The story was falsified. Microsoft did not publish such stories either on its website or in its social networks. Moreover, in early June, the company published the results of its research on how Russia is trying to disrupt the 2024 Olympic Games. Analysts believe that the Kremlin’s goal is to tarnish the reputation of the International Olympic Committee and create expectations of an outbreak of violence in Paris during the Games.
A one-minute video is circulating online with reference to Microsoft, stating that the Paris Olympics has allegedly become «the Olympics that has received the most negative feedback over the past 10 years.» Microsoft analysts allegedly published a report stating that more than 83% of users’ online queries about the Paris Olympics were negative. They were afraid of terrorist attacks, bedbugs, high street crime and poor service.
«And then the French will accuse Russia of trying to disrupt the Olympics? Why spoil what is already bad,» some netizens commented.
However, this news is completely fictitious, and the video was fabricated. This video, as well as the aforementioned «report,» cannot be found on Microsoft’s website, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), or YouTube pages.
StopFake journalists asked Microsoft for a comment, but at the time of publication of this material, they had not yet received a response.
Also, there are no reports of such a study by Microsoft in the media, despite the fact that the topic of the Olympic Games is in their focus.
The video spread by some netizens and anonymous Telegram channels is most likely fake. First of all, in the original videos, the company’s logo is located in the lower right corner. In the fake one, the company’s logo and name are shown in the video at the top left. In addition, the company leaves the logo only on the videos it posts on YouTube. On other social networks, it posts videos without the logo. Secondly, the design of Microsoft’s videos uses a completely different font than the one used in the fake video. Thirdly, the company publishes only its own original content – interviews, videos, and photos from events. On the contrary, the fake video consists of photo and video materials taken from stocks, some of which have nothing to do with the Olympic Torch Relay.
The propagandists were right about one thing though. In early June, Microsoft analysts did publish the results of their research. But it was not about the ratings of the Olympics in Paris, but about how Russia is trying to disrupt the 2024 Olympic Games. The Microsoft Threat Analysis Center (MTAC) noted that the Kremlin has supplemented its old disinformation tactics with the use of artificial intelligence for malicious activities. Analysts believe that these operations have two main goals: to tarnish the reputation of the International Olympic Committee and to create expectations of an outbreak of violence in Paris during the Games.
Russia «seeks to spread public fear to deter spectators from attending the Games,» Clint Watts, general manager of Microsoft’s Threat Intelligence Center, wrote in an accompanying blog post. The company warned that disinformation could intensify in the run-up to the opening ceremony.
StopFake has already refuted a similarly created fake about the Olympics in the piece Fake: France Suspends All Muslim Police Officers from Accompanying Olympic Torch Relay – TF1.
