In May, several French and German social media influencers received strange suggestions.
A London-based public relations agency wanted to pay them to promote their message on behalf of their clients. The sophisticated three-page documentation details what to say and on which platform to say it.
But it asked influencers to push the falsehood that hurt Pfizer-BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine, rather than the typical beauty products and vacation packages. Still strangers, agencies and fuzz, claimed a London address with no evidence that such a company existed.
Some recipients have posted screenshots of the offer. Published Fazze scrubbed social media accounts. That same week, Brazilian and Indian influencers posted a video reflecting Fuzz’s script to hundreds of thousands of viewers.
The plan appears to be part of a secret industry that security analysts and US officials say is exploding on a large scale: disinformation for employment.
A world of traditional marketing and geopolitical influence, private sector companies sell services that were once primarily performed by intelligence agencies.
They disagree, interfere with elections, instill false stories, and drive viral plots primarily on social media. And they offer the client something valuable: denial.
“Disinformation actors employed by the government or its adjoining actors are growing and becoming more serious,” said Graham Brookie, director of the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensics Institute. calling.
Recently, similar campaigns have been found in Bolivia and Venezuela to promote the ruling party of India, the purpose of Egypt’s foreign policy, and politicians.
Brookie’s organization tracked organizations operating during the mayor’s race in the small Brazilian city of Serra. The idealistically indiscriminate Ukrainian company has boosted several competing political parties.
In the Central African Republic, two separate operations flooded social media with a duel of disinformation between pro-France and pro-Russia. The two countries are vying for national influence.
The seemingly organic wave of anti-American posts in Iraq was tracked by public relations firms separately accused of counterfeiting anti-government sentiment in Israel.
In most cases, legitimate services go back to backstreet companies that resemble the services of top marketers and email spammers.
Fazze-related job listings and employee LinkedIn profiles describe Fazze as a subsidiary of a Moscow-based company called Adnow. Some Fazze web domains are registered as owned by Adnow, as originally reported by the German outlets Netzpolitik and ARD Kontraste. Third-party reviews describe Adnow as a struggling advertising service provider.
European officials say they are investigating who hired Adnow. Fazze’s anti-Pfizer issue section is similar to the promotional material for the Russian Sputnik V…
Read More: Disinformation for employment, a shadow industry, is quietly booming