An American social media influencer with the handle @AlphaFox78 on X (formerly Twitter) has claimed that he was paid $100 by a pro-Kremlin propagandist to post a fake video of Haitian immigrants claiming to vote in the ongoing US presidential election.
According to CNN, the influencer, who lives in Massachusetts, agreed to speak about the posts on condition of anonymity.
The payment was one of several offers the man claimed he received from the propagandist, who is a registered Russian agent, to post on social media in the run-up to the US election.
The X account, which has a history of posting right-wing memes in support of former President Donald Trump, was the first to post the now-debunked video that purportedly showed a Haitian immigrant claiming he would vote at least twice in Georgia for Democratic candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris.
The Georgia Secretary of State said everything in the video was faked, from the actors to the ID cards, and was produced and disseminated by Russian influence actors.
In phone and text interviews with CNN over multiple days, the person behind the X account, which has over 650,000 followers, said he posted the video without fact-checking the claims made in it.
“I don’t have any idea where it came from or anything – I’m just the guy who shared it,” he said.
The man said a Russian propagandist podcaster, Simeon Boikov, known online as “AussieCossack,” offered him $100 to post the video, which he agreed to. A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed to CNN that multiple payments were sent from Boikov to the Massachusetts man.
Documents reviewed by CNN showed that Boikov is a registered foreign agent for Russia in Australia, where he works for Russian state media, writing and posting online in English and Russian languages.
Boikov, who was recently given Russian citizenship and is seeking asylum in the Russian consulate in Sydney, has a history of posting pro-Kremlin disinformation.
According to CNN, Boikov has played a role in Russia’s disinformation campaigns, including ones targeting the 2024 US election.
But his exact role and where he sits inside the disinformation network’s hierarchy remains unknown.
The possible outcome of the 2024 US election, which is a clear two-horse race between Republican candidate Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, has put the world on the edge given its implications for international politics.
