That Uplifting Tweet You Just Shared? A Russian Troll Sent It

[ancianita]

Last edited Thu May 28, 2020, 05:27 AM - Edit history (2)

On the new troll world, from The Rolling Stone...

We’ve spent the past two years studying online disinformation and building a deep understanding of Russia’s strategy, tactics, and impact. Working from data Twitter has publicly released, we’ve read Russian tweets until our eyes bled. Looking at a range of behavioral signals, we have begun to develop procedures to identify disinformation campaigns and have worked with Twitter to suspend accounts. In the process we’ve shared what we’ve learned with people making a difference, both in and out of government. We have experienced a range of emotions studying what the IRA has produced, from disgust at their overt racism to amusement at their sometimes self-reflective humor. Mostly, however, we’ve been impressed...

These accounts also harness the goodwill they’ve built by engaging in these communities for specific political ends. Consistent with past Russian activity, they attacked moderate politicians as a method of bolstering more polarizing candidates. Recently, Vice President Biden has been the most frequent target of this strategy, as seen in dozens of tweets such as, “Joe Biden is damaging Obama’s legacy with his racism and stupidity!” and “Joe Biden doesn’t deserve our votes!”...

The IRA generated more social media content in the year following the 2016 election than the year before it. They also moved their office into a bigger building with room to expand. Their work was never just about elections. Rather, the IRA encourages us to vilify our neighbor and amplify our differences because, if we grow incapable of compromising, there can be no meaningful democracy. Russia has dug in for a long campaign. So far, we’re helping them win.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/russia-troll-2020-election-interference-twitter-916482/

EDIT: copyright infringement warning

[Steelrolled]

1. Possible silver lining?

Perhaps trolls will render Twitter useless for political information. Maybe it will become comparable to getting your news from the guy with the "The end is near" sign and the tin foil hat. It certainly is headed in that direction.

[lagomorph777]

3. I wish. But people seem to be becoming more and more gullible and susceptible to this horseshit.

My wife (a Falsebook devotee) is showing me posts that I immediately point out to her are from Russian trolls. But I see her attitudes closely aligning with some of the posts mentioned in the OP (though she hasn't showed me all of the hundreds of these she must see daily). This shit is working because it's so subtle.

We need to shut down Falsebook and Twit.

[ancianita]

5. Or maybe she needs to step up, learn more about ID'ing and reporting setups and manipulation,

practice stepping away from what darkens her experience, so that "we" get to keep a real time online platform that helps us know real events we'd otherwise not know about.

Trump wants to end Twitter, too, because it fact checks tweets with high follower counts. Same solution, different reason.

Me, I'd rather mend it, not end it. Scrapping everything is the way Republicans think, and now look at the state of our government and public health.

Maybe check out how Facebook and Twitter help the FBI and law enforcement apprehend child trafficking and porn networks, and ID KKK and hate groups, and you might see they are a benefit.

[lagomorph777]

7. I wish. But she's got various issues that make such discussions nearly impossible.

Nevertheless, I persist.

I think any platform that makes most of its money on lies and privacy violations needs to be unplugged.

Or at least held criminally and civilly liable for every lie they publish and every piece of foreign propaganda.

[ancianita]

22. Do you know for a fact that it "makes most of its money on lies and privacy violations"?

I think you'd have to prove that one.

You can't make an unfactual assumption to justify a "should" or "needs to be."


I don't care for the owner, Jack Dorsey, but neither does the Twitter board and management, so maybe content will improve the more the bots are detected and removed, and fact checking gets streamlined. He won't be the final word on Twitter much longer, I'm guessing. But I wouldn't throw the whole thing out because its founder is a hippie poser and asshole.

As for Americans getting better information and abandoning Twitter, I'd have to see some Twitter substitute before I'd say we "just walk away" and let trolls take over any of our communications.

That's pretty much what Russia wants us to do!

The idea of America is for Americans to run it in their best interests. As I see it, we're in a low grade cyberwar that smartens Americans up over time. Since we built this world network, I think we should at least fight for control of its use where we live.

[lagomorph777]

35. If you need a substitute for Twitter, try RT.

[certainot]

40. and talk radio. limbaugh pushing for trump to apt special counsel for obama/biden saying

it should be limbaugh friend andrew mccarthy......

if you want to know what's often going to show up on RT and social med later just listen to some limbaugh

a call into the limbaugh show reaches over 20 mil people and is basically anb adveertisement.

a fill-in for the croaking limbaugh the other day got a call from someone pretending to be a medical professional and she said she knew lots of prof med staff and doctors taking hydrochloroquine.....

right now limbaugh is calling for investigations and indictments of everyone in the obama admin, with barrack as coup leader. inc biden, susan rice, comey, brennan, clapper, and on and on. and pissed off at barr as being afraid of honoring the constitution

these calls probably prompted by the trump admin and maybe russian think tanks and all this crap wil probably get ramped up with social media and RT and OAN and fox all piggybacking on that 20mil a day largely captive audience, reaching 50 mil/week and endorsed by 87 universities

[cayugafalls]

13. I agree with you. I do not think ending social media is the answer.

Disconnection is one answer. Education is another. However, people are lazy and do not want to work at educating themselves when they are online.

I am torn about social media. I do not have facebook anymore and my twitter is seldom used. I simply do not need it in order to be happy and fulfilled. I realize that there may be some useful aspects as you mentioned...however, mending disinformation campaigns is an extremely difficult thing to do as their methods are subtle and varied.

Asking people to step up is fine, overcoming the sound machine and constant brainwashing is what is difficult. Psychological warfare is real. We are being turned family against family, brother against brother, husband against wife...etc.

Not sure what the answer is for everyone, for me it was disconnection and a discerning eye on all news, regardless of source. Not everyone is going to be an easy sell. I wish it was not so, but I fear the damage has already been done.

[certainot]

41. soc media cos could save billions just by monitoring talk radio and cross refrencing

because EVERYTHING on that propaganda monopoly is bullshit - guaranteed....

[cayugafalls]

44. It would be interesting to see how much russian money is behind conservative talk radio

I bet the reality would be interesting.

[certainot]

45. i agree. media really needs to look into it. i'll bet it's in some of the mueller redactions

all they had to do, is figure out how to feed limbaugh and the rest of the chorus would follow. aan event like 'climategate' in 2008 where limbaugh spent a nearly a whole week straight immediately after russians hacked those emails makes me wonder about payola. their interests often coincide anyway, but a whole week straight to derail obama at copenhagen was rare. delaying global warming is worth many billions to putin every year. then 3 weeks straight attacking christine 'ballsey' ford and getting another dipshit supreme on.

and wouldn't he want some premium besides a medal after getting trump elected and then selling the 'russian hoax' for 3 years in his defense?

he's a trump neighbor, friend, golf partner - i'll be he's met a few russians, maybe get the scorecard back with a swiss bank acct number.....

[chia]

10. No, we don't need to "shut down" FB and Twitter. We still have a right to freedom of speech.

What we need is to be able to recognize disinformation when we see it and when possible, counter it with truth.

When you say we need to shut these avenues of free speech which provide also good things, such as timely connections during crises and outlets for people we do trust to get information to us quickly, you play into the narrative of the right wingers who like to claim we want to "take away our freedoms."

[lagomorph777]

12. We don't have the right to lie. And foreigners don't have Constitutional rights.

[chia]

15. Really? People do have a right to lie. That doesn't make it moral, but they have the right.

And 'foreigners' do have some rights under the Constitution. You can't shut down free speech because some people aren't saying the right things. We have to be smarter than that.

[lagomorph777]

17. OK specifically certain lies can get us sued or jailed.

No, not all lies, you are correct.

But if I lie on my 1040, or yell "FIRE" (falsely) in a crowded theatre, or claim that a TV host murdered somebody, I can suffer serious consequences.

[chia]

19. Yes there can be serious consequences for lying. Sometimes but not usually they rise to the level

of legal repercussion. The kind of lies we're talking about here though aren't going to be at the yelling fire in a crowded theater level. It's targeted disinformation, it's digital, asymmetrical warfare and we need people savvy enough to search it out and expose it, and the rest of us need to be savvy enough to recognize it and call it out when we see it. Many have no desire to be on Twitter or FB and I get that. For myself, I have no desire to be on FB but I am on Twitter. And it's my right to be on Twitter and Twitter has the legal right to exist. Back to the original point, I don't believe there should be talk on our side about 'shutting in down.'

[ancianita]

36. And yet you endorse RT, jokingly or not. Not consistent with this message.

[ancianita]

4. Platforms show the worth of content over time. If Twitter no longer provides some hard hitting

timely event information, where else will that come from?

[lagomorph777]

8. How about the real world? "Hard hitting" is a nice euphemism for "inflammatory lies."

[ancianita]

37. How about hard hitting as in all the Twitter videos of police murders, or this one:

Link to tweet

You can call real time, real world events lies? Really?

You can't throw out the truth baby with the lies bathwater, imo.

[Laelth]

2. k&r for visibility.

This is important.

-Laelth

[cayugafalls]

6. Now that social media is being weaponized it is more important than ever to disconnect.

There is no social media like in person contact.

The Russians have killed internet social medias usefulness. I hope people will wake up and learn to disconnect, but I fear that the electronic instant gratification age of social media has gripped people and they will consume the madness with vigor.

We are seeing the end of civil society due to the influence of bad actors bent on destroying trust.

[ancianita]

14. Really? The way I see it, Social media are OUR tools. We made them. WE own those tools.

Not in the sense of public owned utilities, obviously, but we have made them beyond their originators'/owners' concepts. Privately owned terms of service platforms. Granted.



But communication is a tool. House rules say we don't just let someone come in our house and rob us of our knife set.

We need those tools to cook and eat with. We take care of them because they take care of us.

We don't need someone to come in (invited guests or not), point those tools at us, then just like that, we throw up our hands and say, "okay you get the run of the house," -- then give our tools to them because they've weaponized them. Then move out to where, the disappeared public commons? Where is that now?

Same goes for the bad actors amplification. Maybe they were always there and we just didn't know about them. Now that the social media footlights have lit a dark stage, we're seeing them better, and shocked at what we see. Doesn't mean they weren't always there, though.

When bad actors are bent on destroying trust, you don't let them have the stage and think there's another theater anyone can go to that's got good actors. Usually, good theaters make sure that the good actors' audience wants them to dispatch the bad actors, for a good story ending. Why let bad actors run the human stage?

Otherwise, what's the democratic theater for?

[cayugafalls]

30. In my opinion, to save my soul, I disconnected from most social media.

To use your analogy, they came into my house and used my knives and I backed off and decided to live to fight another day.

I chose my battle. Was I wrong to do that? Perhaps.

I have decided that I do not need social media. You have decided that you need social media. We are both right. Different people can have different opinions about the same thing and still come to an understanding. I never said to end social media. I simply stated that some people should disconnect.

Your final analogy about the theater is interesting. It actually brings up the point of regulation. Something that is seriously lacking with online social media conglomerates. The director is responsible for making sure that bad actors never hit the stage. He weeds them out for he knows that it would be disastrous to ticket sales if his theater was full of bad actors. The director does his best to makes sure his actors follow the script/rules.

You bring up some good points and like I stated in another response, I support your effort to fight the fight. I do not propose ending social media. I just don't have time to be one of those on the front lines.

[ancianita]

33. I hear you. Fighting is not for everyone. Everyone sees use of their time differently.

I just don't want too few to make the time and effort to hold down a useful arena so that the many can just not try to do what it takes to keep it.

While I think this is all users' fight, I understand that you do what you have to do.

Thanks for noting points of agreement.

[chia]

16. Now that social media is being weaponized it is more important than ever to fight fire with fire.

[cayugafalls]

21. Feel free to fight that war. Personally, I wasted a lot of time on social media.

I am glad I reclaimed that time. I am done tilting at windmills.

Some people are distracted by the inanities of a perceived social life online, they can sometimes forget what it means to really connect, human to human.

This is just my opinion and my choice for my life, I mean you no ill will. If you chose to fight that war, I support your effort.

[chia]

23. I understand and respect your perspective as well, I know we can't all take on it all, but some can

take on some. There are roles for anyone who wants one, from the internet researchers exposing the Internet Research Agency for what it is, Cambridge Analytica for what it did in 2016, the activities of Russian bots and disinfo campaigns - to those who steer clear of social media but exchange information in other internet venues like DU, to those who only read news publications but share their thinking with their real-life social circle, to those whose most valuable job is to get out the vote and vote themselves. These are all human differences in how we approach things, and that's not where the problem lies, to me at least. It's with people saying we have to shut down these avenues of free speech because we don't like what's being said. We have to go above that.

[cayugafalls]

31. Agreed. I do not believe shutting them down is the answer.

Thank you for understanding my position.

[chia]

38. You're welcome, and thank you for allowing me the space to express another view :)

I've been on forums for almost 20 years now, and believe me, I've had to step away many times so I understand where you're coming from. And yet - it was internet forums which gave me the information and support to turn away from the conservative brainwashing I'd been under (unaware) for much of my life. I'm so thankful for what I've learned via the internet - books, magazines, thoughtful and inspirational thinkers and doers who use the internet for communication. I don't know where I'd be without it, quite frankly. But I'm older now (late 50s) and I'm happy to let younger, more agile brains do the research that brings entities like Cambridge Analytica and the IRA to light, who also have the social media savvy to get that information out there and amplify it. Social media is a tool for good and for evil, but the good and evil have always been there. Without a cell phone camera and social media, George Floyd would be another unmarked murder of a person of color. Now we can shine a light on the evil, but there's no mistaking that the evil was always there.

[Brainfodder]

9. twitter is toxic, I hope it does not exist in the future.

Only need an email, any asshole can make a bajillion troll accounts.

I have a fake Suckbook account just for the occasional required login for some info there?
Just requires an email account, there is no legit security on either platform, same for YT.

I see a pattern, DUH!

[chia]

11. The social media genie can't be put back in the bottle. Some have the ability to avoid it but

others are ready and willing to engage in the asymmetrical digital warfare necessary to fight fire with fire. We can't all be digital luddites, some will have to have the ability to keep up with technology and engage in it for the good.

[Turbineguy]

18. Yeah, it's no longer

"capitalist-imperialist running dogs".

That's one reason why trump won't shut down social media.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

20. They work with "hooks."

They'll start with anything to gain a broad audience, and then once captured, will subtly work in their own desired messages.

[ancianita]

24. That's IT. And then what. Do we just stand by and let them? I say no.

Last edited Wed May 27, 2020, 08:35 PM - Edit history (1)

[IronLionZion]

25. That was from 2019. Now there's more masks and social distance memes

these trolls are using COVID to widen divisions in our culture wars by helping us to feel that some other people are stupid. Some of it is real, like the armed protestors. Others are harmless or fake like the images of people wearing masks and gloves in ocean water at the beach.

COVID is tremendous opportunity for Russia to get Americans to distrust CDC/WHO and spread the virus around through a pointless culture war that only has losers.

[ancianita]

27. Yes. New wedges to create through doubt about a system that MF45 has happily broken FOR them.

Culture wars can be won. Or we wouldn't have had the influence on women worldwide that we've had. Culture wars bring out not just the worst, but the best in humans, imo.

[IronLionZion]

29. Sigh, I hope so.

[TygrBright]

28. Yep, this time there really are Reds under the bed. n/t

[McCamy Taylor]

32. Read Roland Barthes and you will know how to spot the trolls.

[ancianita]

34. Cool. Back when I did read him, I couldn't have known what a troll is; but in THIS context, I will

definitely reread him. Thanks! Do you have a recommended title?

[Laura PourMeADrink]

39. Still think trolls on social media. They swarmed on those of

us pushing to impeach early on. It was more like disruption. Never offering any cogent opposing points. They also appear when anyone wants to discuss/debate constructive ideas. Disruption.
Looked and some haven't posted since impeachment started. Coincidence? And think some laid off due to COVID.

BTW, did read to beware of cute cat posts. Supposed to be a way for Russian troll farms to reel people in.

[C Moon]

42. There was a left wing FB page I followed for a year. I suddenly started noticing anti Democratic

posts on my FB wall, and it was that FB page.
I looked at the history of their posts, and somewhere along the line, it became a right wing page.
I don't know if it was hacked or that was the plan all along.

However, they went from hundreds of likes for each post (when it was a left wing page), then down to 12 or less likes for each post when it was hacked or whatever. In the long run, it failed.

[ancianita]

43. I had the same experience. I called out their pivots, warned them, and knew that others duly noted

their change. So good for you.

Because we Americans know how to pay attention. We're not as forgetful and stupid as the doubt machine wants to portray us.

[BComplex]

46. This thread needs to be shared with the whole country.

The russians, with the help of rupert murdock, has successfully torn our country apart to the brink of civil war. It needs to be called out at every turn.

[ancianita]

47. Haha... Well, the country does read The Rolling Stone, so it probably will, right?

[BComplex]

48. I wish. n/t

[ancianita]

49. ...

[niyad]

50. KNR