Lina Camsey

Lina is part of a Russian influence campaign dubbed “Matryoshka” by researchers. Named for the famous Russian nesting dolls, the Matryoshka campaign operates in two main stages: In phase one, accounts like Lina are created. These ‘seeder’ accounts, sometimes posing as journalists like Lina does, use AI-generated images or images stolen from real people for profile photos. Then, they post false information in the form of AI-created images or videos made to appear legitimate by using fonts and headline formats common in news reports, footage of real events taken out of context, and the watermarks of reputable news organizations.

The text of the post containing the video uses popular hashtags to attract a larger audience to the video and sometimes contains a QR code that directs users to an external website hosting the fabricated news story. Notice that in the video posted on Lina’s profile the AI voiceover sometimes pauses in unnatural places. Additionally, note that the featured interviewee, Dave Canterbury, never actually speaks in his own voice, as he was not interviewed, and this content was taken from another source.

Phase two of the Matryoshka campaign targets real journalists using a second group of accounts, called “quoters.” These quotes share a seeder’s post in the replies of posts by real media outlets, public figures, and fact-checkers, often asking the person to “check out this story” or “verify” that it’s “real.” The purpose of the quoter is twofold: at the most basic level, they share and propagate the false video. But at another level, they undermine the legitimacy of the news organizations they pretend to be a part of, and waste the time and resources of any journalists or fact checkers who work to discredit the false videos.

Most Matryoshka content has little or no impact. They publish at a very high volume, however, and sometimes they get lucky. One Matryoshka video purporting to be from E! Entertainment News, which discredited the aid agency USAID, was shared by both Donald Trump Jr. and Elon Musk. This video was viewed by many millions.