Russian trolls fooled Donald Trump Jr into promoting a fake Kid Rock fan account

Donald Trump's son was allegedly fooled into sharing a conspiracy theory about Ivermectin and oil supplies from a "Kid Rock fan account". It was later claimed to be a Russian troll meddling with the US election.

It appears that trolls have taken advantage of far-right social media apps such as Gab, Gettr and Donald Trump's very own Truth Social.

A recent report by social media tracking website Graphika and Stanford University’s Internet Observatory suggests that over 30 accounts on the apps linked back to the Newsroom for American and European Based Citizens (NAEBC).

This is said to be a phoney Russian organisation masquerading as an independent news outlet.

The fake accounts were said to attack Democratic Senate candidates, pushing outlandish theories about Ukraine and cryptocurrency exchange.

One troll, in particular, was said to be a fake Kid Rock fan account called "KidRockOfficial", which caught the attention of Trump Jr, according to Rolling Stone.

The former president's son screenshotted the post from Gettr, centred around gas prices and bogus Covid cure Ivermectin, and reposted it to his six million Instagram followers.

Trump Jr, known to be friends with Kid Rock, supported his share with "Yup" alongside the post.

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The researchers linked to Gettr accounts to Russia’s troll factory, which the FBI first identified in 2020.

The findings also claimed the fake accounts were spreading false claims about Ukraine.

"The tactics are exactly what we’ve come to expect from these actors since 2016. They use fake personas to imitate, infiltrate, and attempt to influence a specific online community," Tyler Williams, director of investigations at Graphika, told the publication.

"These personas then coordinate across multiple platforms to amplify division and exacerbate existing tensions. This is precisely the behaviour that gets them caught on Facebook and YouTube, but on alt-tech platforms they appear to enjoy relatively free rein."

Indy100 reached out to Trump Jr for comment.

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