17 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
3- Russian disinformation campaign sets lights on US midterms (opens Le Monde in a new tab)
- A Russian disinformation campaign is doctoring celebrity videos to meddle in the midterms (opens MS NOW in a new tab)
- Will Putin's decade-long war on US elections hit the midterms? (opens Mother Jones in a new tab)
Mother Jones — is Mother Jones biased? Our profile of this outlet
Centre
4- US Midterm Elections Targeted by Russian Disinformation Campaign (opens 15min.lt in a new tab)
- Elections in the United States: Russian Group Leads Disinformation Campaign Against Famous Democrats (opens Sud Ouest in a new tab)
- Russian disinformation campaign sets sights on US midterms (opens Radio France Internationale in a new tab)
Radio France Internationale — is Radio France Internationale biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Russian disinformation campaign sets sights on US midterms (opens France24 in a new tab)
Right
3- The Russian Group Behind the Disinformation Campaigns in France Now Targets the Democrats, Before the Midterms in the United States (opens Le Parisien in a new tab)
Le Parisien — is Le Parisien biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Russian disinformation campaign sets sights on US midterms (opens Free Malaysia Today News in a new tab)
Free Malaysia Today News — is Free Malaysia Today News biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Russian Disinformation Campaign Sets Sights On US Midterms (opens Barron's in a new tab)
Not rated
7- New Russian Disinformation Campaign Targets U.S. Midterms (opens La Voce di New York in a new tab)
La Voce di New York — is La Voce di New York biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Russia's Invisible War for U.S. Elections. Deepfakes with Stars, Counterfeit News, Attacks on Democrats (opens jurnalul.ro in a new tab)
jurnalul.ro — is jurnalul.ro biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Midterms in the United States: a Russian Group Behind Anti-Democratic Misinformation Using Celebrities (opens BFM TV in a new tab)
- A New Disinformation Campaign Attributed to Russia: Deepfakes in Which Famous Hollywood Actors Attack the Democratic Party (opens Aktual24 in a new tab)
- A Russian Campaign of Disinformation Is Aimed at the Mid-American Elections. Deepfake Hollywood Stars, Used by Russia Against the Democrats (opens Adevarul in a new tab)
- Russian disinformation campaign sets sights on US midterms (opens rtl.lu in a new tab)
- Russia's Matryoshka bots impersonate celebrities in new campaign targeting U.S. midterms with calls not to vote for “pedophile Democrats” (opens theins.press in a new tab)
theins.press
How did this read?
About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.
