India-based social media accounts were paid to spread videos promoting a US Democratic candidate during a closely contested Senate primary in Michigan, reaching millions of users while making the content appear to be genuine public opinion, The New York Times has reported.

At least three dozen videos featuring people expressing support for Representative Haley Stevens appeared on X, Facebook, Instagram and Threads in August ahead of the primary. The accounts distributing the videos were based largely outside the United States, including in India, according to two research organisations tracking online disinformation.

Posters were reportedly paid $1 to $5 for every 1,000 views, allowing political content to reach large audiences without clearly disclosing who was funding its distribution.

The videos featured people discussing everyday concerns, including the cost of living, while praising Stevens. However, the identities of those appearing in the clips and the source of the money behind the campaign remain unclear.

The videos appeared to be designed to resemble spontaneous public opinion rather than coordinated political messaging.

Such tactics have become increasingly prominent in US election campaigns as candidates seek to reach voters through social media platforms, where traditional political advertisements often struggle to attract attention.

The practice also resembles influence operations previously associated with Russia and China, which have used networks of coordinated accounts to shape political discourse in the United States.

Indian content promoter earns money from posts

One of the Instagram accounts involved in distributing the Michigan videos, Energetic Humor, was operated by Ayush Jain, a man based in Mumbai, India.

Jain told The New York Times that he earned around $15 for each of 40 posts he published across different accounts under his control. The posts were part of a campaign that required him to share the videos for at least 30 days.

The company that hired Jain was Lumina Clippers, a business offering services to increase online engagement through networks of social media accounts.

The company's founder, Rhys McKay, acknowledged hiring Jain and dozens of others to distribute the videos. However, he declined to identify the client behind the campaign or disclose the contract's value, citing client confidentiality.

Lumina Clippers is registered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, has a telephone number in the United Arab Emirates and is run by McKay, an Irishman living in Portugal.

The company operates in a wider online market where services designed to artificially boost engagement are used to promote everything from consumer products and cryptocurrencies to political candidates.

The videos have since been deleted from the accounts involved in the campaign.

Campaign funding remains unclear

The videos appeared to support Stevens against her leading rival, Abdul El-Sayed, in the Democratic Senate primary. El-Sayed won the August 4 primary and is set to face Republican nominee Mike Rogers in November.

The precise connection between the videos and any political campaign or outside group has not been established.

Stevens' campaign did not respond to requests for comment. Caitlin Legacki, a political strategist who worked as a consultant for the campaign until July, said she had seen the videos but was certain the campaign was not involved.

The campaign disclosed payments to three companies for media services in filings with the Federal Election Commission. Two companies did not respond to requests for comment, while the third declined to comment.

According to data from media tracking firm AdImpact, Stevens' campaign also received around $60 million in support from six outside groups.

El-Sayed's campaign declined to comment on the videos.

The videos were not primarily attack advertisements. Most focused on political issues and praise for Stevens, although one included criticism of El-Sayed based on a report by a right-leaning online news outlet concerning his tax returns.

Researchers identify coordinated network

The campaign was first identified by Antibot4navalny, a group of anonymous volunteers known for exposing Russian online influence operations.

The group tracked 28 accounts on X that shared the videos as part of a coordinated, paid campaign. The accounts generated more than seven million views on the platform.

Researchers at Clemson University's Media Forensics Hub subsequently identified additional accounts that distributed the content across X, Facebook, Instagram and Threads, which are owned by Meta.

Some of the accounts had previously been detected in influence campaigns involving Chinese bot networks. One Instagram account that shared the Michigan videos also had a user biography written in Mandarin.

According to researchers, the accounts generally posted content designed to attract casual clicks before abruptly shifting to political messaging.

Some had also shared posts by Michael Carbonara, a Republican who lost a primary contest for a US House seat in Florida in August.

The videos do not appear to be conventional deepfakes created entirely through artificial intelligence. Some featured recognisable locations in Detroit, although automated detection services flagged possible signs of manipulation or fabrication in others.

Researchers said the campaign illustrated how networks of seemingly ordinary social media accounts could be used to distribute political messages while obscuring their origins.

A growing challenge for US elections

The Michigan operation reflects a broader shift in political campaigning as candidates increasingly rely on influencers and unofficial online networks to reach voters.

Similar efforts to circulate inauthentic political content have emerged in other US contests, including the Los Angeles mayoral primary, California's gubernatorial race and a voter mobilisation campaign targeting Black voters in Ohio.

Daniel Weiner, a senior director at the Brennan Center for Justice, a voting rights organisation, said the online information environment was increasingly blurring the distinction between legitimate sources and more questionable actors.

He warned that ordinary voters could not always reliably distinguish authentic content from coordinated efforts to influence public opinion.

McKay said political advertisements often failed to engage audiences because users had grown tired of conventional campaigning. Videos featuring apparent conversations with ordinary voters, he suggested, were more likely to attract attention.

The case highlights the challenges facing election authorities and social media platforms as political messaging increasingly crosses national borders, with paid networks abroad able to influence domestic political conversations without making their role immediately apparent.