Russian AI Bots Fakes Tom Cruise in attack on IOC

Putin and France have a long history of sporting rivalry and controversy. The Olympics is just the next possible flash point. Russia this year have already been laying the groundwork building the case with disinformation campaigns for a lack of security and the threat of Islamic extremists in a terrorism event. A recent effort is a docuseries attacking the IOC for corruption and islamophobia using Netflix branding and impersonation Tom Cruise using AI.

Paris Disinformation

Russian disinformation strategy has 2 main points in all the content they have produced.

1.      Divisive content highlighting the social divide in France and the threat of terrorism that exists from a fake CIA video and Fake Hamas threats.

2.      Reputational attacks against the IOC in the form of corruption using a fake AI Tom Cruise in a fake Netflix docuseries.

The series has been shared by Bots as assessed by 5th Column

Russia under Putin have a history of disrupting the Olympics.

Attacking the IOC with so much effort is a great insight into the mind of the Russians at the moment. Russia was originally excluded in competing as a nation due to its doping scandal highlighted by the Netflix documentary Icarus. This exclusion would be perceived as a massive slight in Putin’s mind considering the value he places on national sporting competition. This mindset is best highlighted by a comment from Putin in 2016 when France hosted the UEFA Euro championship.

The history under Putin is:

·       Russia invaded Georgia during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

·       Russia hosted the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.

·       Russia was banned from competing as a nation in 2016 Summer Olympics for historical doping.

·       Russia launched a cyber attack, called Olympic Destroyer, at the 2018 PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics.

·       Russia hosted the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

·       In 2018 Russia was forced to compete for 4 years due to the doping scandal under the title of the ROC or Russian Olympic Committee effectively removing Putin’s national identity from the team.

·       In 2023 Russian athletes were banned despite the previous doping ban being lifted due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

So as Putin places so much effort into national sporting competitions, is banned from many of them and also see that the IOC has been plagued with a history of corruption allegations by numerous countries including France, he sees an opportunity to reverse a perceived slight.

 Additional reporting is worth watching

How Russia is trying to disrupt the 2024 Paris Olympic Games - Microsoft On the Issues

Russia is ramping up malign disinformation campaigns against France and this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris. While Russia has a decades-long history of targeting the Olympic Games, the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center has observed old tactics blending with AI in malign activity that may intensify as the 2024 Paris Opening Ceremony approaches.

Microsoft On the IssuesClint Watts