The FBI issued a warning on Tuesday about two new fake videos that inaccurately cite threats of terrorism and voter fraud.
This is part of a growing trend of disinformation that officials anticipate will increase as voters prepare for Election Day and the following weeks.
One of the fabricated videos claims to come from the FBI and incorrectly states that there is a high terror threat, encouraging Americans to “vote remotely.” The other video features a fake press release that alleges rigged voting among inmates in five prisons.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation confirmed that both videos are “not authentic” and stated, “Attempts to deceive the public with false content about FBI threat assessments and activities aim to undermine our democratic process and erode trust in the electoral system.”
Federal, state, and local officials have been alerting Americans about the risks of misinformation aimed at undermining the election and are urging U.S. voters to seek credible information from trustworthy sources.
Additionally, U.S. intelligence agencies have indicated that this year’s election is facing an unprecedented disinformation campaign from foreign adversaries. They have stated that Russia and other countries are attempting to amplify divisive narratives during the election, an allegation that Russia denies.
On Monday, U.S. intelligence agencies said they expect overseas influence operations to “intensify through election day and in the coming weeks,” particularly in the seven key battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Still, U.S. cybersecurity agency director Jen Easterly has said her department has not seen evidence of any activity that could directly impact the outcome of Tuesday’s election, despite the surge in disinformation.
U.S. intelligence agencies last week blamed Russia for a false video purporting to show a Haitian immigrant claiming to have voted multiple times in the U.S. state of Georgia. Over the weekend, the FBI warned about several other fake videos.
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