More than 150 fake local news websites pushing Russian propaganda to U.S. audiences are connected to John Mark Dougan, an American former law enforcement officer living in Moscow, according to a research report published Wednesday by NewsGuard, a firm that monitors misinformation. These websites, with names like DC Weekly, New York News Daily, and Boston Times, mimic legitimate local news outlets and have already succeeded in spreading numerous false stories about the war in Ukraine. Experts warn that they could be used to launder disinformation about the 2024 election.

In an interview over WhatsApp, Dougan denied involvement with the websites, stating, "Never heard of them." Dougan, a former Marine and police officer, fled his home in Florida in 2016 to evade criminal charges related to a massive doxxing campaign he was accused of launching against public officials and was granted asylum by the Russian government. Most recently, Dougan has posed as a journalist in Ukraine’s Donbas region, testifying at Russian public hearings and making frequent appearances on Russian state TV.

Dougan is now part of a small group of Western expatriates who have become purveyors of English-language propaganda for Russia. Researchers and cybersecurity companies had previously linked Dougan to the sites. The NewsGuard report published Wednesday is the latest to implicate him in the fake news ring. Academic research from Clemson University linked Dougan to the network of fake news websites last year after one of them was found to share an IP address with other sites he ran, including his personal website.

In an interview, Darren Linvill, co-director of the Watt Family Innovation Center Media Forensics Hub at Clemson, described Dougan as “a tool of the broader Russian disinformation machine” whose websites “are just one of several mechanisms by which these narratives are distributed.” Linvill noted that the fake news websites had recently shifted their focus from undermining support for Ukraine to spreading false claims about the FBI wiretapping former President Donald Trump’s office at Mar-a-Lago and the CIA backing a Ukrainian plot to rig the election against Trump. “There is no question we are beginning to see a shift in focus toward the U.S. election,” Linvill said.

The fake news websites, posing as local news sources, host articles about crime, politics, and sports, many of which appear to be generated with artificial intelligence tools and are attributed to nonexistent journalists. Interspersed within the general news content are articles that disparage the U.S., exalt Russia, and spread disinformation on various topics, including the wars in Ukraine and Gaza and Covid vaccines.

Researchers say sites attributed to Dougan display telltale signs of his signature, including early website registration records, shared IP addresses, similar image headers and layouts, being built with WordPress software, AI-generated prompts mistakenly left in copy, and error messages at the ends of articles. The reach of these disinformation campaigns varies. Some of the sites remained active for just weeks with little to no pickup in the wider media. However, some fake news stories have gained traction, including several recent posts using forged documents falsely claiming Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was misusing foreign aid to enrich himself.

Last month, a story on the fake news site The London Crier falsely claimed that Zelenskyy had spent 20 million pounds on a mansion previously owned by King Charles III. This followed a story posted to DC Weekly in November that falsely claimed Zelenskyy had used American aid money to buy two yachts. Both rumors relied on videos posted to YouTube by newly created accounts. According to the Clemson researchers, sites like DC Weekly publish fake news stories using videos of seemingly AI-generated “leaks” or examples of whistleblowing, which are then spread by Russian influencers and bot networks. Ultimately, the fake articles are reported as fact by pro-Kremlin media outlets and, in some of the most successful cases, by Western politicos and pundits.

The rumor about Zelenskyy’s yachts was later promoted by Republican members of Congress, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Sen. JD Vance of Ohio. McKenzie Sadeghi, NewsGuard’s editor and the author of the new report, pointed to the network’s sophisticated use of AI to produce content and make narratives seem credible. “In the wrong hands, this technology can be used to spread disinformation at scale,” Sadeghi said. “With this network, we’re seeing that play out exactly.”

What specific support Dougan receives from Russia remains unclear. In May, the cybersecurity company Recorded Future reported a “realistic possibility” that the network receives strategic guidance, support, or oversight from the Russian government. In March, The New York Times reported that the fake local news ring “appears to involve remnants” of the Internet Research Agency, the troll factory created by the late Putin associate Yevgeny Prigozhin to influence the 2016 presidential election. Previous reporting on Dougan and his more dubious claims — including that he possessed leaked documents from murdered Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich and secret tapes belonging to Jeffrey Epstein — suggests Dougan may be pursuing wealth, clout, or operating from some other motive in addition to a state-sanctioned political agenda.

Dougan was an early creator of fake websites. After resigning from his job as a sheriff’s deputy in Palm Beach County, Florida, and being fired months later from a subsequent job in Windham, Maine, over sexual harassment claims, he built a network of websites focused on exposing what he claimed was widespread corruption in Windham, naming local police and town officials in articles. He also reportedly launched a campaign doxxing thousands of federal agents, judges, and law enforcement officers, posting their home addresses and salacious allegations online. By 2015, he was operating several websites with official-sounding names like DCWeekly.com and DCPost.org, which hosted fabricated articles. In 2016, he fled to Russia following an FBI raid of his home to evade charges linked to his doxxing efforts.

YouTube banned Dougan last year. On Telegram, he attributed the ban to videos he uploaded alleging a Russian mission to destroy U.S.-run bioweapons labs in Ukraine, a false narrative that took hold as a justification for Russia’s invasion. Dougan’s ban came on the heels of a report from NewsGuard that highlighted the pro-Russian propaganda on his channel. According to co-CEO Steven Brill, NewsGuard’s earlier report and Dougan’s subsequent ban led to a harassment campaign against him. Brill claims that Dougan impersonated an FBI officer in phone calls to him, left threatening messages, and posted YouTube videos showing aerial shots of Brill’s home.

Over WhatsApp, Dougan defended his videos about Brill, citing NewsGuard’s “partnership with the US government” to have his content removed. There is no evidence that NewsGuard acted in concert with or on behalf of the U.S. government when it investigated Dougan. When asked for proof of such a partnership, Dougan sent a link to his own video, a 31-minute monologue laden with conspiracy theories, which he had reposted to YouTube.

In the broader context of disinformation, this network of fake local news sites highlights the evolving nature of information warfare. By mimicking legitimate news sources and leveraging AI to create seemingly credible content, these sites are not just a nuisance but a sophisticated tool in the arsenal of those aiming to manipulate public opinion and undermine democratic processes. The use of artificial intelligence in generating fake news represents a significant challenge for media literacy and the detection of misinformation, necessitating advanced methods and vigilant monitoring to counteract the spread of false narratives effectively.

Furthermore, the scale and complexity of these disinformation efforts underscore the importance of international cooperation in combating fake news. Governments, tech companies, and civil society organizations must work together to develop robust strategies to identify and neutralize such threats. This includes improving digital literacy among the public, enhancing the detection capabilities of online platforms, and fostering transparency and accountability in the dissemination of information.

The case of John Mark Dougan and his network of fake news websites serves as a stark reminder of the ongoing battle against disinformation and the critical need for vigilance in protecting the integrity of public discourse. As technology continues to evolve, so too must our efforts to ensure that truth and accuracy prevail in the digital age.