One of the most influential X accounts pushing disinformation about immigrants in Europe has concocted fake personas and companies to mask its operations, which are driven at least partly by financial gain, an RFE/RL investigation found.

The anonymous Europe Invasion racked up billions of impressions exploiting an algorithm that prioritizes engagement over truth -- and changed its name in the weeks after being contacted by RFE/RL. Its rise alongside other similar X accounts has coincided with the swelling electoral success of far-right nativist parties in Europe.

RFE/RL’s investigation -- which names for the first time individuals directly linked to Europe Invasion -- highlights the often murky origins and motives of online disinformation that experts say is used to manipulate public opinion, fuel social divisions, and disrupt democratic processes.

With a steady drumbeat of content portraying Muslim and African immigrants as dangers to society, the account built a following of more than 600,000 followers before changing its screen name to “Update NEWS” at the end of November.

In October, Europe Invasion boasted that it had garnered 1.1 billion impressions over the previous three months.

RFE/RL found that a Turkish couple living in Dubai -- Mert and Belgin Kok -- have been directly linked to Europe Invasion, though they deny any involvement.

In September, Sweden’s public broadcaster, SVT, connected Europe Invasion to the couple, who claimed an outside advertising agency was behind the account. SVT did not publish their names.

Shortly after, Europe Invasion publicly claimed that its “owner” was “a Montenegrin of Serbian origin” named “Stefan” who wants to “make Europe great again.”

Then, in early October, Europe Invasion published a now-deleted post with a photo of the man it suggested was “Stefan.”

RFE/RL used open-source facial-recognition software to identify the man in the photograph as a Turkish citizen who knows Mert Kok and said his photograph had been used without his knowledge. The man denied any involvement in Europe Invasion.

Multiple pieces of evidence connect Mert and Belgin Kok to Europe Invasion, including an AI-generated video narrated by Belgin Kok that paints Afghan migrants as a danger to Europe. The Europe Invasion account promoted the video in March.

In response to questions from RFE/RL, Mert Kok claimed that he and his wife are “not the owners” of the account, which he claimed they had sold to a “team” living in Montenegro that includes other Turkish citizens. He did not respond to a request to provide the names or contacts of members of this purported team.

It is unclear if the creation of Europe Invasion -- which uses X’s monetization features -- was motivated only by profit, or also ideology.

The account features both paid-subscription and “send a tip” options, as well as a fundraising link for what Europe Invasion claims is a planned YouTube channel and expansion of its brand.

“There are organized networks that promote disinformation. Some of these organizations have financial incentives in that they are making money from promoting false narratives,” Darrell West, a senior fellow of governance studies at the Brookings Institution in Washington, told RFE/RL.

Europe Invasion has repeatedly posted false claims about purported immigrant involvement in violent crime.

In October, it claimed a fatal attack on a woman in Britain in July was carried out by “two Somali immigrants.” The claim, in fact, had already been rebutted some two months earlier after it was disseminated by other anti-immigration accounts that police said were spreading “a dangerous piece of misinformation.” A 55-year-old man from the English city of Ipswich has since been charged with murder in the case.

One of Europe Invasion’s most notorious posts came in late July, some two hours after an attacker in the English city of Southport went on a stabbing rampage that left three children dead. The anonymous account falsely claimed that the suspect was “alleged to be a Muslim immigrant.”

Within two days, the post rocketed through far-right social networks, garnering more than 6 million views as violent anti-immigration riots broke out across Britain.

The accused attacker, who was charged with murder, was, in fact, a British citizen born to Rwandan parents in Wales. Prosecutors later accused him of trying to produce the toxin ricin and possessing an Al-Qaeda training manual.

London’s police chief said the riots were “driven by misinformation.”

The 'Alissa' Ruse

Both Europe Invasion and an affiliated account called Daily Reports existed on X, formerly Twitter, for more than a decade and have undergone multiple name changes over the years, according to scraped data from X reviewed by RFE/RL.

Both accounts previously posted primarily in Turkish. But they scrubbed their entire posting histories in early 2024 and began posting primarily anti-immigrant content in English.

In March, the X account later known as Europe Invasion posted a video that consisted of AI-generated images depicting what it described as the dangers of allowing Afghan migrants into Europe.

“If we want to protect our future, our civilization, and our children, we must say ‘stop’ to this invasion,” an offscreen narrator said in heavily accented English.

In a subsequent post, the account shared a link to a now-defunct YouTube channel called West To Dubai that focused on the experience of living in the Arab Gulf state. Europe Invasion told its followers that the channel featured videos made by a “university student” named Alissa about the “European immigrant invasion.”

The West To Dubai channel went dark following the SVT investigation. But before its deletion, it featured a video about life in Dubai that was narrated by a woman who identified herself as “Alissa” -- and who this time was shown on screen.

An analysis of social-media profiles by RFE/RL confirmed that the woman in the second video is not named Alissa, but is Belgin Kok, whose LinkedIn profile lists her as the owner of a Dubai-based company selling the traditional Turkish confection lokum.

RFE/RL also used two different voice-recognition algorithms to compare the voice of the narrator in the video shared by Europe Invasion and multiple videos in which Belgin Kok is shown on screen speaking, including the video about life in Dubai that she hosted in English under the pseudonym Alissa.

Excerpt from an anti-immigration video narrated by “Alissa” that was posted by Europe Invasion in March:

Excerpt from a video posted on the now-deleted YouTube channel West To Dubai. The video features Belgin Kok, who identifies herself as “Alissa:”

Both of these algorithms indicated that Belgin Kok’s voice matches that of “Alissa” in the AI-generated video warning about Afghan migrants in Europe.

The YouTube channel of “Alissa” also featured the now-scrubbed X account @alissatells, which reposted and interacted frequently with Europe Invasion.

'Stefan' And The Montenegro Connection

Contacted by SVT journalists, the Dubai-based Turkish couple denied involvement in the Europe Invasion account, which they claimed a Montenegro-based ad agency was behind. But RFE/RL could find no record of this purported company, allegedly called INV MediaX and run by a person named Stefan.

Following the SVT investigation, Europe Invasion published a post claiming Stefan was “the owner of the Europe Invasion page” and that he was “a Montenegrin of Serbian origin” seeking to “protect European culture and Christianity.” Later, it posted the photograph of a bearded, bespectacled man sipping a cappuccino, suggesting this was Stefan and providing a link to the purported individual’s X account, @IamStefanK.

RFE/RL contacted the man in the photo, who like Mert and Belgin Kok has roots in Izmir, Turkey’s third-largest city. He denied any involvement in Europe Invasion but confirmed that he knows Mert Kok -- and that the photograph used in Europe Invasion’s post was his.

“Yes, that is my photo. It is a very old photo. It was taken four or five years ago. But I’m hearing about Europe Invasion for the first time from you. I don't have any connection with this account,” the man said, who added he was shocked his photo had been used by Europe Invasion.

The man, whom RFE/RL is not identifying by name, said he studied at the same university as Mert Kok and encountered him most recently around six weeks ago.

Asked about the man in the photograph, Kok claimed he does not know “the person you are talking about.” He insisted that “we are not the owners” of Europe Invasion and its affiliated account, Algorithm Coach.

“We are Muslims and live in a Muslim country. We can't be the owners of an anti-Muslim account,” he wrote.

He claimed in his written response that he and his wife had sold an X account they owned called Dubaideyiz (“We Are In Dubai,” in Turkish) to the purported team in Montenegro.

RFE/RL reporters found no evidence that a purported Montenegrin “owner” named Stefan actually exists.

Exploiting Emotions

The surging reach of Europe Invasion and other accounts pushing often false and racist narratives about immigrants also highlights how X influences, shapes, and moderates public discussion of immigration.

In response to an e-mail sent to X’s support team, RFE/RL was directed to the company’s generic Help Center, which provides no way for media organizations to submit requests for comment.

A study published in September found that anti-immigration content spreads 66 percent faster than pro-immigration content on X.

"The speed at which it travels is super-important. Even if you identify and address hate speech, whatever hate speech you're talking about, one week later, it doesn't really matter, because maybe one week later that information is already dead, but people already acted on it," Italian researcher Andrea Nasuto, co-author of the study, told RFE/RL.

Elon Musk, who bought X in 2022 and has positioned himself as a champion of free speech, has also come under fire from critics and European regulators over his gutting of X's content-moderation team.

A study by the New York-based company NewsGuard, which monitors online disinformation, found that in the wake of Musk's purchase, X accounts spreading misinformation had seen a spike in engagement.

Anti-immigration posts by Europe Invasion frequently trigger an avalanche of xenophobic and racist comments.

Inflammatory content spreads widely in part because it stokes emotional outrage that drives engagement, says Nathalie Van Raemdonck, a Belgian expert on digital-platform governance and misinformation prevention.

"If there is an element of emotional and moral language," Raemdonck told RFE/RL, "it's going to get more visibility."

Epilogue

In late November, around three weeks after RFE/RL contacted Mert Kok and the public-facing e-mail addresses associated with Europe Invasion, the X account changed its name once again. As of publication, it was known as “Update News” and used the X handle @UpdateNews724.

The new account’s banner features a photo of Musk.

The historical search function on X shows the first mention of this new name came no earlier than November 28. (That same day, a different account operating under the Europe Invasion logo and its previous handle was launched, promising a “fresh start." It currently has fewer than 300 followers.)

As its contact, Update News now lists an account purporting to be linked to a Boston-based digital consulting firm.

RFE/RL reached out to the company, called X Agency, which replied that it has “absolutely nothing to do with Update News.”

RFE/RL’s inquiry to Update News via direct message on X went unanswered as of publication.

Since the name change, the account appears to have broadened its focus to more general world news, but it made a quick splash with a post claiming – without citing evidence – that “45 percent of sexual violence” in Italy last year was committed by immigrants.

Musk’s account replied to that post with two exclamation marks, which Update News subsequently reposted with the caption: “We are the media now!”