On microservices platforms, individuals play key roles in the disinformation game

In early March 2022, a strange video appeared on YouTube. It mentions an upcoming trial and a family unjustly victimized by the American judicial system. In the video, a man speaks on camera, without ever being introduced. “There is a very important trial coming up in Charlotte [North Carolina] on Monday, and I would like to thank legendary attorney Stephen Paul Lindsay for his efforts and help for the Freitekh family,” the unknown man explains.

On Microservices Platforms, Individuals Play Key Roles In The Disinformation Game

The Freitekh family mentioned here refers to Izzat Freitekh and his son, Tarik, who would both be sentenced in March 2022, with sentences handed in December of four years and nearly eight years in prison respectively, for fraudulent loan applications for aid during the Covid-19 pandemic crisis. The man in the video, Arthur (his first name has been changed), had likely never met them and had no connection to this case. And for good reason: he was an Internet user paid to record messages on camera.

On Microservices Platforms, Individuals Play Key Roles In The Disinformation Game

A simple search brings up dozens of videos starring Arthur. He can be seen boasting about the merits of certain companies, cryptocurrencies and other more than dubious investments. On the Fiverr microservices platform, he offers to record a pre-written speech for less than €10.

On Microservices Platforms, Individuals Play Key Roles In The Disinformation Game

Support videos for €25

Arthur did not respond to Le Monde‘s inquiries, but he was not the only one who defended the Freitekh family for a fee. In another YouTube video, billed as a news channel flash, a young woman announced with great fanfare that “legendary attorney Stephen Lindsay has recently joined the Freitekh family’s legal team, to shed light on the case that shocked the world.” She and her partner also offer, on their Fiverr profile called “The Ad Twins,” to record videos for less than €25. Contacted by Le Monde, the two women, who claim to refuse “political content” requests, did not respond to inquiries.

On Microservices Platforms, Individuals Play Key Roles In The Disinformation Game

But these videos are political. They were used in a brutal online smear campaign that ran for nearly a year beginning in November 2021, depicting a trial that was far different from the judicial reality. Dozens of automated Twitter accounts, but also fake news sites, were used by an unidentified operator on behalf of a client, also unknown, to glorify the Freitekh family and attack the assistant US attorney’s office in North Carolina, which was initially responsible for the prosecution.

There was a fake online petition calling her lawsuit a “racist attack” and tweets denouncing her incompetence. The target’s digital reputation is, to this day, scarred by the campaign. According to local media outlet The Charlotte Observer, which explained in March that an investigation was underway into a “disinformation campaign,” the assistant district attorney had in fact chosen to withdraw from the case before the trial was held.

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