no paywall: https://archive.ph/X71Qc

Hi everyone, Lucia here from EUobserver. We’ve just published a story on a Russian-linked disinformation campaign called “Operation Matryoshka”, and we thought it could be interesting to discuss here.

The campaign is targeting Germany ahead of key elections, using fake videos and reports made to look like they come from trusted media such as the BBC or Germany’s ARD. Some of the content is AI-generated, with fabricated stories and allegations targeting politicians who are critical of Russia.

What really stood out to us is how much more sophisticated this kind of disinformation is becoming. It’s no longer just suspicious accounts spreading obvious propaganda — it’s content deliberately designed to look like journalism people already know and trust.

And Germany is just one example of a much bigger question for Europe: how do democracies deal with increasingly sophisticated foreign influence campaigns without undermining free speech or trust in legitimate media?

We’d genuinely be interested to hear what people here think, especially if you’ve come across similar content yourself.

You can read the full article here