"Bad Grammar": Russian-linked Telegram comment activity

This case study was originally published in OpenAI’s May 2024⁠(opens in a new window) report.

Actor

We banned a previously unreported network of accounts that were using our models to create comments that were then posted on Telegram. We linked this activity to individuals from Russia. Given its focus on Telegram, its repeated posting of ungrammatical English, and its struggle to build an audience, we have dubbed this network “Bad Grammar”.

Behavior

This network targeted audiences in Russia, Ukraine, the United States, Moldova and the Baltic States with content in Russian and English.

The network used our models and accounts on Telegram to set up a comment-spamming pipeline. First, the operators used our models to debug code that was apparently designed to automate posting on Telegram. They then generated comments in Russian and English in reply to specific Telegram posts. Finally, they appear to have used at least a dozen Telegram accounts to post those comments.

In English, the operators used our models to generate comments in the voice of a number of fake personas belonging to different demographics from both sides of the political spectrum in the United States. In Russian, they favored more thematic, less persona-based instructions.

The network primarily commented on posts by a small number of Telegram channels. The most-mentioned was the pro-Russia channel @Slavyangrad, followed by the English-language @police_frequency and @SGTNewsNetwork. (The latter poses as a conservative American veteran, but in November, Meta reported⁠(opens in a new window) that it actually originated in Iran.) In a sample of activity from February, the network tried to generate replies to these three channels twice as often as the 10 next most-mentioned channels together.