Overview
- German security sources and the domestic intelligence agency said on Friday that the propaganda network known as Storm‑1516 is the probable creator of a circulated video that falsely claimed Handelsblatt reporting would announce Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s resignation.
- Both Handelsblatt and Deutsche Welle denied the clip and called it fabricated, and Merz’s office and the CDU dismissed the story as invented and intended to confuse the public.
- The Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz said the operation used fake embeds and trusted media logos to boost credibility and that the tactic fits a pattern of opportunistic disinformation timed around political events.
- Security reporting shows the same network has run targeted campaigns in France using AI‑generated voices and fake websites to smear figures such as Gabriel Attal, Raphaël Glucksmann, and Édouard Philippe, a tactic that could shift voter views and force tighter monitoring of online material ahead of elections.
- The federal government previously linked Storm‑1516 to Russian actors in December and traced about ten similar incidents in 2024–2025, including fabricated videos and false election claims, and authorities say investigations and surveillance of the network are continuing.