Stolen photos of European influencers used to push Trump propaganda on X | CNN
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A phonyĀ campaignĀ on XĀ backing Trump ahead of the US election is using stolen or manipulated photos of real women in Europe to push its agenda.

Luna, a self-described 32-year-old ā€œMAGA Trump supporterā€ from the battleground state of Wisconsin, has gained a huge following since she joined X, formerly Twitter, in March. Her timeline has become a digital bullhorn for the ā€œMake America Great Againā€ movement, praisingĀ former President Donald Trumpā€™s re-election bid, promoting conspiracy theories about his opponent,Ā Vice President Kamala Harris, and touting Republican talking points to nearly 30,000 followers, who she addresses as ā€œpatriots.ā€

ā€œWould You Support Trump Being The President forever? I wonder if you all support Trump for president just like me,ā€ @Luna_2K24Ā postedĀ on July 29, sharing a beach selfie in a white bikini and asking her followers to respond with an American flag emoji if they agreed. The post was viewed by around 54,000 people.

But Luna isnā€™t real. The photos of the smiling brunette posted periodically on @Luna_2K24ā€™s timeline are of Debbie Nederlof, a German fashion influencer who lives across the Atlantic and wonā€™t be voting in the US presidential election in November. When CNN reached out to the 32-year-old, a trained optician and single mother who is working two jobs ā€“ as a social media manager at an engineering firm and as a model to raise money for her child ā€“ she was angry and frustrated that her face was being used to push pro-Trump propaganda on X.

      • gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        18Ā·
        3 months ago

        If you saw the investor list that was posted a week or so ago on various sites and linked from a bunch of posts all over the fediverse, a significant fraction (perhaps a financial majority - not sure) kinda obviously have primary goals that do not really demand profit at all (I.e. they bought in to have a stake in one of the biggest social networks in existence, and use their stake to make demands on the implementers and maintainers of said network).