Kremlin calls Microsoft’s Paris Olympics disinformation allegations ‘absolute slander’

LONDON – The Kremlin on June 4 dismissed a report from Microsoft that said Russia was ramping up a disinformation campaign ahead of the Paris Olympic Games, calling it “absolute slander”.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov condemned the Microsoft report as “blanket criticism that has no basis whatsoever”.

A Microsoft’s Threat Analysis Centre report said Russia is waging an intense disinformation campaign aimed at tarnishing the reputation of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and stoking fears of violence at the Paris Games, which open on July 26.

“Russia is ramping up these malign campaigns against France, President (Emmanuel) Macron, the IOC, and the Paris Olympics,” Clint Watts, general manager of the centre, said in a blog post on June 2.

The campaign, which includes falsified news websites and a feature-length documentary film, is specifically designed to denigrate the reputation of the IOC and create the impression that the Games will be marred by violence, Microsoft said.

The film, Microsoft added, was narrated with fake AI-generated audio of American actor Tom Cruise, and used the personalised video message website Cameo to trick other American celebrities into endorsing the film.

“The most worrisome disinformation advanced by pro-Russian actors has sought to impersonate militant organisations and fabricate threats to the Games amid the Israel-Hamas conflict,” the company said.

The aim of the Russian-affiliated groups appears to be to deter people from attending the Games, according to the report. 

“We think this is the No. 1 security threat to the Games,” said Dale Buckner, a US Army veteran and chief executive officer of Global Guardian, which provides security to Fortune 1000 executives and will do so in Paris.

The potential impact of disinformation and hacking at the Olympics could lead to disruptions and unrest at the event, he said, adding: “With AI (artificial intelligence) now, you’re going to have a level of disinformation we haven’t seen before.”

Peskov called the Microsoft report “absolute slander and nothing more. It has nothing to do with reality”.

The Russian Embassy in Paris on June 4 also said it does not interfere in France, after suggestions Moscow was involved in a stunt involving the laying of coffins near the Eiffel Tower.

In a statement, the embassy said it “expresses a decisive protest against the latest Russophobic campaign unleashed by French media” and said “Russia has not interfered and does not interfere in France’s internal affairs.”

Five coffins filled with plaster were left near the base of the tower on June 1, draped with French flags with the inscription “French soldiers in Ukraine”. Three men were detained and are set to be charged over the incident.

Sources close to the case earlier told AFP that the incident was being investigated as possible interference by a foreign power in French affairs.

President Macron in April said he had “no doubt” Russia was targeting the Paris Olympics, including with disinformation.

Russian-based hackers have been implicated in an attack on the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea and a 2016 hack on the World Anti-Doping Agency that released the private medical information of several athletes. AFP, REUTERS, BLOOMBERG