Hybrid wars do not start on the battlefield, but in the information space. Increasingly, their weapons are not missiles or drones, but fake news, cloned websites and fake social media accounts. One of the largest and most dangerous information operations in recent years was the Doppelgänger campaign. Its essence is the creation of exact copies of authoritative media with the sole purpose: under the guise of well-known publications, to spread narratives favorable to the Kremlin, discredit European institutions, and undermine trust in the media and journalists.
This campaign was first talked about in the summer of 2023, when investigators discovered dozens of clones of the sites of such giants as Le Monde, Bild, and The Guardian. Their pages published fabricated news — from anti-German messages to outright pro-Russian propaganda. Since then, the scope of the operation has only increased. The Doppelgänger campaign works precisely, using every opportunity to increase the division in European societies, from the migration crisis to the elections.
Let’s consider how the information “double” mechanism works, how it is used by Russian structures and why Europeans should seriously think about how vulnerable even the strongest democracies become in the face of such technologies.
What is a Doppelgänger campaign?
The name comes from the German word Doppelgänger, which means “double”, “ghost double”, “a person very similar to another”. In the context of hybrid influences, a Doppelgänger campaign is a disinformation operation, the essence of which is to create copies or clones of well-known media, sites or accounts that look almost identical to the originals, but spread false or beneficial information for manipulators.
For example, sites of well-known mass media (Le Monde, Bild, The Guardian) are tampered with – one letter in the URL is changed or an exact visual copy is created that publishes fictitious “news”. Then these “fakes” are promoted in social networks or distributed in a targeted manner among the European audience.
Thus, the Doppelgänger campaign is a large-scale operation using fake media doubles to manipulate public opinion and create the illusion of truthfulness of narratives beneficial to Russia.
Influence on the results of elections in Germany
Independent publication VSquare, which specializes in investigative journalism, writes that the Doppelgänger campaign significantly influenced the course of the election campaign in Germany, as a result of which the Alternative for Germany (AfD) significantly strengthened its position, winning second place in the parliament. The move made her an even more visible player in the political arena and a potentially profitable target for the Kremlin’s disinformation campaigns.
Investigative journalists found that Russian disinformation campaigns during the German elections openly supported the Kremlin-friendly AfD and attacked the coalition parties — CDU, SPD and the Greens. The largest operations – Doppelgänger, Overload, Undercut and CopyCop – used methods ranging from cloning media sites to spamming and artificially generated content.
For example, Operation Overload was based on spam messages with links to fake Telegram videos impersonating Euronews, the Wall Street Journal or Spiegel. At the same time, the bet was on long-term influence, and not on instant virality. Overload and Doppelgänger are related technologies. Both rely on the source legitimization mechanism, which is an important component of any propaganda campaign.
In general, all the technologies used were coordinated with each other and had a common infrastructure associated with the Russian company Social Design Agency. The goal pursued by this company is to increase the division in German society, promote pro-Russian messages and discredit the European parties in power.
As written VSquare, Doppelgänger campaigns were already active in Poland, Latvia, France and Germany. They can also become more active in the Czech Republic, if there is an informational reason, and in such countries as Romania and Moldova, which Russia considers favorable for influence.
Imitation of trust is the result of source legitimization
The latest technologies of the digital world of hybrid warfare used well-known methods of propaganda influence, described in textbooks on communication technologies of the 20th century.
A key tool of Doppelgänger and Operation Overload is the mechanism of legitimizing the source of information, which is a classic propaganda practice aimed at making false or manipulative information believable and credible in the eyes of an audience.
In the case of the Doppelgänger campaign, legitimization is achieved by mimicking the appearance of well-known, authoritative media — such as Le Monde, The Guardian, Bild, Der Spiegel. Fake sites are created with exact copies of logos, designs, fonts, color scheme, interface, and sometimes even URLs that differ by only one letter or domain zone. A person who goes to such a resource or sees a screenshot allegedly from “Le Monde” perceives the information presented there as verified and reliable – that is why the propaganda message automatically receives an “authoritative” basis.
Another form of legitimization is used in “Operation Overload” — imitation of large international mass media in video format. Users receive spam emails or see links on Telegram that lead to fake videos styled like Euronews, Wall Street Journal or Spiegel. Visually, these videos completely copy the presentation and style of these famous media, which creates the necessary impression: the source is a real authoritative publication. The viewer does not check the origin of the content, because he believes what he sees familiar logos and presentation standards. This is how the “trust by default” mechanism is launched.
The reception of legitimizing a source through imitation is an old, well-known technology of information warfare, described as far back as 20th century propaganda textbooks. Its purpose is to minimize the critical perception of the audience, bypass the barriers of doubt and create the impression that a person received information not from a suspicious resource, but from an authoritative, verified source.
As a result, operations like Doppelgänger and Overload manipulate the very essence of media consumption: users tend to trust the source of information. Trust gained through deception allows you to promote the desired narratives and misinformation on a platform that is already “legalized” in the eyes of the audience. This is why these campaigns are so dangerous and effective—they tap into the basic mechanisms of human perception and media consumption.
How does the spiral of silence work in the Doppelgänger campaign?
According to the theory of the spiral of silence, formulated by the German researcher Elisabeth Noel-Neumann back in the 1970s, people tend to express an opinion under the condition that it coincides with the mainstream view of events, and vice versa – to keep silent about their assessments if they do not support the dominant discourse. The fear of social isolation is ingrained in human nature, which, in fact, is what technologists who work with the mechanisms of this spiral take advantage of: the more a certain point of view dominates the public space with the help of media interventions, the more those who have other views avoid voicing them. This creates the illusion of general support for a certain position, although the real picture may be quite different. How does Doppelgänger use this mechanism?
Russian information attacks are aimed at creating an artificial picture of public consensus that favors the Kremlin. The Doppelgänger company works in several directions:
Mass replication of fake news – through a network of fake sites stylized as Western media, “news” that promotes Russian narratives is spread. For example, they may claim that Europeans are tired of supporting Ukraine or that sanctions only harm the Western countries themselves.
Reinforcement of radical points of view – both ultra-right and ultra-left positions are spreading through social networks, destabilizing the political discourse. If a certain narrative (such as anti-Native rhetoric) is constantly heard in the media space, people begin to perceive it as mainstream, even if they originally held a different point of view.
Marginalization of alternative views occurs when pro-Ukrainian or pro-European positions are purposefully manifested as unpopular or even undesirable. As a result, their supporters may avoid speaking out openly for fear of condemnation or isolation. It is this mechanism that underlies the spiral of silence.
Thus, Doppelgänger and similar campaigns create an information environment in which pro-Russian narratives seem dominant and alternative viewpoints appear marginal. This forces people to either change their opinion under the influence of “social need”, or at least remain silent, which ultimately works in the interests of the Kremlin.
Doppelgänger is also using techniques typical of cybercriminals to avoid blocking its fake news sites on social networks such as X and Meta.
And in addition, the “masking” technology
The fake Doppelgänger campaign was disguised using a technique often used by cybercriminals. In order to bypass the blocking of links on Facebook or X (Twitter), propagandists created dozens of disposable inconspicuous sites with names like climzenante.shop or lowlementor.shop. It was these “clean” sites that were launched on social networks and redirected traffic to fake clones of well-known media — for example, spiegel.ltd.
The technology is called “masking” – thanks to it, the real fake site is seen only by targeted users (for example, in Germany), and social network moderators see the supposedly safe resource and do not block it. This method is also widely used in fraudulent schemes — for example, in crypto-scams or on dating sites.
In the next post, we will look at specific examples of the impact of Doppelgänger campaigns on the political landscape of different countries.
