DOJ Disrupts Suspected Russian Bot Farm

The U.S. Department of Justice recently seized control of two internet domains and searched 968 accounts on the X social media platform, which it accused of helping spread disinformation for the Russian government.

The seizures were part of an FBI investigation into an alleged artificial intelligence-enhanced social media bot farm that has created hundreds of fake social media profiles purportedly of U.S. residents, according to a June 27 search warrant affidavit. The affidavit says the accounts promoted messages that support Russian government objectives.

Federal investigators alleged Russian actors bought the U.S.-based domains MLRTR.com and Otanmail.com, then used them to create email accounts to register the 968 accounts on X.