Washington: In a glaring revelation, a social media influencer in the US has revealed that he was paid $100 by a pro-Russia propagandist to post a fake video of Haitian immigrants claiming to vote in the presidential polls. As per the man, he received payment from a registered Russian agent, in the run-up to the elections
According to report published in the CNN, the influencer who received the money has been identified and is an American citizen who lives in Massachuset. He agreed to speak to the channel on the condition of anonymity. While the video in question has now been removed, It allegedly showed of Haitian immigrant who claimed to be voting for Democrat candidate Kamala Harris in Georgia. The influencer is believed to have posted for Republican candidate Donald Trump-related contents on his social media account.
‘Everything in the video is fake’
Reacting to the video, Georgia authorities said that everything in the video was fake. Speaking to the CNN, the person who shared the video claimed of not knowing anything and that he had also shared the clip. The influencer has around 6,50,00 followers on X. He admitted of sharing the video without doing any kind of fact-checking.
Revealing further, the influencer claimed that a Russian propagandist podcaster called Simeon Boikov offered him $100 to post the video , which he had agreed. The payment was sent from his account. According to the document accessed by the CNN, Boikov is believed to be a registered foreign agent for Russia, who operates from Australia and posts online in English and Russian languages.
Baikov was given Russian citizenship recently
Notably, Baikov was given Russian citizenship only recently and is looking to get asylum in the Russian embassy in Australia. Earlier too, the channel had found that he had played key roles in Moscow’s disinformation campaigns.
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