Mother Jones deepfake video — Sep 2026
Russian disinformation operators utilized a deepfake video featuring the Mother Jones editor-in-chief to spread fabricated claims about the DNC and CNN.
- Reported date
- Sep 24, 2026
- Target
- Mother Jones
The exact incident date was not established. This entry is dated by its source report.
What happened
In September 2026, a Russian disinformation network known as Matryoshka (or Storm-1679) circulated a deepfake video falsely branded with the Mother Jones logo. The video featured a synthetic version of Mother Jones editor-in-chief Clara Jeffery, who appeared to report that the Democratic National Committee had paid $259 million to CNN head Mark Thompson to promote gender transition narratives. The fabricated report claimed this information was sourced from emails pilfered by the hacker collective Anonymous.
The video utilized the publication's standard branding, including its closing card, to lend the disinformation an air of legitimacy. It was disseminated via X accounts, including one attributed to a user named "роман" and another to "James Deans Hick." Within a single day, the video accumulated over 200,000 views across these accounts. The operation was identified by the activist group @antibot4navalny, which tracks Russian influence campaigns. Following a complaint from Mother Jones, X removed the posts for violating trademark policies. This incident is part of a broader Matryoshka campaign targeting the 2026 US midterm elections, which has also produced deepfakes of Hollywood celebrities and fabricated reports attributed to various major American media outlets.