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Breaking: Beyond Headlines!

Fake Bomb Threats, Videos and FBI Press Releases Seek to Disrupt Election Day
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Fake Bomb Threats, Videos and FBI Press Releases Seek to Disrupt Election Day

Authorities have reported several cases of fake news attempting — and in some cases briefly succeeding — to disrupt Election Day.

The FBI warned in a news release Tuesday morning that false election information is being spread by misusing the agency’s name and insignia. The cases involved a fabricated video of a fake news clip and a fake FBI press release.

“The fabricated news clip falsely reports that the FBI said Americans should ‘vote remotely’ due to a high threat of terrorism at polling places,” the statement said.

The FBI said the inauthentic video did not “accurately represent the current threat situation or the security of the polling location.”

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In the second case of false election information, the FBI said “a fabricated video containing a fabricated FBI press release alleges that management at five prisons in the swing states of Pennsylvania, Arizona and Georgia rigged the prisoners vote and came to an agreement with a political party.

The FBI has not said where the false content came from.

In Georgia, false information briefly disrupted polling stations where false bomb threats were also reported by authorities.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said in a news conference Tuesday morning that he was aware of “some threats of Russian origin,” adding that officials did not believe they were “viable “.

The fake bomb threats were sent to polling places in two Georgia counties, Fulton and Clayton.

A Georgia elections official told the Scripps News Disinformation Desk that the threats were sent using an email address that has been used in the past. The official said local police had evacuated those areas to carry out a sweep.

RELATED STORY | Bomb threats sent to polling stations in Arizona linked to Russia

According to the FBI, several other non-credible bomb threats were sent to polling places in other states, such as Arizona, most of them sent from email domains originating in Russia.

“Russia poses the most active threat,” the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the FBI said in a joint pre-election statement.

“Russia-linked influence actors in particular are fabricating videos and creating false articles to undermine the legitimacy of the election, instill fear among voters about the electoral process, and suggest that Americans are resorting to violence against each other. against others due to political preferences. »

Cait Conley, senior adviser to the CISA director, said Tuesday during a press briefing on election security that the agency expects foreign actors Russia and Iran to continue targeting Swing states on Election Day and in the weeks to come.

Conley said some disruptive events are expected, such as power outages, technical issues or severe weather. She urged voters to look to state and local officials as a “signal through the noise of misinformation.”