Security researchers believe a Russian disinformation group fueled and influenced the frenzy surrounding the health of the Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton.
In the days before Catherine revealed her cancer diagnosis in a video message, there was a flurry of online rumors and often outrageous claims about her health, adding to the emotional strain on the princess and her husband Prince William.
Now experts in the analysis of data from social networks claim that these were recognizable signs of a coordinated campaign of sharing and multiplying false claims and polarizing content and support for the Princess of Wales and criticism of her.
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Researchers say this is consistent with the Russian group's past patterns of spreading disinformation.
Participating accounts simultaneously spread content against France's support for Ukraine, suggesting a broader international context for the royal rumours.
This particular network of foreign influence has a history in this area, with an emphasis on undermining support for Ukraine after the Russian invasion.
It's the BBC previously found amateur detectives and real users of social networks who started and fueled speculations and conspiracy theories.
Even without any artificial incitement, those claims gained millions of views and likes.
Algorithms have already promoted this social media storm about members of the royal family, even without the intervention of fake account networks.
But Martin Innes, director of the Institute for Security, Crime and Intelligence Innovation at Cardiff University, says his researchers have found systemic attempts to fuel the wave of rumors about the princess, with royal hashtags being shared billions of times across all social media platforms. .
Professor Ines has identified a Russian disinformation group involved in this.
It is not a state entity, but it is linked to people who were recently sanctioned by the United States for allegedly being part of a "malicious influence campaign" that spread fake news.
"Their messages regarding Kate appear to be linked to their ongoing campaign to attack the reputation of France, promote the integrity of the Russian election and smear Ukraine as part of a wider war effort," says Innes.
He says the operatives running this rumor machine would be considered "political technologists" in Russia.
Their approach is to stoke the online fires of pre-existing stories, exploiting disputes and suspicions that are already there, which Professor Innes says is a much more effective approach and harder to track than starting misinformation from scratch.
He adds that they "hijack" popular claims and inject even more confusion and chaos into them.
It is then harder to separate coordinated disinformation from individuals who share conspiracies and chase clicks.
But social media data, studied by a team from Cardiff University, shows extreme spikes and simultaneous sharing of messages in a way they believe is consistent with a network of fake accounts.
Dr. Jon Rosenbeck, a disinformation expert at King's College London, says that such Russian involvement in conspiracy theories is "topic agnostic" because they don't really care about the topic itself, it could be anything that "pushes buttons" and heightens tension in society.
He states that they choose to "seed discord" in an opportunistic way.
Demonstrating the scale of this challenge, TikTok claims to have shut down more than 180 million fake accounts in just three months.
Many of the accounts spreading conspiracy theories about Catherine were opened this month, Professor Innes said.
They relied on a so-called "master" account, which in this case had a name that was a variation on "master," with a cascade of other fake accounts that responded or shared messages and impersonated other users.
Identical sentences such as "Why do these major media outlets want to convince us that this is Kate and William?" were sent from multiple accounts.
While real people are known to share the same messages on their own accounts in this way, a tactic known as "copypasta," there are other clues about these accounts that suggest a more organized network.
The second sentence about Catherine was shared at the same time by 365 different accounts on Ix, formerly Twitter.
There were also new accounts on TikTok, created in the last few days, that seemed to be spewing nothing but rumors about the royal family.
The Cardiff researchers point out an overlap with a Russian-linked fake news website that publishes in English, all with a “verified information” logo.
The site had a number of creepy and bizarre stories about Katherine.
Both the British embassies in Russia and Ukraine had to issue a fake news alert last week over claims circulating that King Charles was dead.
When it comes to determining who is responsible for such disruptive activities, it is difficult to attribute the networks of these accounts to any specific group, organization or state.
And the water is further muddied by various types of individuals, interest groups and other foreign players who comment on the same topic on social networks.
Instead, experts in the field usually rely on indications that a particular network is connected to an existing influence operation or a particular group.
Are their tactics the same?
Does participating in this social media conversation align with their interests?
In this particular case, one clue was a video from Russia that appeared frequently in social media conversations about Kate, previously identified as the work of a specific disinformation group.
This same group that spread rumors against Catherine was also part of online campaigns to destabilize France, says Professor Innes.
President Macron, who is believed to be stepping up his hard line on Ukraine, has faced a storm of hostile personal rumours.
France's state anti-disinformation agency Viginum has warned of sprawling fake news networks spewing out Russian-linked websites and social media accounts.
Members of the royal family in Great Britain, including Prince William, have been vocal in their support for Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion.
The goal of these foreign influence operations is to undermine public confidence, sow discord by amplifying and feeding conspiracy theories that already exist.
This makes them much harder to track, as there can be a combination of real people starting false claims, and then inauthentic accounts spreading them further.
They can start with "internet detectives" asking the right questions, and then fake accounts turn them into a social media firestorm.
Anna George, who researches extremism and conspiracy theories at the Oxford Internet Institute, says the hallmark of Russian disinformation is not that it necessarily cares what kind of narrative is being sent out into the world, as long as it spreads doubt about what is real and what is not.
"They want to spread confusion about what people can believe," he adds.
The royal rumor spread with unusual speed, George says, reaching the mainstream faster than most conspiracy theories, reflecting how outside influence capitalized on a high degree of public curiosity.
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Professor Ines says that disinformation machines can also be a business opportunity.
Its researchers have identified the role of troll farms, believed to be in Pakistan, which have been hired to spread these messages.
After the video about the princess's cancer treatment, there seems to be a change of mood on the Internet.
While dedicated conspiracy theorists and sleuths continue to share claims without evidence, many social media users have recognized the real damage being done to those at the center of a frenzy like this.
Last week, users on Ixu were actively recommended by the platform's algorithm for content that falsely claimed to be a video of the Princess of Wales. actually a double in shopping.
"Her request for privacy, to protect the children and allow herself to move on, seems like a reasonable request that deserves to be honored," executive director Linda Jacarino said in a statement.
The site's science, innovation and technology department says it will "tackle disinformation when it poses a threat to British democracy".
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