A Russian-based campaign that spread disinformation across Facebook and Twitter, as well as sites such as Reddit and Medium, attempted to spread conspiracy theories, including one that said Boris Johnson - the current front-runner to be the UK's next Prime Minister - was going to be assassinated in an attempt to stop Brexit.
A report published by the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) said that after Facebook took down “16 accounts, four pages, and one Instagram account as part of a small network emanating from Russia,” DFRLab used information about those accounts to identify a larger operation that spanned multiple services.
Both Facebook and DFRLab believe that Russia is behind the campaign because the language and choice of subjects had been targeted previously by other Russian operations.
"Its size and complexity indicated that it was conducted by a persistent, sophisticated, and well-resourced actor, possibly an intelligence operation," DFRLab said. The intent of the operation was to "divide, discredit, and distract" countries, with content specifically chosen to "inflame tensions between NATO allies, especially Germany and the United States, as well as Britain and the United States".
One of the most striking conspiracy theories this network attempted to spread was from a superficially Spanish Facebook account, which featured a false letter from Spain's foreign minister and the claim that citizens in favour of Britain remaining in the European Union were going to assassinate Boris Johnson.
Details of the plot were spread on Medium, accompanied by a photoshopped images of Johnson in crosshairs and a version of the "Guess I'll Die" meme.
The campaign also had accounts impersonate high-profile politicians, including Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, and fake tweets belonging to ex-Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson and Senator Marco Rubio.
The operation found it difficult to gain traction, with articles typically gathering a few dozen or a few hundred views - although there were some stories that received thousands of clicks.
One exception to this, DFRLab reports, was a "racist story" that was picked up by an anti-immigrant news source in Germany. The fake content was converted into a longer article by the news source, which was then shared 3,500 times across social media platforms.
This is not the first time that Russian-based operatives have tried to use social media to influence political outcomes; a recent report from the European Commission on disinformation said that Russian-linked accounts would join Facebook groups and manage spam Twitter accounts in order to challenge the European Union's democratic legitimacy or exploit "divisive public debates on issues such as [sic] of migration and sovereignty."
Last year, Russian actors also used Star Wars: The Last Jedi to try and manipulate opinion, presenting discussion of the film along politically liberal and conservative views in order to sow dissent.