In a recent development, the Biden administration has imposed fresh sanctions on Russian entities accused of fabricating a video that disseminated sexual assault allegations against Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz.
The allegations, which surfaced in October, accused Walz, the incumbent governor of Minnesota, of inappropriate conduct during his tenure as a school teacher. However, the claims crumbled when the supposed victim, whose real name was used in the video, stepped forward to debunk the allegations as a product of artificial intelligence manipulation.
According to The New York Post, the US Treasury Department is targeting the Moscow-based Center for Geopolitical Expertise (CGE) and its director, Valery Mikhaylovich Korovin, for their alleged involvement in the creation and distribution of the video. The sanctions imply that any assets within the reach of US officials held by the accused parties will be frozen. The video, despite its dubious origins, remains accessible on platform X.
The Treasury Department's announcement stated that the CGE had manipulated the video to manufacture unfounded accusations against a potential 2024 vice presidential candidate, with the intent of stirring discord among the US electorate. The department further alleged that the CGE had established a network of counterfeit news websites to disseminate the manipulated content.
The department's statement read, "CGE and its personnel used generative AI tools to quickly create disinformation that would be distributed across a massive network of websites designed to imitate legitimate news outlets to create false corroboration between the stories, as well as to obfuscate their Russian origin." It also claimed that the GRU, Russia's main intelligence agency, had financially supported the CGE and a network of US-based facilitators to maintain their AI-support server, a network of at least 100 websites used in their disinformation operations, and the apartment housing the server.
In addition to the sanctions against the Russian entities, the Biden administration also announced punitive measures against an Iranian group, the Cognitive Design Production Center. The group is accused of planning "influence operations designed to incite socio-political tensions among the U.S. electorate in the lead up to the 2024 U.S. elections."
The sanctions also extend to Russian judge Olesya Mendeleeva, who is accused of ordering the detention of Moscow city councilor Alexei Gorinov. These actions underscore the administration's commitment to safeguarding the integrity of the US electoral process, and its readiness to take decisive action against foreign entities attempting to manipulate it.
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