【3d sex videos】

A Russian-language network of Twitter bots tried to boost claims of voter fraud going into Germany's national electionsd sex videosSept. 24.

Those elections seem to have largely avoided the alleged Russian interference that had recently taken place in both the United States and France, but Russian-language bots still seized on a claim made by what appears to be a fake account, according to The Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab.

SEE ALSO: Why Russia hasn't successfully screwed with Germany's election — yet

On Sept. 22, an account sent a tweet in German (translated below) that made it seem as though someone going by the name of "Sahrer" was going to help run the election, and would invalidate votes in favor of Alternative for Germany, a far-right party whose leaders have developed friendships in Moscow.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

The above account photo, as pointed out by the Digital Forensic Research Lab, is actually a Pakistani actress with some digitally-altered red hair, and the account didn't post much until it was close to election time in Germany.

"The activity indicates a high likelihood this is a fake account pushing a message to provoke a reaction from the far right, and, potentially, to call the legitimacy of the election into question," the researchers wrote in a Medium post.

That message found success, though not without help from the Russian-language botnet.

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

Alternative for Germany supporters had been tweeting #Wahlbetrug (#ElectionFraud) in the week before the election, and they used that hashtag to bring attention to this incendiary tweet, too. But that hashtag got a giant boost going into the weekend. Researchers wrote that "the traffic was not organic, but boosted by a network of automated 'bot' accounts" operating "largely in Russian."

Several experts expected the Russian government might try to degrade Germany's election integrity instead of trying to unseat Chancellor Angela Merkel, a rival of Russian President Vladimir Putin who pushed for anti-Moscow sanctions after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine. Merkel's Christian Democratic Union was likely to win the election, but that didn't mean there was nothing for a Russian influence operation to do.

"You just have to have people doubt that their votes were counted," Adam Segal, the director of the Digital and Cyberspace Policy Program at the Council on Foreign Relations. 

And Moscow may have realized that, even if they weren't able to knock Merkel from her perch, the election results were still likely to be favorable.

Merkel's Christian Democratic Union handily won a majority of parliamentary seats, with 33 percent of the vote, but that number was still far off from the 41 percent they took home in 2013. Alternative for Germany, the first far-right party in the German parliament in well over half a century, took home around 13 percent of the vote.

Considering Moscow's ties to Germany's resurgent far-right, it's hard not to see that as a victory of sorts for Moscow.

Speaking before the election, Joerg Forbrig, a senior transatlantic fellow with The German Marshall Fund, a transatlantic policy institute, said, "If the aim is to weaken Merkel, the Kremlin may decide that a risky last-minute interference is not necessary."

---

Featured Video For You

---

Elon Musk's self-taught AI bot destroyed an esports pro in 'Dota 2'

---

Topics X/Twitter Elections Politics

• Life
• Tech
• Digital Culture
• Science
• Social Good
• Deals
• Games
• Shopping

• Then and Now: 5 Generations of GeForce Graphics Compared
• Amazon's 'Jack Ryan' is a spy for the Peak TV age
• BlackBerry's next phone appears to counter trends with enormous bezel
• Comfort dogs are helping people with the trauma of the Las Vegas shooting
• Best MacBook deal: Save $200 on 2024 M3 MacBook Air
• 'The Walking Dead' will finally cross over with 'Fear,' says Robert Kirkman
• Nintendo fans bid farewell to the Miiverse in hilarious and touching ways
• Why teenage boys don't want to call themselves feminists
• The White House might have inflated Trump's golf record, because this is how we live now
• Safelite has seen 'Saturday Night Live' sketch, and they aren't happy

• CNN and Kellyanne Conway face off in spectacularly fiery interview
• The White House mailbox is full of postcards to #PresidentBannon
• Google Maps adds new shortcuts to anticipate your every need
• Under Armour CEO endorses Trump, Twitter users endorse shopping elsewhere
• 4 small things successful people do to see big results
• Pro tip: How to use smoke grenades for maximum cover in the 'CS:GO' Nuke map
• Hacked Amazon Dash Button sends $5 to the ACLU whenever life demands it
• How six young women invented a life
• Powerful New Orleans tornado damages NASA's Michoud rocket factory
• How to order a pizza with Amazon Alexa or Google Home

• How to Get Your Significant Other Into Gaming
• Stern little Stormtrooper robot uses AR and facial recognition to help you deal with rebel scum
• Trump marks one
• 'Rick and Morty' fans are now selling PICTURES of the Szechuan sauce online
• Dallas Mavericks vs. Boston Celtics 2025 livestream: Watch NBA online
• OSU will give every freshman an iPad, which they'll, uh... totally use for schoolwork
• 'Thor: Ragnarok' review roundup: Critics react
• Skies around Disneyland turn orange as Anaheim Hills fire rages
• Use Gmail Filters to Automate your Inbox
• 10 tricks for saving your phone's battery life

• The White House might have inflated Trump's golf record, because this is how we live now
• In Las Vegas, an empty lot transforms into a community healing garden
• Photographer dangles models off a 30
• Donald Trump Jr. tried to come for Jimmy Kimmel this weekend—and it didn't work out too well
• Meta says some AGI systems are too risky to release
• A Batman video game showed a real image of a slain Russian ambassador
• Why teenage boys don't want to call themselves feminists
• 'Walking Dead' star Andrew Lincoln hates last season's Rick Grimes as much as you do
• How I met my partner on X/Twitter
• Amazon's 'Jack Ryan' is a spy for the Peak TV age