I was thinking that too when I heard the sargon call after reading the server caps, they are acting like worm tongues, literally whispering in his ear on Skype call with Sargon.
Giving him ideas, making him think they are his own. You can see them manipulating one of the other "academics" in the screencaps in a similar way.
I figured they were just running a troll op, not that they were on someone's payroll as there is no proof