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Russia-Linked Twitter Accounts 'Tried To Divide UK' After Terrorist Attacks (theguardian.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the false-information dept.

AmiMoJo shares a report from The Guardian: Fake social media accounts linked to Russia were used to influence and interfere with public debate in the aftermath of four terrorist attacks in the UK this year, researchers have found. At least 47 Russian Twitter accounts posted material after attacks at Westminster Bridge, Manchester Arena, London Bridge and Finsbury Park, according to researchers at the Cardiff University Crime and Security Research Institute (CSRI). Of the 47 accounts, eight were especially active, posting at least 475 tweets about the four attacks, which were reposted more than 153,000 times. The accounts intervened on both sides of polarized debates to ramp up the level of discord online, the research found.

59 of 133 comments (clear)

  1. Only 47? by HornWumpus · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Seriously 47? I call bullshit, there have to be more Russian trolls on twitter at any given second. And Americans, and Germans, and Australians, and Indians. Trolling is a world wide passtime.

    --
    John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    1. Re:Only 47? by AHuxley · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Think of the debate within NATO on that number.

      Contractors wanting more over time prove 4700000 accounts are spreading news about what the Religion of War is doing.
      The NSA and GCHQ are sure its 47000000 accounts and want more funding to examine 5 hops from every account.
      MI5 and the FBI don't have 42300000 trusted contractors to watch 4700000 accounts in 24h shifts of 3 contractors.
      Some NATO nations are sure they cannot fund the over time for 3 investigators on weekends.

      After much internal debate the number 47 is selected from a list of bigger numbers.
      Its not a scary big number and can be presented like the Western security services have total control of the Religion of War issue.
      500 contractors watch over 47 accounts in shifts. A number NATO spending can cover.

      Trusted US and European news and social media dutifully push out the 47 number.

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    2. Re:Only 47? by blackomegax · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Nice try, Russian divisive bullshit bot

    3. Re: Only 47? by c6gunner · · Score: 2

      500 contractors watching 47 accounts?

      You do realize that we have these fancy doohickeys called "computers" these days, right?

    4. Re:Only 47? by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Seriously 47? I call bullshit, there have to be more Russian trolls on twitter at any given second.

      I suspect that just stopped creating more once they realized that they could not possibly do a better job in dividing Britain than the Conservative party was doing all by itself. They are so divided that recently they even threatened to sue their own MPs.

    5. Re:Only 47? by ilguido · · Score: 1

      What? Are you serious? The shockingly diminutive numbers of the alleged Russian campaign on Twitter & Facebook (they spent tens of thousands of dollars over a year! tens of thousands, I tell you!!11!!) were the artificially inflated result of a computer-assisted, paranoid review. I mean, they included among the suspected Russian trolls even those that have a cyrillic character in their username or that logged even once from Russia. Well that last one makes sense: I'm sure that Hillary Clinton logged from Russia more than once.
      Jokes aside, to hijack the Brexit referendum, Russia allegedly spent up to 1$. Maybe Russians have loads of internet trolls, but Brexit, the Donald, racists, social warriors, divisions, the internet craziness are not their fault: they were all home-produced.

    6. Re: Only 47? by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      Re "You do realize that we have these fancy doohickeys called "computers" these days, right?"
      That would take away from 3 contractors sitting around watching the one account owner.
      8 to 12 hours later the next shift of 3 take over.
      Given average working hours and the number of shifts over a day with weekends, thats a lot of new surveillance work to cover 47 people who are working 47 real accounts..
      3 people per shift allows for the new NSA enforced buddy system. Nobody can be alone doing NATO contract work.
      Why use a computer to just track 47 accounts when a few hundred new jobs just got created.

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    7. Re:Only 47? by tinkerton · · Score: 1

      The handlers of the GCHQ bots complained that there were posts opposing their bots so they concluded it must have been russians.

    8. Re:Only 47? by tinkerton · · Score: 1

      In fact it's always hard to say because of all the idiots around and because of the effectiveness of the propaganda , but it's plausible that a lot of the 'fuck off ivan' posts are from shills from the so-called good side. The budget is a lot larger , it's cheap, and it adds to the general feeling.

    9. Re:Only 47? by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      There is still debate: Twit or twat?

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    10. Re:Only 47? by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      The best trolls don't work for government. They do it because the love it, same as all great artists.

      Don't neglect the positive effect of trolls in breaking up circle jerks. There are groups that _deserve_ trolling and any other mockery they get. Laughter is a weapon.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    11. Re: Only 47? by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      Really any comment here doing down the West or claiming there's a moral equivalence between Russia and the West or they're all as bad as each other (or mentioning NATO at all) is a good indication of a paid Russian troll.

      Yes, anyone who criticises any aspect of US/Western life is definitely a paid Russian troll, because we are perfect and they are 100% evil, simple as that.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  2. So did Russia also sponsor those attacks? by Balial · · Score: 2

    Or is that just too much conspiracy?

    1. Re: So did Russia also sponsor those attacks? by c6gunner · · Score: 4, Funny

      Of course they did. They also faked the moon landing and gave the footage to NASA.

    2. Re: So did Russia also sponsor those attacks? by Balial · · Score: 2

      That also explains the chemtrails that cause climate change!

    3. Re: So did Russia also sponsor those attacks? by c6gunner · · Score: 1

      It's true. And the goddamn Russians are already trying to cover up the truth by modding my last comment "flamebait". Just wait, they'll come after you, too!

  3. Oh yeah by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I totally believe this guys! You should too.
    The Russians stole my sandwich today also.

  4. I refuse to believe this MSM bs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    there is no more Russian trolls/hackers than anywhere else. This leftist conspiracy nonsense has to stop

  5. Reposted about 300 times each by SlaveToTheGrind · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And created some sort of ill-defined "discord" -- maybe.

    Meanwhile, U.S. "journalist" Brian Ross's fake news about Michael Flynn was retweeted over 25,000 times in less than half a day and caused the stock market to tank.

    So yes, let's definitely keep the focus where it belongs -- on a handful of posts from Rooshun nobodies. Because that's clearly what's dividing everyone.

    1. Re:Reposted about 300 times each by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      typical what-about-ism.

      let's focus on the topic at hand - that twitter accounts, controlled in all likely hood by Russian intelligence services, are attempting to sow discord in the UK.

    2. Re:Reposted about 300 times each by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      "in all likely hood"

      What, so there's no evidence, YET AGAIN??

      Those of us with a brain are getting pretty tired of the constant DNC/establishment propaganda designed to distract from their criminal activities by screaming "RUSSIA!" multiple times per day. FOAD, losers.

    3. Re: Reposted about 300 times each by cyber-vandal · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The newspapers in the UK are far more effective at sowing discord than a few trolls on a platform that the majority of the country doesn't use.

    4. Re:Reposted about 300 times each by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      What-about-ism. This kind of crap is what lead to the murder of a British Member of Parliament. It's not trivial or unimportant.

      --
      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:Reposted about 300 times each by SlaveToTheGrind · · Score: 2

      What-about-ism.

      Well, no. It's exactly this kind of tripe that IS the what-about-ism. Show me the first article on this site about the Brian Ross debacle. There isn't a single one (and that holds true for the vast majority of attempts by the official media channels to foment the masses), yet we're treated to several poorly written, poorly sourced, handwaving articles a week about supposed Reds under our beds. It's nothing but a distraction from the misinformation campaign we're treated to on a daily basis from the supposed good guys.

      This kind of crap is what lead to the murder of a British Member of Parliament.

      Rank speculation. Your article didn't even come close to connecting those dots.

    6. Re: Reposted about 300 times each by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      More people use social media than read newspapers in the UK.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    7. Re: Reposted about 300 times each by cyber-vandal · · Score: 1

      Since when is Twitter the entirety of social media and how many of the over 60s who voted for Brexit spend their time on there? Facebook is vastly more popular here and the Russian influence on there was ruled negligible by the Electoral Commission. If you have some compelling evidence that Putin did it then you'd better let them know, otherwise give it a fucking rest already.

    8. Re:Reposted about 300 times each by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      It's not speculation. The murderer tried to cite Russian posts as evidence in his trial. Some of them were retweeted by Britain First, whose name he murdered in.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  6. The Cleverest Social Media in the World by AHuxley · · Score: 5, Funny

    47 accounts that have a hall full of the best anthropologists, psychologists, psychiatrists and propagandists to support them.
    Halls of select staff in isolated, sealed military cities.
    Hand crafting every word on typewriters to ensure total security from the NSA and GCHQ.
    The final approved message is transmitted by number station https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... deep into the UK.
    After the one time pad is used once a message is released on to waiting social media in a NATO nation.
    The account has a real ip and looks like an average ISP. Using a desktop computer and consumer OS.
    The ill equipped minds of the average European cant handle the flow of such quality statements.

    --
    Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    1. Re:The Cleverest Social Media in the World by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      The sad part is that even when they forget to turn location tracking off and it says "Moscow" right there on their Facebook page most people don't notice. They don't check the source, they just re-post it on their own feed.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  7. Has the world gone mad? by William+Baric · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Between the alt-right who thinks the Jews are controlling the world and the left who thinks it's Putin who is controlling the world, I'm beginning to think that flat-Earthers are not that bad after all.

    Am I the only person on this planet who is still sane?

    1. Re:Has the world gone mad? by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      Follow the over time and funding.
      With every account discovered thats 3 unionized security service jobs created to watch the one account for 12 hours. 3 shifts of 3 people in 24h for years.
      Thats budget growth for the clandestine services, a bureaucratic success, more work for private sector contractors and a good news political story.
      More mil work if the special forces have enter a home.
      A good cyber news story can be the pathway to entire gov and mil careers.

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    2. Re:Has the world gone mad? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Between the alt-right who thinks the Jews are controlling the world and the left who thinks it's Putin who is controlling the world

      If I think that Putin is Jewish, does that make me a centrist?

    3. Re:Has the world gone mad? by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      Well, the Flat Earth guy plans to test his theory scientifically. He's completely nuts, but he's still less crazy than either of these.

      He plans to make money off donations and then accomplish nothing but spending it on himself. He's a scammer who is not nuts at all.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    4. Re:Has the world gone mad? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The rational thing to do is look at the evidence. There is evidence that Russia is influencing people in the West.

      Is it really surprising that Russia continues to use propaganda, especially now that we build these effective tools to disseminate it?

      --
      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:Has the world gone mad? by coastwalker · · Score: 1

      You arrogant Americans deserve what is comming to you. The foreign trolls have scented the death about you, the kids on 4chan think that it would be fun to take down your society with a frog. Even if only the Russians have been definitively detected as trying to sow discord in your society your arrogance makes you a big fat complacent target for anyone who wishes you ill. Serves you right I say, eaten from the inside out by Facebook the pinnacle of democratic capitalism.

      You seriously underestimate the power of propaganda now that social media can amplify it a millionfold. Have you never wondered why totalitarian societies have a tight grip on what information is transmitted through the internet? Let me give you a clue, they know that they can control their populations and you guys are about to find out what happens when your enemies control your population. Soon we will be buying buckets of popcorn and watching you turn your cities into piles of rubble like Syria. I am rather looking forward to Alex Jones'es armed inssurection when Trump finally gets called to acount for tax fraud or whatever Mueller manages to dig up on him.

      --
      Facts are history now plebs have politics for religion on social media.
    6. Re:Has the world gone mad? by William+Baric · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yes, the rational thing to do is look at the evidence. So can we look at it? Because up to now, the only "evidence" is that there are people who say there is evidence, but we don't see any actual evidence. For example, can we look at those ads that RT America bought on Facebook to judge if the conspiracy theory can possibly be true? I'm asking this because I did see a few ads from RT in the past (not on Facebook since I don't use it), and they looked to me like all ads from any news media. It looked to me the goal of those ads were to attract viewers, nothing more.

      Anyway, do you realize the alt-right is also saying the evidence shows the Jews are controlling the world and trying to destroy white people? For example, they use the "Frankfurt School" and the "Kalergi plan" as evidence. They use the fact that owners of American media are disproportionately Jewish as evidence. They use an awful lot of facts to "prove" their conspiracy theory. Of course, none of the facts presented by the alt-right are logically valid arguments to support their conspiracy theory, but don't you see the people who claim that Russia was behind a propaganda effort to make sure Trump got elected are doing the exact same thing as the alt-right? Don't you see their conspiracy theory is as crazy as the conspiracy theory of the alt-right?

    7. Re:Has the world gone mad? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      What about the social media accounts claiming to be ordinary British people, with hundreds of thousands of reposts, that only post during Moscow office hours and occasionally forget to delete their Moscow location data?

      Both the Frankfurt School and Kalergi plan are real too, but they are also very old news (like a century old) and the claims made about them don't stand up to scrutiny. The main difference is that those theories are all circumstantial, while Russian inference is specific and impossible to explain any other way.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    8. Re:Has the world gone mad? by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      Between the alt-right who thinks the Jews are controlling the world and the left who thinks it's Putin who is controlling the world, I'm beginning to think that flat-Earthers are not that bad after all.

      Am I the only person on this planet who is still sane?

      I thought the left was pro-Putin because he's not Donald Trump? Or something.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    9. Re:Has the world gone mad? by William+Baric · · Score: 1

      Ah, yes! I've seen that claim of the Moscow office hours that goes from 9 am to 9 pm (those Russians certainly do some serious shifts), as well as the professionals who "occasionally forget" to delete their location data (I guess Putin should not force his government employees to work 12 hours a day).

      Now don't get me wrong, I'm sure among those supposed fake "pro-Russian" social media accounts there were also teenagers in Russia who troll the shit out of people, trolls are not something that exists only in the West, but considering that as evidence of an organized campaign by Dr. Evil, err... I mean Putin, to "interfere" with Western democracies is as crazy as believing the Frankfurt School is evidence of the Jews being behind a conspiracy to destroy the "white race".

  8. Re:Religion has no need to debate by Patent+Lover · · Score: 1

    We need -1 Annoying I spent 10 seconds reading it.

  9. Re:Look, guys, it is obvious what we need to do. by Narcocide · · Score: 2

    This is a perfect example of the type of divisive bullshit they'd be posting too. Almost too perfect of an example, actually...

  10. Color me purple and pink! by phantomfive · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Russians were trying to divide the country? That's awful! It could be worse, imagine if our own politicians were trying to divide the country! Oh, wait.

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    1. Re:Color me purple and pink! by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      The only way this ends is with the realisation that both sides are as bad as the other and that we all have more in common than we do with

      You can say that again. The different parties are much more alike than they are different. Each party thinks the other is led by Hitler. We are so similar that politicians need to use very small things to try to divide us (like abortion).

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    2. Re:Color me purple and pink! by SlashDread · · Score: 1

      How exactly, do you know this divide isn't escalated largely by these actions, and how do we know it's ONLY 47 accounts?

      I for one, remember quite vividly how all of a sudden, even here on /., after the Ukrainian invasion by Russia, there was a sudden influx of almost trollish proposals of idiotic theories, how it was really the CIA (f.e.).

      Troll factories are real. Russia is at info-war with us. And they are really really good at it.

    3. Re:Color me purple and pink! by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      How exactly, do you know this divide isn't escalated largely by these actions, and how do we know it's ONLY 47 accounts?

      That's a very trollish question there. Show the evidence or you yourself have become the troll.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    4. Re:Color me purple and pink! by temcat · · Score: 1

      All these stories about Russian "attempts to divide" coupled with minuscule resources allegedly devoted to the task now smell like bullshit to me. Looks more like someone has found a bunch of accounts of people who may indeed be linked to Russian government but hasn't found any evidence of them taking a definite side on political issues as a group (because they've been likely expressing their own views as individuals). That, however, would not make a story, so it was decided to portray the situation as an "attempt to divide" because in any case, it's not possible to prove otherwise.

      Meanwhile, the so called trolls (actually, sockpuppets) are really active in the Russian part of the Internet, and have two kinds of tactics which are more or less effective: defend the government's POV on the issue at hand or simply flood the forum with all kinds of trash, usually of toxic nature, to suppress normal discussion. The latter only works in limited circumstances. I will therefore really believe stories about Russian meddling when there will be evidence of Russian agents take a certain side reasonably beneficial to the Russian government.

    5. Re:Color me purple and pink! by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      Meanwhile, the so called trolls (actually, sockpuppets) are really active in the Russian part of the Internet, and have two kinds of tactics which are more or less effective: defend the government's POV on the issue at hand

      I don't know if that's the government though (it might be, I don't know), but there are plenty of average Russian citizens who will willingly do that without getting paid. Just like there are plenty of people in America who willingly defend Trump when he says stupid things.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  11. How about using that intelligence and by shm · · Score: 1

    figuring out where the real terrorists are coming from?

    Instead of making countries safer, they're going after internet trolls?

    Good grief. Way to distract from their own incompetence. Or is it collusion?

  12. Re:JFK by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    But, he was already dead yesterday -- making it unnecessary for them to go back and kill him today.

  13. Re: Russia by shilly · · Score: 1

    What makes you think others think that it's OK for Western nations to be doing this either?

    It's not OK when the US does it, and it's not OK when Russia does it.

  14. They're certainly quick... by Miles_O'Toole · · Score: 2

    I was going to remark that we could expect Russian apologists to swarm to this story in three, two...but I was too late. They're already on it like flies on a fresh turd.

    --
    Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.
  15. Russia faked news says Fake News organization .. by najajomo · · Score: 2

    How Syria's White Helmets became victims of an online propaganda machine

    Syria : White Helmets ... EXPOSED!

    White Helmets' bizarre ‘mannequin challenge’ in Syrian warzone

    Brilliant! Unedited, fake White Helmets 'rescue' video

    Fake News Alert: CNN Finally Admits “White Helmets” Staged Fake Video

    White Helmets”and the winnner isanything but truth

    Meet The Man Behind The Propaganda Rami Abdul Rahman

    The Truth Behind The Oft-Quoted Syrian Observatory For Human Rights

    Syrian Observatory for Human Rights run by immigrant from his UK home

    The rubber babies of Aleppo

  16. The Division by Scroatzilla · · Score: 1

    The division, which only exists because people are now hyper-aware of terrorism and related issues, goes something like:

    Right: Terrorism is bad; open borders contribute to insecure nations. We shouldn't have open borders.

    Left: This is our new way of life; you are a racist if you can't deal with it.

    1. Re:The Division by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      The division, which only exists because people are now hyper-aware of terrorism and related issues, goes something like:

      Right: Terrorism is bad; open borders contribute to insecure nations. We shouldn't have open borders.

      Left: This is our new way of life; you are a racist if you can't deal with it.

      Gosh, I wonder whether you are on the right or Left? So hard to tell from your finely balanced strawman.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  17. Miller Lite by tsqr · · Score: 1

    This whole thing reminds me of the old Miller Lite commercial where Conrad Dobler stirs up trouble between "tastes great" guy and the "less filling" guy.

  18. Re: Capture: Forsty by Maritz · · Score: 1

    The edgy neckbeard manchildren like it, so it'll stay.

    --
    I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
  19. Re: Russia by shilly · · Score: 1

    Well, some people do think it's OK, but many people don't. Why focus on the ones who do? Focusing on that hypocrisy risks ignoring or minimising or whatabouting the very real problem of Russian meddling. It also doesn't solve the problem of Western meddling. The hypocrisy is not as bad as the meddling.

  20. Hello paid troll by Rujiel · · Score: 1

    The trolls here are easily identifiable. Often, they're the ones lamenting Russian trolling, which isn't present here--you'd have to be delusional to think the russian government knows or cares about slashdot. On the other hand, corporate and government trolls from the US have been here for years, calling Assange a rapist, snowden a double agent, glenn greenwald a liar and bradley manning a coward. We see trolls lying about how the ISPs secretly desire network neutrality, and about how global warming is a hoax. Now compared to all that, find me one post here extolling Putin. Go ahead.

  21. Re:Please stop posting Guardian propaganda here. by Rakarra · · Score: 1

    That's an amazingly low bar for racism if you think that's racist.