This Week In Disinformation: LA Riots Edition
7 - 13 June 2025
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This week's update takes a different approach. Instead of our usual worldwide survey, I’m focusing entirely on the information warfare in relation to the Los Angeles immigration protests that began June 6, 2025.
The LA riots have become a laboratory for modern disinformation tactics.
What makes this week significant is not just the volume of disinformation, but how it demonstrates the complete fragmentation of information control.
Welcome to This Week In Disinformation.
Foreign State Disinformation Amplification
◾ 1. Context
Foreign state media outlets routinely exploit American domestic unrest to criticize US democracy and portray America as unstable.
Both Russian and Chinese state media have established infrastructure for amplifying both authentic and fabricated content during US unrest.
◾ 2. What Happened
There are many examples of foreign state amplification during the LA Riots of 2025. Such examples include false claims of citywide chaos and misattributed images of destruction.
The most prominent story is where Russian state-controlled outlet Sputnik circulated a photo purporting to show "pallets of bricks" at protest sites. This was also shared by actor James Woods.
X's community notes revealed the photo was actually from a construction site in New Jersey, unrelated to LA protests.
◾ 3. Nature of Information
This is Disinformation. Foreign state media deliberately used false images and recycled conspiracy theories to serve geopolitical messaging goals. The intent is clear. The brick pallet photo's exposure as construction site imagery demonstrates intentional rather than mistaken usage.
◾ 4. Character of Information
Both Russian and Chinese state media operated across multiple platforms, often indistinguishable from domestic users in their content sharing.
Foreign actors benefited from domestic conspiracy infrastructure, requiring minimal original content creation.
◾ 5. Impact & Information Effects Statement
It is assessed with high confidence that Russian and Chinese state media's amplification of LA protest has enhanced global perception of American instability while supporting domestic political polarization. The intent is to undermine American credibility and democratic governance effectiveness.
◾ 6. Strategic Implications And Lessons Learnt
Foreign information operations increasingly operate through amplification rather than creation, making them harder to detect and counter.
The convergence between foreign state messaging and domestic conspiracy theories creates mutually reinforcing disinformation ecosystems. Detection requires focus on amplification patterns rather than content creation.
Sources:
NPR: Twitter once muzzled Russian and Chinese state propaganda. That's over now
New York Times: Fake Images And Conspiracy Theories Swirl Around LA Protests
Institute For Security And Developmental Policy: The Convergence of Disinformation: Examining Russia and China’s Partnership in the Digital Age
Key Actors Recycling And Misattributing Videos
◾ 1. Context
Senator Ted Cruz, commenter Alex Jones, and actor James Woods amplified dramatic footage to support claims that the protests were violent and widespread rather than localized.
The information environment was primed for manipulation, with authentic footage of limited vandalism providing cover for recycled content.
◾ 2. What Happened
Senator Ted Cruz shared a video of burning LAPD vehicles on June 8, writing "This…is…not…peaceful" to suggest current unrest was violent. PolitiFact and reverse image searches revealed the footage was from NBC's coverage of May 2020 George Floyd protests, not current events.
Furthermore, a video showing people setting a Jeep on fire was falsely attributed to current protests but actually originated from a Hyde Park street takeover in March 2024.
◾ 3. Nature of Information
This is either Disinformation And/or Negligence. Cruz's post misrepresented five-year-old footage as current events to support political arguments about protest violence, but this could represent negligent reaction to control spiralling information dynamics rather than deliberate deception.
Community notes and multiple fact-checkers quickly identified the error, forcing Cruz to delete his post.
◾ 4. Character of Information
The content spread primarily through X, amplified by high-profile accounts including Cruz (Senate platform), Alex Jones (4+ million followers), and James Woods (prominent conservative influencer).
The manipulation strategy exploited confirmation bias, showing dramatic footage that aligned with existing beliefs about protest violence through a huge amount of reach.
◾ 5. Impact & Information Effects Statement
It is assessed with high confidence that political figures' dissemination of recycled protest footage has distorted public perception of current LA protest scale and violence, likely intended to justify intervention and discredit protesters.
◾ 6. Strategic Implications And Lessons Learnt
This incident reveals how traditional authority figures now operate as information warfare participants rather than controllers. A sitting US Senator deployed the same recycled content tactics previously associated with fringe actors.
The speed of correction through community notes and fact-checkers demonstrates improved defensive capabilities, but the viral spread preceded debunking, limiting corrective impact.
Sources:
Yahoo News: Fact Check: Video doesn't show people setting Jeep on fire during 2025 LA protests
CBS News: Fake videos and conspiracies fuel falsehoods about Los Angeles protests
X user Publius
AI-Generated And Synthetic Content
◾ 1. Context
AI-generated content creation tools have become accessible to ordinary users, enabling sophisticated fake video production without technical expertise.
◾ 2. What Happened
An AI-generated TikTok video featured a synthetic National Guardsman named "Bob" livestreaming his preparation for "today's gassing" of protesters.
The video accumulated over 960,000 views before being debunked by BBC News and subsequently removed.
◾ 3. Nature of Information
This is Disinformation: The AI-generated videos were intentionally created to deceive viewers about military tactics and protester behaviour.
Despite many comments identifying the "Bob" video as fake, numerous viewers believed it was authentic.
◾ 4. Character of Information
TikTok served as the primary distribution platform, with the algorithm amplifying sensational content regardless of authenticity. The "Bob" character's casual livestream format made the content appear spontaneous rather than manufactured.
◾ 5. Impact & Information Effects Statement
It is assessed with high confidence that unknown actors' dissemination of AI-generated military content has amplified public fears about government escalation during LA protests, likely intended to increase anti-authority sentiment and justify protest escalation.
The "Bob" video's 960,000+ views demonstrate significant reach before platform removal.
◾ 6. Strategic Implications And Lessons Learnt
AI-generated content represents a qualitative shift in information warfare capabilities. The production barriers have collapsed to near-zero, enabling any motivated actor to create believable fake content.
Sources:
National Guard Press Release: Guard Identifies AI-Generated Fake Videos
France 24: Los Angeles protests: How AI and chatbots are feeding fake news
The Independent: Fake videos and AI chatbots drive disinformation about LA protests
Algorithmic Amplification And Chatbot Errors
◾ 1. Context
Social media algorithms prioritize engagement over accuracy, creating systematic amplification of sensational content regardless of truth value.
AI chatbots like Grok and ChatGPT have become trusted information sources for users seeking clarity during confusing events.
◾ 2. What Happened
TikTok and X algorithms amplified AI-generated and false content about LA protests, with sensational fakes often receiving more reach than authentic reporting.
Users turned to AI chatbots for fact-checking and clarification but received inconsistent or misleading information about protest events.
◾ 3. Nature of Information
This is Malinformation. The algorithmic systems are not intentionally deceptive but create systematic bias toward sensational and false content over accurate reporting.
However, the cumulative effect serves disinformation goals by making truth harder to distinguish from falsehood.
◾ 4. Character of Information
Both TikTok and X algorithms demonstrated consistent bias toward viral sensational content over factual accuracy. Users' information-seeking behaviour through AI chatbots created additional vectors for confusion.
◾ 5. Impact & Information Effects Statement
It is assessed with moderate confidence that algorithmic systems' amplification of sensational content over factual reporting has degraded information quality during LA protests, likely unintentionally but serving disinformation actors' goals of creating confusion and undermining shared reality.
◾ 6. Strategic Implications And Lessons Learnt
Algorithmic amplification represents a structural challenge requiring technological rather than content-focused solutions.
Traditional fact-checking cannot match the speed and scale of distribution. Platform policy changes must address engagement optimization that systematically favours sensational over accurate content.
