INVESTIGATION. Fake news, memes and fake videos… Delving into the internal documents of a Russian disinformation agency

franceinfo consulted thousands of documents from a Russian propaganda company. They offer an immersion in the functioning of the disinformation industry, where political goals and financial interests mix.

Internal documents at the Social Design Agency reveal the functioning and limits of Russian disinformation.

ASTRID AMADIEU / FRANCEINFO

Their intentions are written in black and white: “To intensify internal tensions on the territory of countries that are allies of the United States”, “to artificially create conflict situations”, “to influence public opinion”… All in order to “promote the interests of the Russian Federation.” This is what appears in an internal document, entitled “International Conflictology”, theorizing the action of the Social Design Agency (SDA), a Russian disinformation agency.

Emails, meeting minutes, fake news articles, fake news articles, fake videos, caricatures, fake comments… Franceinfo delved into thousands of files collected by an anonymous whistleblower. Documents were first analyzed by several German media, which sent them to france info. These 3,086 files reveal the disinformation strategies aimed at Europe and France, but also their limits.

A misinformation SME

On the other hand, the Social Design Agency praises its expertise in communication on its site, with “120 socio-political projects in Russia and neighboring countries”, and displays the logos of its clients ranging from the Russian government to public agencies. On the other hand, the SDA has been known for three years for having participated in a vast disinformation campaign called “Doppelgänger”, publishing false information by usurping the visual identity of European media. Since then, it has been in the sights of the FBI and Viginum, the French service fighting digital interference. American and European sanctions have also targeted pharmacies since 2023.

At the head of this agency: Ilya Gambachidze. Unlike other well-known disinformers, Gambachidze does not come from the intelligence services, crime, or the historical circle of Vladimir Putin. Nevertheless, he remains an active communicator for fifteen years, serving local and national Russian institutions. An SDA promotional video, with its choppy editing and epic music, shows him praising his work, in uniform and wearing a badge of the very imaginary “Russian ideological troops.”

Screenshots from the SDA presentation video.

ASTRID AMADIEU / FRANCEINFO

There is every reason to believe that his agency is at the service of the Kremlin. Several documents, including minutes of meetings, refer to meetings between Ilya Gambachidze and Sergei Kirienko, the deputy director of the Russian presidential administration. In internal emails, an SDA employee thus mentions a call for tenders from a state agency. In these thousands of files, we also find exchanges between the Social Design Agency and ANO Dialog or Structura, disinformation agencies closely linked to the Russian administration and under Western sanctions. Interviewed by franceinfo, Kevin Limonier, lecturer at the French Institute of Geopolitics, notes that there is “a whole ecosystem of Russian disinformation companies, where a lot of money circulates”.

Campaigns with “KPIs”

The organization chart of the 117 employees of the SDA reveals the capabilities of the agency, which is equipped with analysts, secretaries, designers, editors, designers and translators, including one in French, named Anton K., a freelance employee… All are assigned to various influence campaigns, abbreviated by “EKK” for projects aimed at Europe and “YKK” for those aimed at Ukraine. Each operation is monitored with “KPIs”, performance indicators, as in a traditional company.

A “KPI EKK” document summarizes the objectives aimed at in France and Germany as follows: surveillance of media and social networks, monthly publication of 50 articles, 180 memes, 500 fake comments… In another document specific to France, the SDA aims to increase the popularity of the National Rally, to increase the feeling of fear about the future in the country and to weaken support for Ukraine.

“France, which is the only nuclear force in the European Union, has become a major target. This is new, since Emmanuel Macron changed his conciliation policy with Putin in 2022.” explains Kevin Limonier.

Concretely, the Social Design Agency monitors what the French media say about Russia and the war in Ukraine and welcomes the growing scores of the extreme right in the elections. An internal document analysing the results of the European elections even attributed a role, probably exaggerated, in the rise of the RN, welcoming the “great success of the agitational campaign on social networks, which increased the number of voters for right-wing and conservative parties”.

To complete this monitoring of French opinion, the SDA would also have commissioned surveys and planned to work with the French Ipsos Institute. Various agency reports dated between January 2022 and September 2023 list different steps: “develop an interaction plan with the Ipsos agency”, “obtain a questionnaire for an Ipsos study”, “work on the issue with Ipsos”… In another report, potentially about this collaboration, the SDA notes: “They don’t know they’re working with the Russian Federation.” Contacted, Ipsos refuted any direct or indirect work with the Social Design Agency. Such a survey “would require the involvement of our European subsidiaries, which was not the case”, replies the institute, and the elements cited could only “reflect the desire of the SDA to get in touch with Ipsos”.

A production recorded in Excel

Another part of the SDA’s job is to develop false information. For example: “Place Stalingrad [in Paris] is going to be renamed”. Each fake news has its sheet, detailing its title, its target audience (“leftist French people”, “elderly citizens”, “right-wing activists”, “colored migrants”, etc.) and the methods of distribution. From purchasing power to immigration to military support for Ukraine, all subjects that could divide French society are involved. The SDA even lists various French personalities to rely on, because they believe they are likely to relay their stories, such as Florian Philippot or former deputy Nicolas Dhuicq. Contacted by “Additional investigation”, they refuted any link with the SDA. The former Frontist says: “I don’t know how they want to intervene. It obviously has no hold on me.”

The communication agency is also setting in motion an arsenal of caricatures, fake articles and fake news videos. “Create fakes!” , can we read in a meeting report. SDA documents compile hundreds of political cartoons, often outrageous or in bad taste. Sometimes relaying Russian propaganda, sometimes mocking France… For example, some mention the presence of rats and bedbugs in Paris before the Olympic Games or promote the National Rally.

We then find several of these caricatures, with poorly translated texts, on social networks, such as on Facebook or Twitter, without being very shared. However, some are successful, such as when Elon Musk shared a joke mocking Western countries’ support for Ukraine. A few days later, the SDA welcomed it in a meeting report.

Examples of cartoons and fake news videos produced by the SDA.

ASTRID AMADIEU / FRANCEINFO

In the area of fakes, the SDA also deploys fake news videos, usurping the logo of the BBC or Figaro. Sometimes accompanied by texts with dubious syntax, his stories involve Ukrainians or refugees and are shared on dedicated Instagram accounts, without however accumulating more than a few hundred views. This is no surprise to Kevin Limonier.

“In 99% of cases, it doesn’t work. But in 1% of cases, this content can become viral, and it is this 1% virality that is sought. They should not be overestimated or underestimated.”, he explains.

To franceinfo

These internal documents finally reveal a gigantic Stakhanovist accounting of all SDA publications on social networks. Several Excel files thus list the thousands of fake comments published by the agency via fake Facebook accounts, the hundreds of publications on Telegram, Instagram, Twitter and the reactions they generated. In a report summarizing the activity of the SDA from January 1 to April 30, 2024, the agency proudly claims to have produced 4,641 videos, 2,516 memes and cartoons, to have published 33.9 million comments, and made 1.6 billion views across media. Numbers that are impossible to verify.

“There is a culture of numbers that is crucial, regardless of the number, explains Kevin Limonier. The aim is to gather metrics in order to justify or request budgets.” By zealously keeping track of their activity, SDA executives no longer have to bother measuring the effects of their misinformation — sometimes overestimated. “Structures like the SDA took advantage of Prigojine’s death, which left a void in the disinformation sector, and therefore a place to be taken,” concludes Kevin Limonier.

Today, Ilya Gambachidze’s agency is still active. Its website as well as the fake Instagram or Facebook accounts used in the past are still online and new cartoons continue to be published on the networks.