Search

Operation Dark Clark – Russia built a real organisation around a false identity Most influence operations create fake people, fake websites or fake news stories. Operation Dark Clark appears to have gone considerably further: Russian operators built what looked like a functioning research organisation in Latin America, employed real people to produce genuine research and concealed from those employees who was ultimately directing their work. OpenAI disclosed the operation on 8 October after banning a cluster of accounts originating in Russia. The actors used ChatGPT while targeting countries across Latin America, principally to damage Ukraine’s reputation, manipulate domestic political debates and manage a self-described research organisation called the Social Research Center, or SRC. OpenAI assessed Dark Clark as Category Five on the six-level Breakout Scale, the first operation it has disrupted since beginning its influence-operation reporting to reach that level. A front organisation with real employees The SRC presented itself as a research platform studying subjects including Latin America’s relationship with India and the Indian diaspora. OpenAI found more than 60 articles on its website, most of them apparently original rather than plagiarised. Internal reports produced by the Russian operators discussed hiring, dismissals, salary scales, staffing and unfinished research projects, strongly suggesting that the operators controlled the organisation rather than merely collaborating with it. At the centre of the structure was “Mia Clark”, a fictitious identity reportedly used to manage social-media activity and communicate with staff. According to OpenAI, the available evidence indicates that employees working for SRC in Latin America were probably unaware that the organisation was being directed by Russian actors. They interviewed experts, conducted research and wrote papers in what appears to have been good faith. The deception therefore existed primarily at the organisational level: much of the work was real, but the identity and strategic purpose of the institution commissioning it were not. OpenAI This is one reason Dark Clark differs from the familiar model of a troll farm. A reader encountering an SRC paper might be looking at research genuinely written by a Latin American employee based on genuine interviews. The manipulation lies further upstream, in who built the institution, selected its direction and controlled its infrastructure. From forged emails to real events The operation also appears to have attempted something more ambitious than online persuasion: inducing real people to produce events that could later be turned into propaganda. In May 2026, according to the operators’ internal reports, they created an email address impersonating Lima’s regional education authorities and instructed schools to organise activities about Ukraine for a cultural-diversity event. The instructions included references to Stepan Bandera, whose historical legacy remains particularly contentious in Poland and parts of Eastern Europe. The operators claimed that some schools complied, replied to the false address and sent photographs of the events. OpenAI could not independently verify every claim contained in the operators’ reports. It did, however, find Peruvian reporting matching the story, followed by publications in Poland and an English-language outlet in Hungary. Some coverage included comments from a Polish MEP calling for people displaying what he described as anti-Polish attitudes to be declared persona non grata. OpenAI therefore concluded that the fabricated starting point appears to have entered genuine political debate across national borders. The mechanism is unusually effective because the final photographs need not themselves be fabricated. If people can be tricked into staging a real event on the basis of a forged instruction, the operation creates authentic visual evidence of something that was artificially initiated. The same method in Ecuador and Bolivia Dark Clark’s internal reports describe similar efforts elsewhere. In Ecuador, the operators claimed they used a fake education email to encourage schools to stage ceremonies involving President Daniel Noboa and Erik Prince, the former head of Blackwater. Ecuadorian media subsequently covered a matching controversy, and the country’s education minister issued a detailed denial. Other Ecuador-focused material included fabricated audio attributed to Ukraine’s consul and a false television report alleging that Noboa’s government was recruiting Ecuadorians to fight in Ukraine. Local fact-checker Lupa found that the supposed Teleamazonas report had never been broadcast, that images had been taken from Instagram, that the audio was AI-generated and that a company named in a supposed recruitment contract did not exist in Ecuador’s corporate registry. In Bolivia, an internal report described a fake audio recording supposedly made by an employee of state water company EPSAS during anti-government protests. It claimed that water supplies to La Paz would be cut and a state of emergency declared. The allegation produced a fact-check and an official denial. OpenAI says the operators explicitly described their objective as worsening the political crisis surrounding the demonstrations. Possible links to the post-Wagner influence machine Dark Clark did not emerge in a vacuum. The operators repeatedly asked ChatGPT about Politology and La Compania, names associated in previous investigations with the Russian influence apparatus that developed from structures once connected to Yevgeny Prigozhin. Forbidden Stories and its partners obtained 1,431 pages of internal documents describing a network known as “The Company”, which they reported had grown to almost 100 operatives and was conducting influence projects across roughly 30 Global South countries. Their investigation found that the organisation moved under the supervision of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, the SVR, after Prigozhin’s death. Its documented budget for ten months of activity in 2024 was approximately €7.3 million. Two older Argentina campaigns claimed in Dark Clark’s internal reports — a false story about Javier Milei buying Cartier collars for his dogs and the staging of anti-Milei graffiti — had already been independently attributed by investigative journalists to Politology/La Compania. That is significant corroboration, but it is not enough to prove that every Dark Clark activity was run by the same organisational structure. AI was the back office, not the mastermind Perhaps the most important finding concerns artificial intelligence itself. In most documented cases, the Russians were not using ChatGPT to generate the propaganda seen by the public. Their principal use was administrative: drafting reports for an unknown superior, summarising operations, translating material and recording the supposed success of campaigns. Those reports also expose a weakness in the operators’ own measurement. OpenAI found instances in which they tried to claim credit for developments they had probably not caused, suggesting that they were not only attempting to manipulate Latin American audiences but also presenting an inflated picture of their effectiveness to whoever was supervising them. Dark Clark nevertheless broke further into the real world than any influence operation OpenAI had previously disrupted. Under the Brookings framework, Category Five means that an operation has escaped its original network and been amplified by high-profile individuals such as politicians. Dark Clark crossed that threshold because fabricated narratives appear to have provoked governmental denials, mainstream reporting and political comment in several countries. Its most important innovation was therefore not a particularly convincing deepfake. It was the construction of a partly genuine institution around a concealed foreign controller. The research could be real. The employees could be real. The interviews could be real. What was false was who they were ultimately working for. Sources OpenAI — Disrupting AI-enabled “false front” operations https://openai.com/index/disrupting-ai-enabled-false-front-operations/ Forbidden Stories — Propaganda Machine: Russia’s foreign influence strategy across three continents https://forbiddenstories.org/propaganda-machine-secret-documents-reveal-russias-foreign-influence-strategy-across-three-continents/ Forbidden Stories — Ghost Journalists, Cash and Kremlin Scripts: Argentina https://forbiddenstories.org/ghost-journalists-cash-and-kremlin-scripts-how-russian-operatives-tried-to-influence-argentinian-media/ openDemocracy — Russian influence operation in Bolivia https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/russia-bolivia-south-america-putin-evo-morales-wagner-prigozhin-covert-operations-propaganda-disinformation-foreign-interference/ Lupa Media — Fake Teleamazonas report about recruiting Ecuadorians for Ukraine https://lupa.com.ec/verificaciones/noboa-mercenarios-ucrania-ecuador/ Brookings Institution — The Breakout Scale https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-breakout-scale-measuring-the-impact-of-influence-operations/ Keywords: #DISINFORMED #Episode17 #OperationDarkClark #DarkClark #Russia #LatinAmerica #RussianInfluence #RussianDisinformation #Disinformation #InformationWarfare #InfluenceOperations #ForeignInterference #FIMI #FalseFront #FrontOrganisation #FakeInstitution #SocialResearchCenter #SRC #ArtificialIntelligence #AI #GenerativeAI #ChatGPT #OpenAI #NarrativeManipulation #SourceLaundering #InstitutionalManipulation #ForgedDocuments #FakeAudio #PoliticalInfluence #CovertInfluence #Peru #Ecuador #Bolivia #Argentina #Ukraine #Politology #LaCompania #TheCompany #SVR #WagnerLegacy #PropagandaMachine #GlobalSouth #BreakoutScale #OSINT #MediaManipulation #WRLD

Fran stated that Tagliafico had not played against Bolivia or Burkina Faso and that he had only appeared in Messi's farewell. He also wrote that Tagliafico had expressed his disagreement with the tournament of 30 teams and with the cups that, according to Fran, were being created. Additionally, he suggested that he had joined Acuña and Montiel on a list of "censored" people by Tapia. https://t.co/Tm4Pmh5IzI #Fútbol #Argentina #Messi (translated)

Gustavo Petro stated that an imprisoned prosecutor had asked a judge to protect him from those who, he said, could kill him in prison because of the people he had imprisoned. He also asked Evo Morales, Luis Arce, and social leaders from Bolivia to support threatened judges and prosecutors. He maintained that they had discovered that Fernando Cerimedo, whom he accused of links to drug trafficking and of being a Nazi and a femicide, was a business partner and a member of a circle of friends of a son of U.S. President Donald Trump. Petro pointed out that the Bolivian prosecutor's office could have suppressed the people and served wealthy sectors, but he called for unity among those who were not fascists and to defend democracy. He stated that the peoples of the region had a history of 60,000 years and called for unity and organization. He also urged Trump to correct his son's behavior and his policy towards Latin America; he argued that Israeli algorithms linked, according to him, to genocide were replacing voters, and called for respect for Afro-Latin America. He warned the U.S. president not to unleash popular violence. https://t.co/4VTfJykSS4 #Bolivia #Unidad #Democracia (translated)

Gustavo Petro defended the pension reform and denied that his government had bought support to approve it. He said that the House of Representatives backed it widely and that the then President of the Senate, Iván Name, delayed the debate for eight months so that it would fail due to lack of time. He also accused Magistrate Ibáñez of keeping it frozen for two years in the Constitutional Court, although he pointed out that the reform had already passed that stage. According to Petro, millions of elderly people, many of them from the right, could receive a pension thanks to the law. Regarding the allegations related to the UNGRD, Petro asked the Pacto Histórico bench to commission a forensic audit of the entire existence of the entity, since 2010, and to publish the names of those whom he claimed had embezzled it. He stated that only one person from the Pacto Histórico appeared on the extensive list, whom he said he had removed from the administration and whom, according to him, the party expelled. He also argued that justice should investigate whether Name had received public money through his romantic or political environment. Petro claimed that, during the first month of his government, resources were recovered that he attributed to Olmedo's group and that then the UNGRD was sidelined in the assistance to people trapped after an earthquake in the west of the country. Citing a journalistic investigation by Nueva Prensa, he stated that a private coordination center had been set up in the house of Gregory Schaller, whom he identified as Abelardo's compadre. He linked Andrés Depew, Negre — whom he described as a partner of Fernando Cerimedo — and people who, according to him, had ties to Donald Trump and businessman Dan Newlin to that place. Petro stated that Newlin had illegally lent his plane and resources during Abelardo's campaign. In the same publication, Petro mentioned businessman Yadid Jalaff, whom he said was accused of stealing Colombian-Venezuelan Monómeros, and Jorge Alberto Campillo Vélez, whom he described as one of Pablo Escobar's first pilots. He also pointed out pilot Luis Almeira Quiroz and linked him to a flight of paramilitaries from Urabá to San José del Guaviare, which, according to Petro, allowed the Mapiripán massacre, in which 50 farmers were murdered. He asked how much money had been raised to address the earthquake and if that explained why, according to him, the full operation of the UNGRD had been prevented and international aid and volunteers had been rejected. https://t.co/eiJJnl3Lxu #ReformaPensional #Justicia #Corrupción (translated)

Gustavo Petro stated that those who had ruled Latin America for two centuries presented the replacement of brief periods of progressive and humanist governments as a change. He claimed that this stance reflected a contradiction of Donald Trump and that his allies in the region did not understand it. Petro said that Latin America was the most unequal region in the world and attributed inequality to drug trafficking, migration, and violence. He argued that reducing it was the remedy and that, in Latin American history, only progressive governments had achieved it, citing the Government of Life in Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, Bolivia, Correa's Ecuador, and Uruguay. He also stated that Trump had accepted the proposal of Marco Rubio and had prioritized an agenda against progressivism over the fight against drug trafficking. He added that progressive ideas had been present since the birth of all American republics, including the United States. Petro warned that Trump's policies would increase social and economic inequality, drug trafficking, violence, and migration to the north. He also asserted that, for Latin American peoples whose elections, according to him, had been falsified by the direct interference of a foreign government, rebellion was the only recourse left. #AméricaLatina #Desigualdad #Progresismo (translated)

Agustín Romo recalled that some critics had mocked those who followed the election of Donald Trump in the United States, considering it unimportant. He stated that, after Trump's victory in 2024 and the elimination of USAID, the agency through which the United States funded programs abroad, the left lost in Costa Rica in February 2025, Ecuador in April 2025, Bolivia in October 2025, Honduras in November 2025, Chile in December 2025, Peru in June 2026, and Colombia in June 2026. Romo concluded that those who presented themselves as anti-imperialists were employees. #Trump2024 #Elecciones #Política (translated)

Boca Juniors - La12Tuittera pointed out that Leonel Flores had played for Boca against Unión and, 22 hours and 48 minutes later, had participated in the match of Argentina against Burkina Faso. It noted that the matches started at 23:22 on Friday and at 22:10 on Saturday, respectively. The account claimed that there were no records of any other player who had played a match with their club and the next day with the Argentine national team, or vice versa. It also indicated that Flores had played four matches in the last seven days —against Racing, Bolivia, Unión, and Burkina Faso— and accumulated 155 minutes. https://t.co/Pl6fGTtQTK #Fútbol #Argentina #Boca (translated)

LACOBRAAA asked Mike to show more respect and humility towards CONMEBOL. As examples, he stated that Argentina scored four goals against the United States, Chile two, Peru played on equal footing, Ecuador drew, Colombia scored five, Paraguay scored one goal, Bolivia won 3-0, and Venezuela prevailed. He also noted that Uruguay had four World Cups. #CONMEBOL #Fútbol #Humildad (translated)

Gustavo Petro stated that the attorney general of Bolivia had been illegally imprisoned and that the prosecutor in Ecuador who was investigating the same matter had been murdered. According to Petro, the investigation focused on an alleged intervention by the United States government to manipulate millions of Latin American voters and commit electoral fraud through algorithms from companies linked to Netanyahu. #Bolivia #Ecuador #FraudeElectoral (translated)

Milei's remorseful affirmed that the president of Bolivia had thanked the United States for its support to intervene in the Judiciary and imprison the Attorney General who was investigating Fernando Cerimedo. He also linked the situation to a "new Condor Plan" and ironically described it as something normal. https://t.co/JrcU03FwhM #Bolivia #Justicia #DerechosHumanos (translated)

Daniel Avellaneda wrote that, according to Romain Molina, only one player from the Burkina Faso national team was traveling to Buenos Aires and the team that would arrive would be the Under-23s. Norberto Dupesso added that the plane was scheduled to land at 3:30 PM, while the match would start at 9 PM. Avellaneda stated that a different team had shown up than the one announced and described the match as a "global disgrace." He also recalled that Lionel Scaloni had said in a press conference that the opponent would make the match more challenging than against Bolivia, due to occupying the 62nd position in the FIFA ranking, but claimed that Argentina would not face that team. He added, in an ironic tone, that the African players would go through Immigration and would play with their passports in their pockets. #Fútbol #Amistoso #Deportes (translated)

Gustavo Petro stated that Bolivia had become a dictatorship and accused its authorities of detaining the Attorney General and his replacement to prevent an investigation. According to Petro, this inquiry aimed to clarify alleged links between disinformation campaigns during Latin American elections and the U.S. State Department and the White House. He also accused the Bolivian president and his circle of persecuting former president Luis Arce and indigenous leader Evo Morales, repressing protests, and violating the Constitution. He attributed ties to drug trafficking and fascism to the president and claimed that he had attempted to kill his pregnant girlfriend. Furthermore, he asserted that a network of fake profiles, allegedly funded by Jeffrey Epstein and Netanyahu, promoted presidents he described as subservient and sought to harm economies and facilitate the appropriation of natural resources. Petro urged U.S. President Donald Trump to open a dialogue between the United States and Latin America based on democracy and freedom and warned that the imposition strategy he attributed to Marco Rubio could lead to violence. He also called on Latin American progressive movements to defend Lula in Portuguese against what he described as bot farms, and summoned activists and former members of artificial intelligence companies to develop digital tools against disinformation and fear. #Bolivia #Dictadura #Latinoamérica (translated)

The BTS account 방탄소년단 Perú⁷ 🇵🇪 stated that the South Korean press had highlighted the anticipation for BTS's first visit to Peru. According to the report shared, PROMPERÚ described the concert as an emblematic case of musical tourism in its study "Musical Tourism and the BTS Effect" and mentioned that the waiting list to purchase tickets exceeded 521,000 people. It also considered it highly likely that Lima would establish itself as a key stop on the world tour. The account added that fans were preparing a drone show in Lima's Costa Verde in tribute to BTS, described as the first of its kind in South America. The initiative, driven by members of the ARMY from Peru, Mexico, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Colombia, gathered over 25,000 participations on online platforms. The account called the moment historic and said they were experiencing it together. #BTS #BTS_WORLDTOUR_ARİRANG #BTSEnPeru #ROADTO7 #BTS #TurismoMusical #Perú (translated)

The author argued that, after the devastation of Gaza and Maduro's kidnapping, Trump had crossed the Rubicon and sealed his fate. He added that since then, a hardline approach and a dynamic of action and reaction had taken hold. He also claimed that the DEA had kidnapped the Attorney General of Bolivia because, as he wrote, he had evidence against Cerimedo for taking money from drug traffickers. https://t.co/Vs0WJJLDq8 #Gaza #Trump #Bolivia #GT #BO (translated)

UpdateCharts called "Lost in Lust" by Pabllo Vittar the "biggest drag in the world" and stated that the song was appearing on Apple Music charts in nine countries: Brazil, in 1st place, with a rise of 61 positions; Cape Verde, at 44th; Uruguay, at 61st; Ireland, at 113th; Bolivia, at 122nd; Luxembourg, at 132nd; Chile, at 145th; Panama, at 164th; and Argentina, at 175th. The publication marked the positions in eight countries as new. #PablloVittar #LostInLust #MúsicaBrasileira (translated)

In a video broadcast on Wednesday night, during an interview before his extradition to the U.S., Uruguayan drug trafficker Sebastián Marset said that Mariaca was his "friend" and provided alerts about some events, according to Bolivian media. #FernandoCerimedo #Bolivia #MAGA (translated)

As attorney general, Mariaca had been investigating Fernando Cerimedo for a series of alleged crimes, including drug trafficking, illicit enrichment, and femicide. Cerimedo had been criticized for his role as one of the main advisors to President Rodrigo Paz and for his ties to the administration of Donald Trump. In fact, he has been described as 'the MAGA [Make America Great Again] man in Latin America.' Just when the investigation seemed to gain momentum, the U.S. revoked Mariaca's visa, and less than 48 hours later, the Bolivian government ordered her arrest. The timing and sequence of events suggest political motivations. Thomas Becker, lawyer and legal director of the University Network for Human Rights, notes to elDiario.es from Bolivia that Mariaca's arrest is related to the Cerimedo case and suggests that there are political motivations. #FernandoCerimedo #Bolivia #MAGA (translated)