The United States has imposed sanctions on officials at the Russian state broadcaster RT, whom it accuses of attempting to interfere in this year’s US presidential election. The sanctions affect ten responsible persons and two organisationsthe Treasury Department announced in Washington on Wednesday.
Those affected include RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan, hackers, and a non-governmental organization linked to the Kremlin. The US authorities accuse them of using artificial intelligence (AI) in disinformation campaigns directed “against the election campaign” in the USA.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said Two of those responsible for the sanctions are now being prosecuted by the US judiciary. In addition, a total of 32 domain names used on the Internet by the Russian government and by actors protected by the Russian state would be seized.
These Russian activities pursued a “secret campaign” with the aim of “interfering in our country’s elections and influencing the outcome,” Garland said. The US will hold its presidential election in two months, which is of the utmost importance both nationally and internationally.
Experts have long warned about cybercrime in connection with important elections in Western countries. In particular, there is concern that AI can be used to produce fraudulent content within seconds and on a large scale and can be distributed millions of times. (AFP)
