Operation Overload: an AI-fuelled escalation ('Overload 2')

CheckFirst tracked a further escalation of the Kremlin-linked Operation Overload campaign from September 2024 onward, monitoring coordinated activity across Telegram, X, Bluesky, and TikTok alongside continued email outreach to newsrooms and fact-checkers, and assessing each platform's response to flagged accounts and content.

The campaign was found to rely increasingly on AI-generated and deceptively edited material impersonating journalists, public figures, and institutions, sending over 700 emails and circulating roughly 600 unique falsified items that impersonated more than 180 identities, with Telegram (673 channels) serving as the central distribution hub and roughly 11,000 X accounts amplifying its spread; TikTok was found to demote implicated accounts only after they had already accumulated more than 3 million views. Target regions included Ukraine, France, Germany, Poland, and Moldova. Bluesky showed comparatively stronger enforcement, while X was assessed as underperforming on takedowns, raising questions about compliance with EU Digital Services Act obligations.

The authors conclude the operation continues to escalate in scale and sophistication and urge stronger, coordinated action from platforms, regulators, and civil society.