“Secondary Infektion” – the name given to the long-running operation – is defined as a collection of online disinformation actions that constituted a methodic campaign carried out on global social media, blogging platforms, and online information outlets. Between 2014 and 2020, the disinformation operation published 1,252 pieces of content in English, and 953 pieces of content in Russian. Content in Ukrainian only represented three percent of all disinformation posts published by the operation. Despite being active across multiple platforms and languages, the operation never appeared to gain substantial engagement. According to the research, disinformation posts published by the operation made use of burner accounts with a very short lifespan.
In May 2019, Facebook announced it had removed a small network of 16 accounts and pages active on Facebook and Instagram, as part of its efforts to contrast Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior, or CIB. Facebook's findings were shared with the Digital Forensic Research Lab of the Atlantic Council, which was able to connect the removed accounts and pages to a wider network of disinformation agents and operations. Such network was renamed "Secondary Infektion," due to its similarity to the original disinformation campaign "Operation Infektion". Planted in English-language global media by the Soviet Union's main security agency in the 1980s, Operation Infektion main object was to spread disinformation around the origins of the HIV virus and to create social destabilization, mainly in the United States.
Languages used by articles and posts attributed to disinformation operation Secondary Infektion from 2014 to 2020
across the leading 25 platforms where "Secondary Infektion" posted the most
Supplementary notes
According to the source (page 9): "As of May 2020, this operation has not been directly attributed to a particular actor or entity." Additionally, the source gives the following notes on attribution (page 12): The attribution to operators in Russia rests on multiple indicators, both technical and contextual. Based on technical signals, Facebook first attributed the operation to Russian actors in May 2019. In December 2019, Reddit attributed the leak of US-UK trade leaks to the same operation. The context and content of the Secondary Infektion campaigns across the years echo that initial attribution. The operation started out working in Russian and targeted the Russian opposition, especially Alexei Navalny. It shifted focus to attacking Ukraine just as Russia annexed Crimea and launched its proxy war in the Donbass."
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Graphika. (June 16, 2020). Languages used by articles and posts attributed to disinformation operation Secondary Infektion from 2014 to 2020 [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved August 24, 2024, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1294503/secondary-infektion-posts-by-language/
Graphika. "Languages used by articles and posts attributed to disinformation operation Secondary Infektion from 2014 to 2020." Chart. June 16, 2020. Statista. Accessed August 24, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1294503/secondary-infektion-posts-by-language/
Graphika. (2020). Languages used by articles and posts attributed to disinformation operation Secondary Infektion from 2014 to 2020. Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: August 24, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1294503/secondary-infektion-posts-by-language/
Graphika. "Languages Used by Articles and Posts Attributed to Disinformation Operation Secondary Infektion from 2014 to 2020." Statista, Statista Inc., 16 Jun 2020, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1294503/secondary-infektion-posts-by-language/
Graphika, Languages used by articles and posts attributed to disinformation operation Secondary Infektion from 2014 to 2020 Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1294503/secondary-infektion-posts-by-language/ (last visited August 24, 2024)
Languages used by articles and posts attributed to disinformation operation Secondary Infektion from 2014 to 2020 [Graph], Graphika, June 16, 2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1294503/secondary-infektion-posts-by-language/