Russian Media, Crypto Scammers Seize on SVB Panic Online

Russian media outlets, far-right websites, short sellers and doomsday preppers were among those who pushed and amplified conspiracy theories online focused on the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, according to disinformation specialists.

Researchers are just starting to explore how powerful of a role social media played in spreading hysteria around the second-largest bank failure in US history. The anti-disinformation firm Alethea, which has uncovered apparent stock market gaming online as well as other social media manipulation, indicated that a range of accounts seized on uncertainty to promote their own agendas after word of the bank’s demise started to spread.

Lisa Kaplan, Alethea’s founder, told me ...