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Russia Reportedly Used Pokemon Go In an Effort To Inflame Racial Tensions (theverge.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the stoke-the-fire dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: Russia's far-ranging campaign to promote dissension in the United States reportedly included an effort to weaponize Pokemon Go. CNN reported that in July 2016, a Tumblr page linked to Russia's now-notorious Internet Research Agency promoted a contest encouraging people sympathetic to the Black Lives Matter movement to play the game near famous sites of police brutality. Players were told to change their characters' names to the victims of those incidents -- an apparent effort to inflame racial tensions. The Tumblr page was linked to Do Not Shoot Us, a multi-platform campaign designed to mimic aspects of Black Lives Matter. (As CNN notes, the name plays on "hands up, don't shoot," one of the movement's slogans.) Do Not Shoot Us included a website, donotshoot.us, along with related pages on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. The Facebook page was one of 470 pages that were removed after the company determined that it was linked to Russian groups attempting to interfere in US politics.

14 of 211 comments (clear)

  1. The strategy is obvious by zzyzx · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's less trying to promote one side or the other than a case of Let's You and Him Fight where they just try to get everyone so mad at each other than the US has trouble governing. Trolls are less about converting people (although it's great if they can) and more about making the other side think their views are so insane that they can't be reasoned with. It's all an attempt to get us into increasingly frustrated self selected bubbles and it does seem to be working. ...but maybe I'm just bitter because the Russians didn't offer me a Lapras for helping them. I mean if you're going to use Pokemon Go, use it!

    1. Re: The strategy is obvious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

      Trust me... It didn't take the Russians to be divisive, condescending, smug, and insulting.

      Liberal America did a great job of that without any prompting.

      "Hillary Clinton Doesn't Need White Males" wasn't a headline crafted by Russians. It was crafted by her, and radicalized millions of Obama voters against her.

    2. Re: The strategy is obvious by OzPeter · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Trust me... It didn't take the Russians to be divisive, condescending, smug, and insulting.

      Liberal America did a great job of that without any prompting.

      The irony in your post is almost palpable.

      --
      I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
    3. Re: The strategy is obvious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      I agree. The Democratic Party has made it clear that if you're a white male (or even just a white female who wants a normal life), they DO NOT want your vote.

      Fair enough. If they don't want me to vote for them, I will not vote for them. Ever.

      They've made themselves an actively toxic party. It's time for them to reap what they've sowed, and there's no need for Russian involvement for that to happen. There's a reason the Democrats control almost no local governments, and it has nothing to do with Russia.

    4. Re:The strategy is obvious by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1, Insightful

      This isn't trolling, this is state intelligence level psi-ops and stirring up civil unrest in other countries. This is Russia subverting US politics (BLM is a political movement, seeking political change) and causing distrust and unrest among the population.

      Look at how often BLM are labelled terrorists right here. Look at how people post complaints about fake groups like "Antifa Boston", citing fake news articles. It's not even all Russia, a lot of it is just useful idiots who got suckered in and started generating their own fake news because they think that the "mainstream media" is lying to them.

      I don't doubt that people on the left also fall for this sort of thing now and again too, by the way. I'm not partisan on this, I'm just against this kind of state level subversion of western societies.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    5. Re:The strategy is obvious by sittingnut · · Score: 3, Insightful

      there is evidence ... (since they've traced the activity back to Russia)

      in fact, there is no independently verifiable evidence.
      establishment authorities are making claims there is evidence and links, but no concrete details that can be checked independently.
      and even these claims are not of original accusations of facilitating trump win, "hacking" the election, etc, but of spending less than 0.01% of online (loosely defined) political ads( and much less of all ads), by "russia linked" "entities" (without much details about them and their alleged links).

      does russia's interests oppose usa's? yes.
      does russia want a weak usa ? yes.
      is russia trying to get its way v.s usa, even using covert and criminal activity? yes.
      all that is true (not just of russia but plenty of others) for a long time.

      but current narrative is not about such obvious things. it is a blatant attempt at renouncing responsibility for american evils and failures, and attempt to deny incompatibility of reality prevailing in usa, with agendas and ideology of establishment( whether it be sharing economic benefits and pains, justifications and sacrifices for permanent wars, free trade, unregulated immigration, etc etc ).
      by blaming russians for events arising from that reality( such as election of trump), you delegitimize that real opposition to establishment ideology and agendas.

    6. Re: The strategy is obvious by ScentCone · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Well, let's see: You imply stupidity by complaining about irony while carefully avoiding the fact that his observation is accurate. If there's irony involved and you fail to illustrate why, then you're just dishing exactly the sort of patronizing snark that the GP was talking about. In effect, you've just made his point all the more astute. Then you attack him (not the point he's illustrating) by suggesting that he's using lazy rhetorical devices (you know, the thing YOU just did), again instead of even mentioning anything having to do with the subject matter. So, yeah. You've done nothing BUT attack the OP, and stay away from the substance. And now you're being defensive about it instead of taking the opportunity to, say, explain why you think the Democrats AREN'T shameless, disingenuous, hypocritical promoters and exploiters of identity politics.

      --
      Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
  2. It's just the dems... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

    ...laying blame for their race war on Russia. Fake news is fake.

    Next they're going to say Russia mind controlled Hillary and made her call half the country deplorable.

  3. When will the left ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ... Realize that the MSM(ratings), politicians(votes) and external forces(espionage) are at place to cause anger? The common American goes about their day, trying to earn enough to provide for their loved ones. But the left is eating up anything and everything divisive, projecting all kinds of ill will towards anyone who has a differing opinion - SO MUCH SO, that a person who should not be the president of the US, IS the president of the US, because there was no other choice.

    And what has happened since the US election? The left has double downed on portraying any and all who don't think exactly as they do, as misogynists(oh the irony there) and racists(check out the founding and core of the Democratic party for the TRUE racists.

    Pushing people so far will yield someone who is not afraid to push back, and that was who was elected - the only person is not afraid to push back against all the crap that is constantly slung against the right.

    Keep on looking down your nose at fly over country, and this will NOT get any better. In fact, it will get MUCH worse.

    *Please done take this as the right is perfect, because I am greatly saddened that Trump can't act like an adult. He had the perfect opportunity, and has done nothing but blow it.

    1. Re:When will the left ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      It's a Good Thing that Russian Shills haven't infected Slashdot...fortunately, nobody here would be fooled by foreign anonymous cowards inflaming partisan invective...

  4. anyone still believe this Peak Bullshit? by Uberbah · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If so you should send me your money before some Nigerian prince steals it from you. The story went from Russia hacking servers and emails, to Russia colluding with Trump, and now we're down to talking about Pokemon and Facebook ads. But Russiagaters have to keep talking about this - if they stop, they'd have to admit they were a million megatons of bullshit crammed into a five pound sack.

    https://consortiumnews.com/201...

  5. Re:You want to use cashiers check or PayPal... by AmiMoJo · · Score: 3, Insightful

    What does the DNC emails have to do with Russian inference? Your entire argument seems to be that because you found some fake thing everything else no matter how unrelated must also be fake.

    This seems to be a standard tactic of alternative fact peddlers. CNN made a mistake once, therefore everything they ever reported is fake news.

    --
    const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
    SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  6. Re:You want to use cashiers check or PayPal... by Uberbah · · Score: 3, Insightful

    What does the DNC emails have to do with Russian inference?

    Are you....kidding? It's only the foundation for for the accusations that Russia tried to interfere with the election. No big whoop.

    Your entire argument seems to be that because you found everything to be fake everything else no matter how unrelated must also be fake.

    FTFY2.

    This seems to be a standard tactic of alternative fact peddlers. CNN made a mistake once, therefore everything they ever reported is fake news.

    Your projection is noted - Russiagate is the definition of fake news.

    Don't like that? Then come up with more evidence than what Birthers, Chem Trailers and Sandy Hook Truthers do to support their theories. Or admit you've turned into that cranky Uncle Bob on Facebook who insists to this day that Obama really was a Kenyan-born Muslim with a fake birth certificate.

    Eh.

    Veh.

    Dence.

  7. Re:You want to use cashiers check or PayPal... by Uberbah · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The foundation of the accusations about Russian interference are the FBI, CIA and NSA investigations of their activity on social media, funding and meeting with American citizens.

    No. It's not. Not even remotely close. Whining about Social Media ads - many of which were placed after the election last November and someone of which involved cute pictures of cats or criticizing a Trump golf course in Scotland - is the last pathetic attempt of partisan hacks desperate to keep their edition of the Whtiewater/Vince Foster witch hunts going. Or didn't you notice the steady moving of the goalposts - from DNC hacking to collusion to $100,000 in ads (many of which were place after the election) in a race where Hillary spent $1.2 biiiiiiiillion dollars?

    It's all in that report, why don't you read it?

    You mean a report completely lacking in the aforementioned Eh Veh Dence from the same professional liars who sold you on Saddam plotting 911, who spy on Congress while perjuring themselves before Congress?

    Did you read the link noting that all this hyperventilation is over drops in an ocean?

    Say hi to Uncle Bob for me, as you've turned into a Birther: someone who skates right on by legitimate reasons to oppose a political opponent in favor of engaging in theories so bizarre they wouldn't make it onto Info Wars.

    And all so that the corporate Democrats that brought you Trump can make the conversation about Russia and not their epic fail, so they can maintain control and direction over the party. Might as take one of Uncle Bob's "4 more years!" sign and put it on your lawn. Right now.