160 fake news sites promoting Russian propaganda linked to former Florida sheriff turned agent
A campaign is underway to spread Russian propaganda from fake news sites with names that purport to be local news organizations in the U.S., such as 'DC Weekly,' 'New York News Daily,' and 'Boston Times.' It has been pointed out that a former Florida deputy sheriff who defected to Russia is deeply involved in this campaign.
Over 150 Russian fake news sites linked to former Florida deputy sheriff, report finds
Once a Sheriff's Deputy in Florida, Now a Source of Disinformation From Russia - The New York Times
The man in question, John Mark Dugan, was originally a deputy sheriff in Palm Beach County, Florida.
However, in 2016, he was criminally charged with doxing attacks that exposed personal information he had collected, and he fled to Russia.
Dugan is said to be part of a group that provides English-language propaganda in Russia, and has testified at public hearings and appeared on state television, posing as a journalist.
In November 2023, Mackenzie Sadeghi of NewsGuard, an organization that combats false information, discovered a news site called 'DC Weekly' while conducting regular internet patrols.
The Fugitive Florida Deputy Sheriff Who Became A Kremlin Disinformation Impresario - NewsGuard
https://www.newsguardtech.com/special-reports/john-mark-dougan-russian-disinformation-network/
Sadeghi, who is familiar with news sites, felt something was off about the existence of the unknown site and its contents, and when he investigated, he discovered that 'DC Weekly' is not located in Washington, but is hosted in Moscow and is linked to an IP address owned by Dugan. However, when Sadeghi contacted Dugan via WhatsApp, he said that although Dugan agreed to the interview, he did not know about the site and denied any ties to Russia.
According to NewsGuard, there are more than 160 fake news sites believed to be operated by Dugan, and they are using ChatGPT, DALL-E3 and other tools to mass-produce fake news such as 'President Zelensky has a villa in Florida' and 'President Zelensky tried to smuggle 300 kg of cocaine from Argentina.'
Although Sadeghi was able to find links to fake news sites specifically, Dugan had already been flagged on YouTube as a pro-Russian propaganda outlet.
According to Darren Linville, a professor at Clemson University who has closely followed Dugan's activities, articles posted on fake news sites are spread by Russian influencers and botnets, and then reported as 'fact' by Russian media.
It is considered a great success if that information is picked up and reported by media and politicians in Western countries. For example, the news that 'President Zelenskyy has purchased two yachts' that spread in December 2023 was spread in this way and was picked up by Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene and Senator J.D. Vance, among others.
Linville points out that the propaganda content has recently been shifting focus from Ukraine to the US presidential election.
In addition, Mr. Dugan's YouTube account was frozen in 2023. Regarding this, Mr. Dugan said on Telegram, 'It was because I spoke about a Russian operation to destroy a US-run biological weapons laboratory in Ukraine.'
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