This year has seen an uptick in falsified videos and other online disinformation with a common theme: advancing Kremlin interests.

On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg investigative reporter Stephanie Baker tells Sarah Holder how she identified nearly 200 social media posts and videos that bear the hallmarks of a Russian influence operation that researchers call Storm-1516. Baker, who has written extensively about Russia and is the author of Punishing Putin, explains why so few of these posts are factchecked in real time — and what that lack of oversight means for the US as it prepares for this year’s midterms.

Read more: The Most Potent Weapon in Russia’s Disinformation War

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Hosted by Sarah Holder; Produced by David Fox; Reported by Stephanie Baker and Priyanjana Bengani ; Edited by Jeffrey Grocott.

Fact-checking by Laura Newcombe; Engineering by Alex Sugiura.

Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.

This year has seen an uptick in falsified videos and other online disinformation with a common theme: advancing Kremlin interests.
On today&rsquo;s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg investigative reporter Stephanie Baker tells Sarah Holder how she identified nearly 200 social media posts and videos that bear the hallmarks of a Russian influence operation that researchers call Storm-1516. Baker, who has written extensively about Russia and is the author of Punishing Putin, explains why so few of these posts are factchecked in real time &mdash; and what that lack of oversight means for the US as it prepares for this year&rsquo;s midterms.
Read more: <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2026-russia-disinformation-storm-1516-videos/">The Most Potent Weapon in Russia&rsquo;s Disinformation War</a>
We have a special Bloomberg subscription offer for podcast listeners at <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/subscriptions/podcasts">Bloomberg.com/podcastoffer.</a>
Hosted by Sarah Holder; Produced by David Fox; Reported by Stephanie Baker and Priyanjana Bengani ; Edited by Jeffrey Grocott.
Fact-checking by Laura Newcombe; Engineering by Alex Sugiura.
Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.

The Big Take from Bloomberg News brings you inside what’s shaping the world's economies with the smartest and most informed business reporters around the world. The context you need on the stories that can move markets. Every afternoon.

The Big Take from Bloomberg News brings you inside what’s shaping the world's economies with the smartest and most informed business reporters around the world. The context you need on the stories that can move markets. Every afternoon.

Big Take

The Russian Operation Using AI Fakes to Target Voters

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/6061615c-81f0-40f0-87a2-b449015a90c9/transcript