X Suspends About Two Dozen Russia-Tied Storm-1516 Accounts Before Election Day; Paid Amplifiers With 2.4 Million Followers Remain

Straight Arrow News reports that the social media platform X suspended about two dozen accounts tied to a Russian propaganda syndicate just ahead of Election Day, but that dozens of others, which have collectively amassed more than 2.4 million followers, remain active. The accounts have emerged in recent weeks with quickly debunked conspiracy theories against Democrats in three closely watched Senate races: James Talarico in Texas, Sherrod Brown in Ohio and Troy Jackson in Maine. Talarico and Brown were both the targets of false sexual assault allegations, and Jackson was falsely accused of workplace violence.

The report says the suspended accounts are “either fake accounts or accounts amplified by coordinated inauthentic behaviors,” while the paid influencers with large followings are the part of the operation still reaching audiences. Researcher Colon said Storm-1516 recruits influencers by offering “a few hundred bucks for each publication” of disinformation on social media, though the rate “depends on the number of followers you have.” That is the paid-amplifier layer the suspensions did not touch. This extends the Talarico video campaign recorded in 2026-10-20–storm-1516-deepfake-videos-on-x-fabricate-abuse-claim-against-texas-senate-candidate-talarico, whose Updates cover the Brown and Jackson fakes and an earlier round of account removals; this entry adds the later suspension count and the follower figure for the accounts left standing. Related: 2026-10-17–bloomberg-baker-bengani-matryoshka-bots-inflate-view-counts-of-fake-midterm-videos-antibot4navalny-snapshots.