Microsoft is warning that Russia-affiliated actors are attempting to disrupt the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris., pursuing a range of malign influence campaigns against France, president Emmanuel Macron, the International Olympics Committee and the Paris Games. The main aims appear to be to damage the reputation of the IOC and spread fear of violence breaking out at the games to try and put people off attending.
Last summer, Storm-1679 released on Telegram and then spread online a feature-length film called"Olympics Has Fallen", which used a fake AI-generated audio of Tom Cruise criticizing the IOC leadership. And a fake video purporting to come from French broadcaster France24 claimed that a quarter of tickets for the games had been returned due to fears of terrorism; while fake video press releases from the U.S. CIA and France's General Directorate for Internal Security were produced, warning potential attendees to stay away because of the alleged risk of a terror attack.