Excellent short piece on Conspiracy Theories from CMU

[Pluvious]

Organized and malicious propaganda isn't a hobby, it's got purpose driving it.

The fabric of our society is being systematically divided, carved up into manageable chunks, and wielded as tools to pursue the perpetrators' agendas.

We must do all we can to fight back !

"Conspiracy theories increase polarization in groups. It’s what many misinformation campaigns aim to do," Carley said. "People have real concerns about health and the economy, and people are preying on that to create divides."

Carley said that spreading conspiracy theories leads to more extreme opinions, which can in turn lead to more extreme behavior and less rational thinking.

"Increased polarization will have a variety of real-world consequences, and play out in things like voting behavior and hostility towards ethnic groups," Carley said.

The research team cannot point to specific entities behind the orchestrated attempts to influence online conversations. "We do know that it looks like it's a propaganda machine, and it definitely matches the Russian and Chinese playbooks, but it would take a tremendous amount of resources to substantiate that," Carley said.

https://t.co/T2yDB2Qkci

[NoMoreRepugs]

1. I think question asked question answered.

“... it looks like it's a propaganda machine, and it definitely matches the Russian and Chinese playbooks, but it would take a tremendous amount of resources to substantiate that...”