Russian Trolls Tried -- and Failed -- To Push Divisive Content On Vaccines (fortune.com)

Russian trolls "seem to be using vaccination as a wedge issue, promoting discord in American society," according to a new study shared by long-time Slashdot reader skam240. "The topic became another issue the Russian trolls seized upon to widen existing rifts in America and turn citizens against each other," reports NBC News.

But Fortune reports there's more to the story: While the latest study highlights how Russian outfits have increasingly used social media to toy with people's emotions to influence their behavior, it's also notable for the fact that most Twitter users appeared to have ignored its anti-vaccine messages... Outside of the Russian trolls, virtually no real Twitter users actually responded to the messages, said the paper's author David Broniatowski, an assistant professor in at George Washington University's School of Engineering and Applied Science. Generally, Russian trolls try to exploit controversial topics like religion, and race and class division, but "sometimes they get it hilariously wrong," he said.

Broniatowski attributed the campaign's failure to the content of the tweets, which included: "VaccinateUS mandatory #vaccines infringe on constitutionally protected religious freedoms;" "Did you know there was a secret government database of #vaccine-damaged children? #VaccinateUS;" and "Dont get #vaccines. Iluminati are behind it. #VaccinateUS." The messages were so far-fetched that even people who believe in conspiracy theories chose to ignore them.

Comments

Really?

[nospam007]

"Outside of the Russian trolls, virtually no real Twitter users actually responded to the messages"

Not even the stupid McCarthy bitch, who has thousands of dead kids on her conscience?

Re: Really?

[Guy On A Sybian]

What thousands of kids are you referring to? The ones who are getting thrice the amount of inoculations in their first days as you did as a child? There is substance to that part of the argument as well as the one for children who have a family history of autoimmune disorders. I have one friend who was paralyzed from a flu shot. Her mother and aunts had fibromyalgia.

And that bobble-headed bleach blond did not make the decisions. The parents did.

Re:Really?

[hey!]

I know people who are anti-vaxxers who are not stupid or uneducated. What they are is emotionally overwrought. In the architecture of the human brain, emotions have absolute priority over reason, so once you give your feelings a free rein they can lead you anywhere.

We call these particular people pushing the anti-vaxx bullshit "Russian trolls" because of the tools they happen to use, but if you look at what they're actually *doing*, it'd be more accurate to call them "Russian propagandists". And propagandists know all about the power of inciting passion, both positive and negative.

The Russian government has taken the measure of our society, and they obviously believe they have found a weakness. Freedom of communication and association. If their propagandists can encourage people to associate based on violent and paranoid passions, they can weaken us. It's psychological warfare, and that's not just a metaphor. In this case there will be casualties.

Re: Really?

[Excelcia]

My second youngest almost died as a new infant from a disease that almost everyone is immunized against, or should be, because someone like you convinced enough parents not to vaccinate their kids that my son was able to get it before he was old enough to be vaccinated himself.

Communicating to encourage suicide is a crime. Communicating to encourage wacko vaccine theories should be too.

Re: Really?

[Anonymous Coward]

Stop feeding the Russian troll

Re:Really?

[Anonymous Coward]

They should have tried it on Facebook not Twitter. Plenty of that rubbish already on Facebook.

Re: Really?

[Anonymous Coward]

Communicating to encourage wacko vaccine theories should be too.

As long as you also make "Communicating griefs about my son's almost death" and "Communicating about stuff people other than me dislike" a crime too.

Personally, I'd like to make "Having kids without also having a fundamental understanding of the Bill of Rights and Constitution" a crime punishable by death, but I don't think that's about to happen anymore than your criminalizing desires.

/sarcasm

Banning people's speech because you dislike it is against the founding principles of the US for a reason. The fact you failed to learn that reason in school is the reason why your hate is misplaced and why it will go unanswered.

Re: Really?

[Anonymous Coward]

But, think about the prog-slut kids that get ebola ... how else do you prune the Trotskyesque gene-pool?

Re:Really?

[nine-times]

We call these particular people pushing the anti-vaxx bullshit "Russian trolls" because of the tools they happen to use, but if you look at what they're actually *doing*, it'd be more accurate to call them "Russian propagandists".

I've been arguing for months that we should be calling them "Russian spies". To call them "trolls" implies that they're just being a bit pesky, and it's all in good fun. I agree that "propagandists" is more accurate, but it doesn't capture the fact that it's a foreign government doing this out of malicious intent, and for their own strategic advantage. They're spies, and they're doing a good job infiltrating our telecommunications and public discourse.

Re: Really?

[Excelcia]

It's amazing how Americans hide behind their constitution to justify all sorts of egregious things.

It's also amazing how ignorant about it that Americans are. So, here, let me educate you on your own constitution. The right to "free speech" as you call it, has limits. It's "free" so long as it remains in the boundaries of that is generally called "protected speech". It's been hashed out in case law for a long time, and is still being hashed out, and what is or isn't is more complex than can be explained here, but generally courts find that your right to free speech ends when it impinges on the rights of someone else or on the public good. This goes to the right to free anything. None of the rights are absolute, and this is a very good thing. Speech enjoys more protection than other rights, simply because it is not an inherently invasive action. However there are many cases where speech is restricted, and on a daily basic. You can't knowingly lie about someone publicly, or damage their reputation or impune them, because that's slander/libel. That's a civil law restriction on free speech. There are also criminal ones. My earlier example about how communicating for the purpose of encouraging someone to commit suicide is a crime, that is an example. Another one is communicating secrets to foreign entities, which can be treason. So, what you said, is demonstrably false. Banning people's speech because it is disliked it is absolutely not against the founding principles of your country, as long as the speech that is disliked is not protected speech.

So the real question is, is communicating false assertions about vaccines, is that protected speech. I have no doubt some people actually believe it the stories about vaccines, despite how provable false they are. But then again, there is such a thing as criminal stupidity. Where simply believing it because some rabid conspiracy nut said it isn't enough to protect you from basic fact checking before spreading it around like a canker on society. Because of the public endangerment involved, I think there is a good case to be made that it's not protected speech. It would be interesting to test in court. I suspect that anyone trying to argue that spreading nutball conspiracy theories about vaccines to the point that it is a danger to public health is protected speech would have an uphill battle justifying it in court. Where, presumably, the light of reason is supposed to prevail. Even in the US.

Re: Really?

[c6gunner]

Your response is not actually a response to what he said. Yes, there are forms of speech which are illegal. No, that's not sufficient justification for banning people from communicating their personal views, even if those views are contradicted by science and could potentially cause some harm. The US specifically prohibits very few forms of speech at the criminal level, and for good reason; the moment you start down the path of defining which ideas should be illegal you swing wide the doors for others to criminalize your ideas as well. This is how tyranny begins.

Re: Really?

[Anonymous Coward]

Translator failure again Ivan - what's a prog-slut?

Re:Really?

[F.Ultra]

She is even more stupid than you think: https://www.androidpolice.com/...

Re: Really?

[Opportunist]

Please die. And take your kids with you.

The world would instantly be a better place.

Re:Really?

[hey!]

The precisely correct term for what you're talking about is "provocateur".

Re:Really?

[Rick Schumann]

In the architecture of the human brain, emotions have absolute priority over reason

Maybe for YOU.

Re:Really?

[nine-times]

Well... If you want to get all technical and debate it, the term "provocateur" is sometimes used to describe people who are somewhat innocuous. For example, I've heard people say that Kanye West is a provocateur, in the sense that he does provocative things. Then there's the term "agent provocateur", which would be somewhat apt, but arguably describes a subset of "spies".

That is, the term "spy" is sometimes used generally to indicate anyone involved in intelligence, espionage, or some kind of adversarial covert action. Acting as an agent provocateur, falling under that umbrella of covert action, would classify you as an example of spycraft, i.e. all agent provocateurs are spies, but not all spies are agent provocateurs.

On the other hand, I could see an argument that calling someone a "spy" implies that their primary goal is "to spy", in the sense of covertly gathering information. The primary goal of these "Russian trolls" isn't to gather information, but to spread misinformation and influence political groups. I can see that argument, but I don't find it convincing. The Russian government had trained agents infiltrate American society in order to gather information, spread misinformation, and engage in a covert influence campaign. I think if you surveyed English people to ask what the name for such a person is, I think most would say "spy". The fact that their infiltration took place online shouldn't change that.

Re: Really?

[Ol Olsoc]

What thousands of kids are you referring to? The ones who are getting thrice the amount of inoculations in their first days as you did as a child? There is substance to that part of the argument as well as the one for children who have a family history of autoimmune disorders. I have one friend who was paralyzed from a flu shot. Her mother and aunts had fibromyalgia.

And the Russian Troll has arrived!

Do you8 for a moment think anyone pays attention to you festering azssholes any more? Aside from the Lulz of course.

Re: Really?

[Ol Olsoc]

Stop feeding the Russian troll

We shall give them salt and bread, tovarish.

Re: Really?

[Anonymous Coward]

let me educate you on your own constitution.

Let ME educate YOU!

The amendment says "no law", and no exceptions are specified. If you want to restrict speech, you must follow proper procedure to change the law, in this case, amending the constitution.

It obvious you are a propagandizing fascist who wants to decide what others can say. You are dangerous.

Re: Really?

[Anonymous Coward]

Foreign subversives, the default bogeyman for authoritarian governments, only this time they're real.

Re: Really?

[Anonymous Coward]

Entitled anti-American douchebags sure are full of hate and bile.

Re: Really?

[astrofurter]

Dude, look out - there's a Russian hiding under your bed!

Are you *really* so ignorant as to believe *everyone* who is against forced-vax is a Russian bot? Greens, hippies, small-c conservatives, libertarians, intellectuals, anarchists, and some religious faithful are all natural opponents of authoritarian quackery.

When your scream your appeal to your ersatz religion - "but but but muh SCIENCE(tm)!!!!!!!!!11!!!1!!!" - only credulous middle-brow bumpkins are moved. Anyone with real understanding of science, statistics, and/or history can see you are disingenuously sweeping risks under the table, while exaggerating the benefits of widespread coerced compliance.

Re: Really?

[Dan541]

Communicating to encourage suicide is a crime. Communicating to encourage wacko vaccine theories should be too.

There should be a anti-vaxxer register. There's one for sex offenders, why not anti-vaxxers since they also pose a grave threat to the community.

Re: Really?

[astrofurter]

Everyone who disagrees with me is emotionally unbalanced!!

Re:Really?

[buravirgil]

Why are you dragging Andy Kaufman into this? /s

Re: Really?

[Ol Olsoc]

Dude, look out - there's a Russian hiding under your bed!

One in my bed too.

Are you *really* so ignorant as to believe *everyone* who is against forced-vax is a Russian bot?

Now where did you get the idea I thought that? What I do think is that anyone who is against vaxxing is a huge pile of shit that should be separated from society along with their disease carrying children so that you don't inflict your diseases on the rest of us.

Pay attention to the story here, it is about how Russian trolls have used anti-vaxxing to sow discontent.

Greens, hippies, small-c conservatives, libertarians, intellectuals, anarchists, and some religious faithful are all natural opponents of authoritarian quackery.

Make no mistake, I do not have a fuck to give about you living or not living. But purposely using your children as a disease vector sways my opinion that if your decision to force your children to be a disease vector, that any child or adult that is killed by your irresponsibility will cause you to be convicted of first class murder and punished according to the capital crime statutes of your country. You have your convictions, so you cannot disagree without displaying sociopathy.

Those children you are responsible for killing didn't get the chance to make any decision.

Have you considered refusing to use any medication at all? Any and all medication has side effects, some times fatal. You logic would insist that you not take any corrective action. People die some times during or after surgery, you must avoid any and all medicaments and surgical procedures.

But of course you don't. You have based your acceptance of possibly killing your children and other people on the "research of a man who was found to have been working in concert with a lawyer to take advantage of sympathies of juries to unfortunate families and make a real payday of the manipulation.

You have further based your anti-vaccine fantasy on the work of a woman who's qualifications for vaccine research consists of exposing her breasts, vagina, buttocks and anus to photographers to make erotic/pornographic images used as a masturbatory aid for mostly men. No judgement here on what she has done, just that it doesn't qualify you for anything else than doing porn shoots, maybe a little celebrity promotion.

When your scream your appeal to your ersatz religion - "but but but muh SCIENCE(tm)!!!!!!!!!11!!!1!!!" - only credulous middle-brow bumpkins are moved.

Now there is a paragraph! You have many imaginary arguments with people? The cool part of that is you always win with those. Not so often in real life

Anyone with real understanding of science, statistics, and/or history can see you are disingenuously sweeping risks under the table, while exaggerating the benefits of widespread coerced compliance.

Hello? You are now challenged to present your evidence that science, statistics and history show that vaccinations kill more children than avoiding vaccinations. We take a risk every time that we take a medicament. We take a risk every time we don't take one. There is a very good reason that vaccine research was undertaken. Dead and paralyzed children.

Looking forward to your dissertation, all of the research I've seen shows that vaccines have saved millions from death, paralysis, and disfigurement.

Re: Really?

[Anonymous Coward]

Are you *really* so ignorant as to believe *everyone* who is against forced-vax is a Russian bot?

Actually, yes. Imagine the stink we're going to get when we find out that the anti-nuclear movement is being pushed by the same people.

Re:Really?

[Anonymous Coward]

I've been arguing for months that we should be calling them "Russian spies". To call them "trolls" implies that they're just being a bit pesky, and it's all in good fun.

A spy gathers information from a target country and sends it to HQ, while HQ instructs a troll to send false information to the target country. There's a huge difference.

Re: Really?

[Highdude702]

Can they at least have sugar and bread so they can make alcohol? O.o you know they die without it.

Re: Really?

[Ol Olsoc]

Can they at least have sugar and bread so they can make alcohol? O.o you know they die without it.

This is good, allow them their drink.

Re: Really?

[Anonymous Coward]

You're definitely not sowing discontent, Boris. No sir.

And you don't seem the least bit unhinged. You're certainly not talking like a wingnut religious fundamentalist, that's for sure!

Re:Really?

[Anonymous Coward]

5th Column, always had a nice ring to it with sinister undertones.

Re: Really?

[Ol Olsoc]

You're definitely not sowing discontent, Boris. No sir.

And you don't seem the least bit unhinged. You're certainly not talking like a wingnut religious fundamentalist, that's for sure!

I have no hinges to un!

Re: Really?

[Maritz]

It obvious you are a propagandizing fascist who wants to decide what others can say. You are dangerous.

No one on this shit heap site is dangerous.

Seriously though, you're not aware of limits on free speech, and you haven't heard of protected speech? Why are you engaging in this argument if you're so ignorant on the facts?

Re: Really?

[Anonymous Coward]

You're insane.

Re: Really?

[Anonymous Coward]

Your "facts" do not overrule written law. No exceptions are specified, thus none are permitted. The judges that have ruled against the 1st Amendment should be thrown off the bench! With extreme prejudice!

If vaccines were safe...

[110010001000]

...why did they remove the mercury from them after people started noticing and complaining? Comrade, think about it.

Re:If vaccines were safe...

[Anonymous Coward]

Because dumbasses like you were using it as an excuse to not vaccinate their kids and they hoped removing it would help avoid more kids dying of diseases we can prevent.

Re:If vaccines were safe...

[110010001000]

Rats! We have been foiled again Comrade! It would have succeeded if it weren't for the clever people here and the moderators!

Re: If vaccines were safe...

[Anonymous Coward]

It's used as an antibacterial in multi-use vials, which are only used these days when a lot is needed in a hurry. Single use vials don't need it, as they're only used once. The only people spinning anything out of this are tinfoil nutters and decaying Russian state actors.

Re: If vaccines were safe...

[110010001000]

I am always amazed that people respond to what is obviously a bad joke. I guess it does prove how effective social media is against stupid people.

Re:If vaccines were safe...

[Anonymous Coward]

Because most people don't understand chemistry. Fearmongers spread that vaccines contained mercury even though it was in the form of the compound thimerosal which breaks down to ethylmercury in the body. Neither thimerosal or ethylmercury are one of the harmful mercury compunds like methylmercury, which is an organic compound that is formed by organisms combing mercury with carbon, or elemental mercury which is also toxic. However, good luck convincing the average person about the difference between ethylmercury and methylmercury.

Re: If vaccines were safe...

[nine-times]

Maybe because it's a bad joke, and not a good one.

Re: If vaccines were safe...

[110010001000]

Either way it is obvious that a lot of people took it as a serious statement. That is troubling because it shows how stupid people are.

Re: If vaccines were safe...

[F.Ultra]

It does but not in the way you are implying. That people believe that you wrote it in seriousness is not due to them being stupid but because stupid people write exactly such things on the Internet all the time.

Re: If vaccines were safe...

[Anonymous Coward]

It's also exactly how the propaganda and lies propagate unchecked. "Ha ha only kidding" is a marvellous excuse knowing that the poison has already been spread. In much the same way neonazis use jokes and "ironic" statement that are ha ha only serious to suck children in.

Re:If vaccines were safe...

[Rick Schumann]

STFU and go get some chelation therapy for all that mercury you've obviously been snorting.

Re: If vaccines were safe...

[110010001000]

I guess the "Comrade" wasn't a hint? Wow, I guess I found the stupid people.

Re:If vaccines were safe...

[110010001000]

Found another one.

Re: If vaccines were safe...

[110010001000]

OK. COMRADE. You figured it out, Comrade. So smart, COMRADE.

Re:If vaccines were safe...

[Anonymous Coward]

fuck off antivaxxer

Re: If vaccines were safe...

[Anonymous Coward]

I find the best jokes are the ones that get no reaction at all and then has the author shouting at everyone telling them how funny it was.

Re: If vaccines were safe...

[Anonymous Coward]

Correct me if I am wrong but ethylmercury seems to be pretty toxic too, at least thatâ(TM)s what the Wikipedia article says. Not sure how much toxic it is compared to methyl mercury though. The amount in vaccines is probably too small anyways, to produce any serious toxic effects.

Re: If vaccines were safe...

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually it is not that clear, there seem to be several studies that claim ethyl mercury and methyl mercury have similar toxicity in vitro but not necessarily in vivo. Ethyl mercury has a shorter half life, so itâ(TM)s eliminated quicker and methyl mercury seems to cross the blood brain barrier more easily, leading to much more damage. In vaccines ethyl mercury was used in very small amounts, which combined with its short half life and more limited BBB penetration, therefore avoiding serious damage to the nervous system. While methyl mercury can cross the BBB much more easily and also lingers in the body for much longer, leading to persistent neurological damage. In high doses both seem to be pretty toxic though, as they are in vivo too.

Re:If vaccines were safe...

[Maxwell'sSilverLART]

Because most people don't understand chemistry. Fearmongers spread that vaccines contained mercury even though it was in the form of the compound thimerosal which breaks down to ethylmercury in the body. Neither thimerosal or ethylmercury are one of the harmful mercury compunds like methylmercury, which is an organic compound that is formed by organisms combing mercury with carbon, or elemental mercury which is also toxic. However, good luck convincing the average person about the difference between ethylmercury and methylmercury.

Your post suggests that methylmercury differs from ethylmercury by being an organic compound, combining mercury with carbon; that is, that ethylmercury is not an organic compound, that it doesn't combine mercury with carbon. Would you like to clarify that, or do you have a fundamental misunderstanding of chemistry?

Re: If vaccines were safe...

[buravirgil]

Asserting a "bad joke" is "obvious" in a text-based environment could explain why one doesn't have steady work in the Catskills.

Re: If vaccines were safe...

[Anonymous Coward]

In vaccines ethyl mercury was used in very small amounts, which combined with its short half life and more limited BBB penetration, therefore avoiding serious damage to the nervous system.

And how does this apply to a nervous system that is still very much immature and not fully developed, as is the case with newborn and infant vaccination?

Re: If vaccines were safe...

[F.Ultra]

With the added benefit that once you make a reply you can be immediately brushed off as not understanding the joke (talking mostly about the alt-right memes here), so it's some strange eating the cake while having it too.

Is there anything else?

[Gabest]

If you read Russia backwards it is Satan.

Re: Is there anything else?

[BeauHD (4)]

No it doesn't but I like where your going with that...

Re:Is there anything else?

[Anonymous Coward]

Russia backwards is Assure. If anything, this suggests their trustworthiness.

Thiomersal

[Anonymous Coward]

The main reason people were against vaccinations were not the vaccines themeselves, but rather the mercury compound thiomersal that was used as a preservative in them. The mercury exposure was claimed to cause autism in children. There were supposedly a bunch of scientific studies disproving this, but thiomersal was nevertheless eliminated from vaccines administered to children. It is still used in other vaccines that you might be getting as an adult. Yeah, Big Pharma says it is perfectly safe, but just go to its wikipedia article, read the toxicology section, and then decide for yourself whether this is something you want to be injected in your kids. In any case, I think you should definitely be aware of the issue and that it is wholly inappropriate to dismiss this issue as "denialism" by some "ignorant hicks".

Re:Thiomersal

[Anonymous Coward]

Thanks, I'll go with thiomersal rather than dying of lockjaw. Just look up the Tetanus wikipedia and decide for yourself, you ignorant prick.

Re: Thiomersal

[Anonymous Coward]

Did you know that an apple contains more cyanide than a vaccine contains thiomersal?

Quantity matters, you ignorant hick.

Re: Thiomersal

[110010001000]

Cyanide? He is talking about mercury you ignorant hick! They are different, Comrade!

Re: Thiomersal

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, do you enjoy seafood, then?

Re: Thiomersal

[burtosis]

Would you eat a highly reactive toxic metal that explodes when it touches moisture? How about eating a chemical weapon credited with hundreds of thousands killed on the battlefield? Because that's table salt, sodium chloride. Chemistry matters. One tiny drop of methyl mercury can absorb through neoprene gloves and jelly your brain as a leading mercury researcher found out the hard way, thimerisol locks up the mercury in a compound and isn't reactive with your body and is used in small amounts. Chemistry matters.

Re:Thiomersal

[Anonymous Coward]

just go to its wikipedia article, read the toxicology section, and then decide for yourself whether this is something you want to be injected in your kids.

So what you are saying is, Wikipedia is colluding with the Russians trolls to seize upon existing rifts in America and turn citizens against each other.

I'm being facetious, because the whole "Russian Trolls" thing is complete bullshit.

There was a story recently about Facebook posts that have been linked to an Iranian group. The problem is, there is no different between what they posted and the typical political cartoons that appear in American newspapers and magazines every day.

Would they *LIKE* to influence people? Sure.
Would they *TRY* to influence people? Sure.
Have they *ACTUALLY* influenced anyone?
No.

And that's the problem when "foreign actors" try to engage in propaganda in the U.S. They always get it wrong. Their attempts are so laughable that they are ignored.

Re: Thiomersal

[Anonymous Coward]

No, dump fucking parents and entitled bitches cause autism in children. The more entitled the parents are the more like for the child to have autism

Re: Thiomersal

[Anonymous Coward]

No, the main reason people were against them is they're idiots who Celebrity Worship and have simple minds.
And just FYI thimerosal was removed because it's it needed for single dose vials/syringes, and it simplifies the manufacturing of the vaccine.

As for the article, Next Up: Russian Trolls use the topic of Russian Trolls to sow divisiveness!

Re: Thiomersal

[110010001000]

Sodium chloride? I doubt that is legal to sell here in the US. Certainly not to children, Comrade.

Re: Thiomersal

[110010001000]

No. Seafood contains mercury. I wouldn't eat it.

Re:Thiomersal

[Anubis IV]

Your own link indicates that you’ve got the cause and effect backwards. It wasn’t normal people being wary of thiomersal that led to its removal: it was the removal of thiomersal that led to normal people being wary of it.

The reason thiomersal was removed from vaccines was because it metabolizes to ethylmercury, which is similar to a known-danger, methylmercury. Working on the assumption that it was just as dangerous, the CDC did some naive extrapolations from what we knew about methylmercury dosages and determined that the dosage of thiomersal in a vaccine, while likely not dangerous, was close enough that it was better to have it removed. So, as a purely precautionary measure, the CDC had thiomersal removed from all vaccines beginning in 1999 (with Europe following suit), which was the right thing to do until further studies could be done. Later studies discovered that ethylmercury flushes out of the human body much faster than methylmercury and interacts very differently with our tissue, making it nowhere close to as dangerous as methylmercury, meaning that it was always perfectly safe at the dosage levels present in vaccines.

As for your advocacy that people make up their own minds, how about you let someone who has gone to school for the better part of a decade so that they could specialize on this topic break the issue down for you, rather than relying on Wikipedia? What next, hand people the source code to the Linux kernel and tell them they should make up their own minds about whether it’s being used to spy on out children? People aren’t equipped to make up their own minds about these sorts of topics. Either equip them to do so or point them to those who are. Telling people to “go and make up their own minds” without a foundation to do so or any of the relevant context that is necessary for an informed opinion is like pushing someone off a cliff without a parachute or any training on how to use one.

And while a few people took note of thiomersal’s removal and bandied around conspiracy theories, it probably would have blown over, were it not for Andrew Wakefield publishing his long-since discredited, retracted by its publisher, fraudulently-researched paper indicating a link between vaccines and autism. In doing so, he effectively threw fire on the burgeoning anti-vax movement, allowing it to become the circus it is today, with brainless celebrities repeating utter and complete FUD as fact. Mind you, he was never licensed as a medical practitioner in the US, and he was stripped of his license in Europe as a result of his name being erased from the medical register by the UK’s General Medical Council, which is the strictest sanction they could impose after finding him guilty on all charges brought against him.

As for thiomersal in vaccines being linked to autism, it hasn’t been. In fact, the rate of autism has continued to increase since thiomersal was removed back in 1999, which is a contraindicator to the notion that it’s at fault. But hey, why let facts get in the way of what you’re saying?

Re:Thiomersal

[Anonymous Coward]

Even if it did cause autism at some incredibly small rate, it is still less risky than the disease itself. It is far far better than having an outbreak of said disease which would overwhelm the healthcare system and ensure deaths.

Re: Thiomersal

[burtosis]

You can only get it if it's dissolved in dihydrogen monoxide. I'm pretty sure that's a weapon found no where on earth.

Re: Thiomersal

[Anonymous Coward]

And it's the damn Russian trolls that put the mercury in the seafood. They're also the ones responsible for stealing socks out of people's washing.

Re:Thiomersal

[Anonymous Coward]

how about you let someone who has gone to school for the better part of a decade so that they could specialize on this topic break the issue down for you, rather than relying on Wikipedia?
People arenâ(TM)t equipped to make up their own minds about these sorts of topics.

This attitude is just one of the many things that keep the issue alive in the first place. "You are not educated enough to understand the issue" used as an argument always indicates that you are the one who does not understand the issue. If you understand something, you should be able to explain it in a simple and straightforward way, so that any layman could understand it. If you can't do that, you don't understand and are simply hiding behind the "you are wrong because you are stupid" defense. Just stop, admit you don't know, and help restore credibility that the scientific community has completely lost in part because of such attitudes.

As for thiomersal in vaccines being linked to autism, it hasnâ(TM)t been. In fact, the rate of autism has continued to increase since thiomersal was removed back in 1999, which is a contraindicator to the notion that itâ(TM)s at fault. But hey, why let facts get in the way of what youâ(TM)re saying?

Misreading other people's arguments is another thing you should stop doing. I did not say that vaccines were linked to autism; I said there were studies that purportedly disproved the connection. Most people, including me, believe autism to be caused by increasing parent age, but any other causes have received very little attention and have not by any means been ruled out. This lack of attention is in part caused by the dismissive "know-it-all" attitudes of people like you.

Later studies discovered that ethylmercury flushes out of the human body much faster than methylmercury and interacts very differently with our tissue, making it nowhere close to as dangerous as methylmercury, meaning that it was always perfectly safe at the dosage levels present in vaccines.

Being not as dangerous as methylmercury very different from being "perfectly safe". Thiomersal's wikipedia article clearly specifies it to be toxic on its own. If you really dislike wikipedia, as I gather from your dismissive comments, then read the MSDS linked to from there. The MSDS, published by Sigma-Aldrich, clearly states that thiomersal is "Highly Toxic", with maximum allowable exposure listed as low as 10 micrograms. Will you say that Sigma-Aldrich is also full of idiots who don't know what they are doing? Maybe you should get out of the lab now and then and meet some normal people. Might cut down on your hostility.

Re: Thiomersal

[c6gunner]

"You are not educated enough to understand the issue" used as an argument always indicates that you are the one who does not understand the issue. If you understand something, you should be able to explain it in a simple and straightforward way, so that any layman could understand it.

We can, and we have. People just refuse to accept it. I can tell you all day that ethylmercury and methylmercury behave differently in the body, but if you're a jackass who insists on believing that both are dangerous and that I'm part of some grand conspiracy to poison your kids there is not a damn thing I can do to change your mind.

Someone pointing out that you're not an expert and don't understand something is not an insult. None of us are experts in the vast majority of things there are to know. If you're the kind of person who believes that he's an expert in absolutely everything, there is a strong likelihood that you are just an opinionated jackass who doesn't know much about anything. Intelligent, rational people are capable of admitting when they don't know something, and deferring to the advice of experts. That doesn't mean you have to accept everything they say as gospel truth, but if 99% of experts disagree with you it's a damn good indication that you need to carefully reexamine your position.

Re:Thiomersal

[F.Ultra]

But their goal is not to spread propaganda. Their goal is to create chaos and instability, so they want to wind people up and not spread a specific message.

Re: Thiomersal

[Anonymous Coward]

And invading Ukraine and shooting down an airliner, don't forget that.

Re:Thiomersal

[Anubis IV]

This attitude is just one of the many things that keep the issue alive in the first place. "You are not educated enough to understand the issue" used as an argument always indicates that you are the one who does not understand the issue.

Except that isn’t what I argued. I said people aren’t equipped to understand, so you should be equipping them to do so or pointing them to people who are equipped to do so. I never suggested people are too stupid to understand. That’s an argument you’re trying to shove in my mouth.

If you understand something, you should be able to explain it in a simple and straightforward way, so that any layman could understand it.

I literally spent an entire paragraph explaining why you were wrong in a simple and straightforward way so that you could understand. It was the paragraph right before the one you quoted. I was practicing what I preach: attempting to equip you with better information so that you can actually make an informed decision, rather than telling you to go read random things and make up your own mind without a basis for understanding what you’re (mis)reading.

Misreading other people's arguments is another thing you should stop doing. I did not say that vaccines were linked to autism;

A) I never said you did. I simply addressed the falsehood that you had floated.
B) Even though you didn’t out-and-out claim it, you might as well have, given your use of “supposedly”, “claimed”, and other weasel words to try and obfuscate the issue.

Being not as dangerous as methylmercury very different from being "perfectly safe".

Agreed, but I didn’t say that it was “perfectly safe”. What I actually said, which you even quoted, was that “it was always perfectly safe at the dosage levels present in vaccines” In high enough dosages even water is toxic to us. There was a woman a few years back who died from water poisoning in a “Hold your wee for a Wii” water drinking contest that a radio station was putting on. Do you get similarly concerned about water?

As for the MSDS saying 10 micrograms is the maximum allowable exposure, could I get a link? Because I see nothing resembling that when checking around. Moreover, toxic exposure levels are typically expressed in terms of dose/kg, which is especially important in this conversation, given that children’s masses are wildly different from ours. What I see is that the LD50 is listed as 75 milligrams/kg on Wikipedia, which is several orders of magnitude higher than what you’re suggesting but it’s also the LD50, so it admittedly has minimal relevance here.

Re:Thiomersal

[Dr. Bombay]

Some kind of preservative is needed.
Deuterium oxide could be use to preserve vaccines as it is by definition sterile and microbes
cannot grow in it without extensive adaptation. Additionally, D2O reduces protein denaturiztion at low temperatures.
However, trying to explain stable nuclear isotopes to non-scientists once the word "nuclear" is uttered is impossible.

Re: Thiomersal

[Anonymous Coward]

And there was a deleted tweet from eastern Ukrainians living there who boasted about shooting down a C-130. There were Ukrainian war planes operating in the general area but Ukraine didn't close the airspace to airliners by fear of looking bad, and the Ukrainian who shot the plane fuck up because they were operating the Buk mobile air defense without an external mobile radar.

Re:Thiomersal

[Anonymous Coward]

You sound like the kind of person who gets pissy and defensive when someone tries to explain that there's no such thing as a perpetual motion machine.

Re: Thiomersal

[Anonymous Coward]

Does your mother know what you do for a living?

https://www.onderzoeksraad.nl/en/onderzoek/2049/investigation-crash-mh17-17-july-2014

Re: Thiomersal

[Anonymous Coward]

Q: What's the longest river in Egypt?

A: Denial

Re: Thiomersal

[Anonymous Coward]

True, but isnâ(TM)t that methyl and ethyl groups often give compounds similar biological effects ?

Itâ(TM)s not necessarily the case with these compounds, though I wouldnâ(TM)t want a large dose of ethyl mercury in my body. Both compounds seem to have similar toxicity in vitro, though Methylmercury has higher neurotoxicity in vivo (there are several studies pointing this).

Re:Thiomersal

[Anonymous Coward]

Your idea is a non-starter on both scientific and supply terms. I wish you all the best in securing a large ongoing pipeline of cheap, highly pure D2O. Bacteria can live in at least 98% heavy water, good work on inhibiting plant growth, though!

Re:Thiomersal

[Anonymous Coward]

Sir, you are afflicted with logorrhea to our disadvantage, your vaccination clearly notwithstanding. As for a source code's vouching for a binary: https://www.archive.ece.cmu.edu/~ganger/712.fall02/papers/p761-thompson.pdf

Oh yes, almost forgot... C-O-M-R-A-D-E.

Re: Thiomersal

[burtosis]

Dimethyl Mercury killed a leading reaserxher when a trivally small amount absorbed through a latex glove and then her hand. Its toxic enough such that 4 lab workers have died handling it. The researcher in the article kept getting higher and higher blood mercury test readings right up to her death half a year later. Thimerisol breaks down primarily into ethyl mercury which almost completely clears your system in 6-9 weeks it drops to half in two and a half weeks. It's toxic yes, that's the idea as it is used as a preservative - but it's not like the methyl group compounds that stay with you far longer and cause problems - that was settled 20 years ago with research.

Comrade think....

[Anonymous Coward]

If they were safe, why has everyone that was ever vaccinated died or is on the road to death within the next 100 years?

big idiots running things

[OrangeTide]

or Donald Trump ? He even states it more plainly than this.

It is clear that our commander-in-chief believes that vaccines causes autism. Despite any evidence. So I don't really worry too much about what some Russian bots are saying when we have real Americans spreading stupid theories.

Re:big idiots running things

[h33t l4x0r]

I don't think it's clear at all that he believes that vaccines cause autism. He just likes to position himself as the one guy who will tell the truth, even when doctors, the media, the FBI, etc. are lying to you. That's what got him elected.

And by the way, he's backing so many conspiracy theories, that at least one of them is likely to be true. Like picking 20 long-shots art the horse track. I personally like "9/11 inside job" at 20:1

Re: big idiots running things

[Anonymous Coward]

EVERYONE knows 9/11 was an inside job. People who say they believe the obviously-false official story are just lying for perceived social advantage.

Re: big idiots running things

[astrofurter]

President Trump refuses to ignore mounting evidence of serious health risks, even when that threatens pharma corporate profits. Because he actually cares about the well-being of the American people.

And all you can do is scream, "HERESY!!!!!!"

Re: big idiots running things

[Anonymous Coward]

Truth however is not equal to saying the opposite of the mainstream line. Systematically taking the position that is opposite to mainstream is the same as following the mainstream line. He may get it right, once or twice, but overall he is wrong most of the time. Not that his electorate really cares about truth ...

Re: big idiots running things

[h33t l4x0r]

No, but it's more believable because the number of conspirators can be restricted to a small number. A small black ops team could pull off a scenario like that. Theories that require (for example) the entire Democratic party to be comprised of pedophiles, on the other hand, are a million to one shots. But POTUS somehow backs those too.

110010001000 = fake name massive human fail

[Anonymous Coward]

See subject: Your MASSIVE FAIL in this life is you're nothing more than a chattering little do-nothing "ne'er-do-well" online & you know it...

* Is that the best your "phantasyland FAKE NAME" (for your fake lie of a so-called 'life') can manage?

When a FAKE NAME do nothing like YOU does better than I have? Then talk (you're all talk & no action)...

You can't help you're an immature little BUTTHURT no-mind, lol! I blew you away in TONS OF PLACES and easily dust your no-mind bullshit blatherings.

APK

P.S.=> The TRUE PRICE of your UNIDENTIFIABLE FAKE NAME do-nothing selves like you that I can ALWAYS CASH IN ON (lol) is that I can use FACT/TRUTH on them to SHATTER their all TOO fragile delusional egos that they actually know A DAMN THING in computing, lol... apk

Re: 110010001000 = fake name massive human fail

[Anonymous Coward]

The creimertards, "APK", Trump imprisonment fantasizers, Russian-conspiracy theorists, and the faggot/INCEL/pedophile/traitor/Nazi trolls are all the work of disreputable political operative David Brock, and his fifty cent army of "nerd virgins".

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/09/david-brock-hillary-clinton-correct-the-record/

Earlier they gained notoriety for their duplicitous "Correct the Record" misinformation campaign on behalf of presidential candidate Hitlary Clinton.

They are are employed by a Democrat affiliated "progressive" propaganda works called "American Bridge 21st Century". According to Wikipedia their biggest funder is George Soros.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Bridge_21st_Century

The purpose of their spamming and cyber-stalking is to silence unapproved narratives. They do this by deterring free public discussion and poisoning any forum that does not implement censorship of unapproved viewpoints.

Re: 110010001000 = fake name massive human fail

[Anonymous Coward]

No Kremlin trolls then? Really?

failed?

[Lordfly]

There's currently a measle outbreak in a dozen states because so many idiots think vaccines will kill their child.

Once again, the Russians are running circles around us.

(and hello to all the Brave Comrades reading Slashdot here! I hope you get an extra ration of vodka today.)

Re:failed?

[110010001000]

Vodka AND potatoes. Thank you for your support.

Re:failed?

[110010001000]

Rats! Foiled again...

Re:failed?

[Greyfox]

Kids these days with their "measels". Now smallpox and polio, there were some diseases!

Purpose of good

[Okian Warrior]

"Outside of the Russian trolls, virtually no real Twitter users actually responded to the messages"

An obvious response comes to mind.

Why not pick a political agenda (such as vaccination) and engineer a bot army that argues for the correct position?

Specifically in this case, why doesn't a group of 40-or-so people get together and agree to play the analogous "troll" position, build a couple of hundred bots, and sow complacency and agreement (instead of divisiveness)?

It sounds like bot trolling is an effective and disruptive way to sway many things - an election, regime satisfaction, and scientific belief.

Why doesn't someone use that technique for the purposes of good?

Re:Purpose of good

[admin7087]

To answer your question: because it would be immoral. The end does not justify arbitrary means.

Re:Purpose of good

[rtb61]

How about Russian twitter trolls are cheaper than American ones and will push what ever agenda they are paid to push, the typical PR=B$ troll scam, multiple accounts to push what ever agenda they are paid to push. Contracted out to the cheapest groups, going on for years. They are making up all sorts of crazy shit about every thing, insane paranoia, to push, a Mcarthyist style putsch, you know, speak against the American establishment and you are a Russian agent. Then you would also have, Russian nut ball anti-vaxers who read and write english, agreeing with the American anti-vaxers, er, because morons, the internet brings people together from all over the world who can share the same language, include crazy anti-vaxers. I hear in term of percentages, African countries have the highest, right up there with crazy shit like witchcraft.

Basically this story "Oh MY God, Russians can read and write English and use the internet," and percentage wise, not reading or writing Russian, they seem to have a similar ratio of anti-vaxers in the backwaters of Russia

Re: Purpose of good

[Anonymous Coward]

Wrong. The end defines intent and morality, not the means. Wether the means had unintended consequences is another topic.

Re: Purpose of good

[Anonymous Coward]

Sure it does. Peace through violence, and other leftist positions.

Re:Purpose of good

[Anonymous Coward]

Peasants can't, or don't want to, think for themselves. Someone is going to manipulate them and tell them what to believe. The only question is who.

Re:Purpose of good

[Anonymous Coward]

To answer your question: because it would be immoral

lol

Re:Purpose of good

[nine-times]

There's a relatively non-obvious problem with your suggestion: Truths and falsehoods often don't have the same quality of information.

To give a really simple example, consider these two statements:

1) Joe tells you that he has invented a perpetual motion machine.
2) Ed tells you that Joe almost certainly has not invented a perpetual motion machine.

This is already simple, and I picked a topic so that you would already know that Joe is lying (or is wrong), and Ed is correct. What's more, this is an example that should be relatively easy to test and verify, so there's not a lot of ambiguity. Still, a lot of people will probably believe Joe, even in the face of evidence against it.

But now ignore the subject matter for a second and think about the rest of the sentence. In this example, Joe claims [A] is true, and Ed claims that [A] is "almost certainly" false. That's because Joe, in the act of lying, is free to make statements with total certainty. Ed, in telling the authentic truth, has to admit that his knowledge is incomplete. Until Ed gathers more information about Joe's claim, he can't tell you what the machine is actually doing, does not have a physical model for the machines operation, and so on a certain level, has to concede a level of uncertainty.

In addition, Joe is telling you something you want to believe, it's exciting. It opens possibilities. In a lie, Joe is free to construct his statement to tell you things you want to hear, and to engage you in whatever way is advantageous to him. Ed, on the other hand, it telling you something boring and disappointing, and it closes off possibilities. Because he's telling the truth, the kind of engagement that he can offer is limited by the reality of the subject he's trying to convey.

I'm not an experts-- and there are experts in this kind of thing-- but I think it's pretty clear when you think about it that you can't get people to believe something simply by presenting them with true information, even from an abundance of sources. Often enough, people choose to believe falsehoods because they're comforting, easy, pleasant, or exciting.

It also makes a lot of sense when you think about your suggestion. You're asking, "Why not create a bot army that argues for the truth?" But there are already plenty of people posting the truth. You don't need a bot army to push the idea that people should vaccinate their children, because you already have an army of smart, responsible, informed people who are pushing that viewpoint, but it's still failing to convince the anti-vaxxers.

It's not because there isn't enough information or that there aren't enough voices, but that "vaccines caused my child's illness" is a story that people like. It lets them off the hook for any responsibility for their child's illness. It puts the blame on something that seems small and easy to avoid. If it's genetic, you don't really have control over that, and it feels like it's your fault for having shitty genes. If it's pollution, then you have to figure out who to blame and how to stop pollution. If it's a vaccine... well, you never liked bringing your kids in for vaccines anyway.

Re:Purpose of good

[fredrated]

Bots spreading useful information became immoral when?

Re: Purpose of good

[Anonymous Coward]

Joe invented a perpetual motion machine? I bet it's fuel source is lard ass cells that somehow magically absorb 2 calories of energy from 1 calorie of food. The cells then self cannibalize and the excess energy is used to power the perpetual motion. It all makes sense!

Otherwise, the only possible explanation for why fatties are fat is they eat more than they burn. And that would be a personal failing, not some magically external cause.

#butheremails

Re:Purpose of good

[radarskiy]

"It sounds like bot trolling is an effective and disruptive way to sway many things - an election, regime satisfaction, and scientific belief.

Why doesn't someone use that technique for the purposes of good?"

Because the technique does not produce one outcome or the other, it produces chaos. It may just so happen that out outcome prevails in chaos, or maybe all you get is the chaos. Those using the technique effectively don't care about any of the possible outcomes as much as they care about the chaos.

Re:Purpose of good

[Anonymous Coward]

"Immorality" wins in this universe. Put quite simply, you have to be the biggest monster. - Count de Monet.

Re: Purpose of good

[astrofurter]

Such certainty! Such calm repose in confidence of the infalliblity of corporate and academic officialdom! Even in the face of your own valid arguments about the difficulty of proving something to be "true". Such serenity in ignoring all risk - only a fool could let mere evidence challenge the received TRUTH.

Brother, I admire your pious conviction. It is said that faith is a gift from God. Truly you have been blessed!

Re: Purpose of good

[Anonymous Coward]

How do you define which information is useful and which one falls in the useless category ? Different people will have different views on what is useful, most anti-vaxers surely are convinced to be spreading useful information and will view the opposing side as propaganda from the pharmaceutical industry.

Re:Purpose of good

[Calydor]

Maybe I'm missing the point entirely, but when Ed told me that Joe almost certainly hadn't created a perpetual motion machine I started getting curious.

Re:Purpose of good

[buravirgil]

You are not missing anything. An ounce of wit is worth a pound of wisdom. Claims and counter-claims are not neat and linear problems confined to ideal individuals. Were you observation trivial, all the jokes made by framers of the discipline of Economics would not exist.

Re:Purpose of good

[Anonymous Coward]

Here's a reason not to do so: Muddying the waters with truth complicates things. I find the best way to learn what stance to take, on an issue I'm not familiar with, is to look at what social media trolls believe...then believe the opposite.

Re:Purpose of good

[Talderas]

Often enough, people choose to believe falsehoods because they're comforting, easy, pleasant, or exciting.

You can get people to believe a lie that they know is a lie for a few seconds just by speaking the lie without delay and with a sense of certainty. Your speaking with certainty causes them to doubt themselves. What would you expect from a non-skeptic that doesn't have the benefit of knowing your lie is a lie?

Re:Purpose of good

[Anonymous Coward]

That is a VERY well conceived thought experiment - one of the best I've ever read about political discourse - and does a great job of pinpointing how cognitive dissonance works. I'll just add one thing in that context: TOO certain, TOO good to be true, TOO evil to be tolerated... in the course of political debate, they're all almost certainly false or hyperbole, intentional or otherwise. Learn to recognize when you have those reactions to things and question yourself, find and remove the hyperbole, and understand why you think the way you do, and why the other side thinks how they do. Once you can cogently argue BOTH sides, that's when you're really well informed enough to form a reasoned opinion that you don't have to use the same tricks (on others and yourself) to defend.

... "to toy with people's emotions"

[Anonymous Coward]

TFA>_ Russian outfits have increasingly used social media to toy with people's emotions to influence their behavior

They're not toying with people's emotions, they find cracks in American classes (arising from poor education in the first place) and use them to place wedges (inflammatory comments) and divide the country even further.

That is not very sophisticated from them and the guilt is partly upon the Americans themselves for failing to provide decent affordable education. It's funny how people from a failed ideology (socialism/communism) can still exploit flaws in capitalism.

Their methods are the classical FUD, applied to vaccination, Democrats (supposedly) ulterior motives, technology (space exploration/round world), etc etc

Only the stupid fall for it, but the problem is that success in America is measured by affluence, not by intellectual prowess. Given enough stupid voters one could even promote a stupid President and make him victorious.

People have a tendency of being proud of what they do even if it's dumb. Some Windows users are proud of not understanding computers -- imagine that!

Re:... "to toy with people's emotions"

[Anonymous Coward]

Russians. No evidence required. Need someone to blame? Russians.

Re:... "to toy with people's emotions"

[nine-times]

I agree that part of the problem is education. On the other hand, I don't think that quite covers the problem.

For one, there are highly educated people who fall for really stupid scams. We could look at adding something to our education system to help people recognize scams, propaganda, etc. It wouldn't be a bad idea, but I don't think that really covers it either. I honestly think that part of the problem is, propaganda has taken on an unhealthy role in our everyday society already, leaving us open to propaganda from other, more malicious sources.

We're being inundated with advertising all the time, so much so that there's an ongoing arms race between people trying to block advertising and advertisers trying to bypass the blocks. You put in spam filters and popup blockers, and they find ways around them. You insist on watching TV shows without advertising, and they put more resources into product placement. Propaganda has always been a part of politics, but it's become more omnipresent and shameless. Campaigning basically starts immediately after the previous election.

People have taken the brainwashing techniques used by cults, refined them, and turned the on society at large. What's worse than that, we've gotten used to it. It's just a normal part of your life now. This is water. You're swimming in it.

And though some people will stop listening to me when I seem to voice a political view, I'm going to say that a special measure of blame falls on Bill Clinton, who really took propaganda to a new level and challenged what the meaning of the word "is" is.

And then some serious blame falls on the Republican party. A group of them, arguably with good intentions, decided to use propaganda to stoke and harness the blind, ignorant rage of white supremacists and theocrats. They courted them, brought them into the party, and used propaganda to get these people to support the Republican cause, even against their own self-interest. They probably thought they were being philosopher kings, telling noble lies for the greater good. But those lies took root, and those ideologies took over.

And so I've gone on my nice little rant, but I had a point when I started: Education alone won't fix this problem. It's a bigger problem than that. If you want a real solution, we're going to address our cultural problems, and find ways to push naked propaganda out of the mainstream.

Re:... "to toy with people's emotions"

[Anonymous Coward]

>_ For one, there are highly educated people who fall for really stupid scams. We could look at adding something to our education system to help people recognize scams, propaganda, etc.

I see your point and agree. Educated people can be misled, too. It has happened throughout history.

And yes, the solution is to provide not only knowledge but also train people to be wiser and disregard propaganda, as you say.

Re:... "to toy with people's emotions"

[Anonymous Coward]

I think the term all of you are looking for is "critical thinking".

It's a bitch to teach, considering that one of its tenets implies that the student cannot rely on the authority of the teacher.

It's also not particularly natural psychologically, it seems. Uncomfortable to have to doubt one's own beliefs all the time.

Re: ... "to toy with people's emotions"

[Anonymous Coward]

Obviously the ads are evolving.

Community

[rsilvergun]

the one thing I find the conspiracy theorists have in common seems to be a shared community. It doesn't matter how weird or nutty you are, if you believe then you're one of us and we'll put up with all your crazy shit. I see the same behavior in a lot of hobbies. Pipe clubs come to mind. I see the pattern a lot with Table top RPG players too. More controversially I see it with religions and gun lovers.

If anyone's wondering why so many folks believe this kind of clap-trap that's why. It lets people who are a little off (or more than a little off) come together and forget their differences.

Re:Community

[110010001000]

You should visit one of the Tesla fan sites (like electrek.co or Teslarati). It just shows how insular people can become completely delusional.

The Red Scare continues..

[Anonymous Coward]

....whilst all cybersecurity experts laugh at the 'evidence' for what it is - garbage.

I am God's gift to you stupid niggers... apk

[Anonymous Coward]

See subject & APK Hosts File Engine 2.0++ 64-bit for Linux h t t p : / / a p k . i t - m a t e . c o . u k / A P K H o s t s F i l e E n g i n e F o r L i n u x . z i p (remove spaces between characters & download).

Yields more security/speed/reliability/anonymity vs. any SINGLE solution (99% of threats = hostnames vs. IP address that most firewalls use) more efficiently/FASTER + NATIVELY 4 less!

(Vs. "Bolt on 'MoAr' illogic-logic" competitors slowing you, hosts speed you up 2 ways (adblocks + hardcodes u spend most time @) vs. competition loaded w/ bugs (DNS/AntiVir) + their overheads (messagepass ('souled-out' to advertiser addons) + filtering drivers) & their complexity leads to exploitation).

* ONLY 1 of its kind in GUI on Linux/BSD!

(Much better vs. Windows model in speed & efficiency + new "merge" feature)

APK

P.S.=> Hosts also protect you from Spectre and Meltdown. You stupid níggers can benefit from my greatness as God's gift to you... apk

You stupid niggers like & use my work... apk

[Anonymous Coward]

Your software is just fine - well written, functional... I'm going to continue using the Host File Engine by mmell February 17, 2017

Your premise that hostfiles are a good way to deal with advertising and malvertising is quite valid - by JazzLad April 20, 2016

his hosts program is actually pretty good by xenotransplant August 10 2015

his hosts tool is actually useful for those cases in which one does indeed want to locally block stuff outright while consuming minimum system resources by alexgieg September 25 2015

I like your host file system by Karmashock September 09 2015

that APK guy, I use his host file by rogoshen1 Tuesday March 03, 2015

I personally use a HOSTS file blocker produced from a genius called APK by 110010001000 October 27 2017

* Best part = Linux 64-bit model's faster/more efficient (2x work in 1/2 the time)

APK

P.S.=> For a faster/safer/more reliable internet. Even you stupid nggers can benefit from my greatness. God's gift to Slashdot will NEVER be silenced... apk

How to troll 101

[dcollins117]

If you're gonna troll, you need to learn the English language gooder. It embiggens the effectiveness of your message.

Re: How to troll 101

[Anonymous Coward]

Donald, is Twitter not enough for you?

BAN BUMP STOCKS YOU DUMBFUCK... apk

[Anonymous Coward]

See subject & you do-nothing soyboy "ne'er-do-wells" are too COWARDLY and EFFEMINATE to ban bump stocks. This would be REAL SECURITY that would put an end to mass shootings. The estrogen in soy milk makes all of you too cowardly to BAN BUMP STOCKS.

* The NRA is supported by George Soros, the Russian government, Jews, and their allies in the Vatican. The Vatican has MEDDLED in our elections to support Hillary Clinton and OPPOSE any form of GUN CONTROL. They work with the Jewish elites in the United States to add SOY MILK to our foods, containing ESTROGEN and making our men EFFEMINATE.

A ban on bump stocks would have STOPPED many recent MASS SHOOTINGS including at the Waffle House, Las Vegas, Parkland, and so many other places. It is TRULY PATHETIC that you SOYBOY WEASELS insist on keeping bump stocks legal. A ban on bump stocks will STOP MASS SHOOTINGS just like my HOSTS FILE ENGINE is a cure-all for INTERNET SECURITY.

Losers like Coren22, arth1, Zontar The Mindless, AssFux (lol), and so many more of you UNIDENTIFIABLE FAKE NAME losers attack me relentlessly for telling the TRUTH. It takes a REAL MAN like me to continually dust all of you you weasels, while you LIE and ACCUSE me of evil criminal acts. You are INCAPABLE of accepting the TRUTH that BUMP STOCKS MUST BE BANNED.

APK

P.S.=> I will continue to DUST your feeble arguments and SWOOP IN wherever you UNIDENTIFIABLE WEASELS keep lying and trolling. You are truly a sad and pathetic sight to see... apk

Russian Trolls...

[Anonymous Coward]

don't freaking exist. Nor do they have the boogeyman style power you give them on a daily basis. Whoever wrote this article should kill themselves immediately and without hesitation.

Re: Russian Trolls...

[Anonymous Coward]

There's obviously at least one.

Ah, it was the Russians again

[johannesg]

And here I was thinking it was due to utter cluelessness in our own society. But noooo, all those idiots anti-vaccers, through no fault of their own, were just misled by zee eevil Russians!

Given their total mind control and inevitable world conquest, I think the only thing left for us defenseless sheeple is to just join the wave of the future and learn Russian. I mean, I have _some_ defense against them in the form of an adblocker, but how long can I hold out when they control my every move? Hell, even this very message is just more evidence of their all-powerful control. I don't actually want to write it, but my masters in the Kremlin have manipulated me so I have no other choice.

Re:Ah, it was the Russians again

[Max_W]

...I think the only thing left for us ... is to ... learn Russian....

Actually it would be a good idea. All the leading "specialists" on Russia: Müller, Clintons, McCain, etc. do not speak a word in Russian, never visited Russia, except maybe an airport and diplomatic buildings in the capital, have a vague idea of its history and culture.

As a result they just cannot grasp the issues, problems, and worries of the Russian society. It seems to me sometimes they are trying to communicate not with the real country but with a phantom which they themselves created by a collective effort.

Re:Ah, it was the Russians again

[F.Ultra]

I read in "Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA" that the agents that they sent to various locations basically always had a complete lack of both the culture and language of the place they where supposed to "set up shop in". It's as if the agency didn't trust people with too much knowledge of the country they where supposed to spy on (aka if they know this much about Russia then they must be KGB agents).

Re:Ah, it was the Russians again

[johannesg]

Ok, let's have a slightly more serious posting then. I don't speak Russian, but I can read Cyrillic. You can learn too - it takes about an hour to learn the 33 characters (less if you already know Greek). Armed with this knowledge I have visited Russia three times, and found to my delight that I can make sense of a substantial amount of text that I see out on the street, with a great many words similar to Dutch or English words. Note that this is not standard for a Slavic language; Polish or Czech are written with the Latin alphabet, but contain almost no recognizable words.

I also found that Russians are just normal people. Sure. I've only visited the large tourist destinations of St. Petersburg and Moscow, but in both places I found the same kind of people you'll find everywhere around the world, basically going about their business and leading their own lives. From what I can tell they enjoy eating ice cream in the sun. They like visiting parks. They like shopping. They love great food. They are inspired by beauty. Just normal people.

Putin-paraphernalia are sold everywhere, and while I cannot be sure, I don't believe this is done at gunpoint. The Russians really seem to appreciate what he does for them.

Are there some dangerous people in power? No doubt. But people in power are dangerous everywhere; this is not something that is unique to Russia. At this point in time I'm (much) more worried about who is in power in the US than who is in power in Russia - and no, I don't even mean Trump, but rather the mostly unelected people that constantly increase chaos and sorrow in the world, for their own personal benefit, and at the cost of everybody else. People to whom countries are things you break, throwing millions into misery, just to make a quick buck.

Anyway, by all means visit Russia. It's a unique place, with plenty of interesting sights.

Re:Ah, it was the Russians again

[Anonymous Coward]

++

Re: Ah, it was the Russians again

[Anonymous Coward]

Thank you to the Russian Minister for Tourism. During your visit to Russia please do not criticize President Putin or ask what happened to the opposition.

Russian bogeyman strikes again

[Anonymous Coward]

Pay no attention to the media behind the curtain.

Why not mention Europe...

[SuperKendall]

107 cases across the whole U.S., vs over 40k in Europe.

I wonder where the Russians have really been targeting - and succeeding.

The U.S. has long been much more immune to ideological persuasion than elsewhere.

Re:Why not mention Europe...

[Anonymous Coward]

Russian trolls. No evidence required. Need someone to blame? Russian trolls.

Re:Why not mention Europe...

[Anonymous Coward]

Well considering that "More than half this year’s cases have been in Ukraine"

Re: Why not mention Europe...

[Anonymous Coward]

Data dump for Mr Skeptovich.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/what-you-found-in-3-million-russian-troll-tweets/

Sign here please.

Re:Why not mention Europe...

[Anonymous Coward]

> The U.S. has long been much more immune to ideological persuasion than elsewhere.

[citation needed]

captcha: remedy

American liberals, now and then

[Anonymous Coward]

Before Trump: "Russia is no threat, it's only an excuse to increase military spending, calling people Commies is silly and paranoid McCarthy-ism"

After Trump: "Russia is an existential threat, their influence is everywhere! All must be investigated! Global warming is a Russian plot!"

IMPERSONATING me AGAIN?... apk

[Anonymous Coward]

Impersonating me again I see: Poor imitation & yet sincerest form of flattery proving you WISH you were ME but an offtopic "ne'er-do-well" in yourself can NEVER ever be since you waste your time producing the outcome of your WASTED LIFE we all see now from you.

APK

P.S.=> Grow up, get on topic & be normal... ok? Thanks... apk

Re: IMPERSONATING me AGAIN?... apk

[Anonymous Coward]

Wow, you are incredibly butthurt. Perhaps this wouldn't happen if you weren't such an asshole and a spammer.

IMPERSONATING me AGAIN? Please, lol... apk

[Anonymous Coward]

Impersonating me again I see: Poor imitation & yet sincerest form of flattery proving you WISH you were ME but an offtopic "ne'er-do-well" in yourself can NEVER ever be since you waste your time producing the outcome of your WASTED LIFE we all see now from you.

APK

P.S.=> Grow up, get on topic & be normal... ok? Thanks!... apk

Russians, Fake News, Hate Speech

[Anonymous Coward]

Now anyone who questions high correlations between autism and vaccines. Good work lefties, good work.

Re:Russians, Fake News, Hate Speech

[Anonymous Coward]

(((Broniatowski))).... figures.

LOL! Says UNIDENTIFIABLE anonymous

[Anonymous Coward]

LOL! Says UNIDENTIFIABLE anonymous "ANTIFA" type pussy STALKING me all over /. for YEARS like an obsessed loon you are!

APK

P.S.=> You WISH you were me via your IMPERSONATIONS of myself proving it (albeit POOR imitation thus not flattering as imitation IS the SINCEREST FORM OF FLATTERY)... apk

Re:LOL! Says UNIDENTIFIABLE anonymous

[Anonymous Coward]

If you log the fuck in people can't 'impersonate' you, genius.

Russians ? again ??

[Anonymous Coward]

Russians are behind everything those days.
Are you sure it's not the French ?
No it couldn't be the French ; they're blaming the Russians for everything too.

Maybe the Chinese ?
Does someone if the Chinese are blaming the Russians ?

Re: Russians ? again ??

[Anonymous Coward]

Pay attention, it's the Iluminati and the green lizard people that are behind this. Now believe and obey!

At least they tried.

[Anonymous Coward]

Libs want us to inject who knows what into our bodies and hurt our kids for unproven "vaccine" when it is proven kids do just as well without them and are safe from the autism. I bet this whole story is just more fake stuff from lamestream media, but even if it were true I'd thank the Russias for at least trying to help us see light instead of endless lies and bullshit of liberal SJW politics maskerading as "science".

Re:At least they tried.

[Anonymous Coward]

I have no idea what thesis is hiding behind this bizarre stream of consciousness, but at least one of the two following statements can be asserted with 100% certainty:
- your first language is not English
- you have a severe learning disability

Re: At least they tried.

[Anonymous Coward]

Missing definite articles? Check. Krembot confirmed.

Re:At least they tried.

[Anonymous Coward]

How much does the "correct the record" pays these days, libtard?

Impersonating me STILL again I see

[Anonymous Coward]

Impersonating me STILL again I see: Poor imitation & yet sincerest form of flattery proving you WISH you were ME but an offtopic "ne'er-do-well" in yourself can NEVER ever be since you waste your time producing the outcome of your WASTED LIFE we all see now from you.

APK

P.S.=> Grow up, get on topic & be normal... ok? Thanks!... apk

Re: Impersonating me STILL again I see

[Anonymous Coward]

"Grow up, get on topic & be normal."

You know you're in the twilight zone when apk tells you to be normal.

Apologies if this is not the real apk, if indeed there is a real apk and it's not just a monstrous cyborg constructed from a cut-price AI and a hosts file.

hehe

[Anonymous Coward]

USA high grade education is so bad comparing to Europe thus one can fool stupid american sheeps whatever you want....US government did bad education on purpose, but now is scared that the sheeps started to believe foreingh lies instead of theirs.

Russians failed

[cyber-vandal]

Due to moronic Westerners getting there first

But ... but ...

[cascadingstylesheet]

it's also notable for the fact that most Twitter users appeared to have ignored its anti-vaccine messages.

But ... Russians! It's not possible to simply ignore their messages, is it??

I thought they had secret mind control powers on social media!

Re: But ... but ...

[Anonymous Coward]

Russian secret agents told me to read the New York Times daily!!

Except the NRA

[Anonymous Coward]

NRA was infiltrated and pwoned by Russians.

proof!

[Anonymous Coward]

Proof positive from the semi-official propaganda organs that forcing people against their will to ingest exotic biopharma products is the incontestably right thing to do, solidly backed by popular opinion, endorsed by SCIENCE(tm), and an altogether fine excuse for boot to the face police state tactics.

You're trash shitbag, nothing more

[Anonymous Coward]

UNIDENTIFIABLE anonymous ANTIFA pussy - Get 1 thing straight you pitiful shitbag: There's NO APOLOGY for you being a punk you are.

APK

P.S.=> You're trash shitbag, nothing more - cowardly NO BALLS trash & a punk... apk

You've been spotted, COMRADE.

[Rick Schumann]

We're on to you fucking Russian sonsofbitches, fuck off back to your shitty dictatorship and tell Putin you failed.

Of course if it weren't for so-called 'social media' then none of this would happen. Dump Facebook, dump Twitter, dump all of it. Go back to actually being social with actual people so you know who the hell you're talking to.

Make jobs great again.

[kopecn]

We should hire the conspiracy theorists to search for foreign subversive activities.

Smells like war mongering all around

[Anonymous Coward]

How the hell would you know that a troll is Russian? Wouldn't a troll know how to proxy?
A lot of negative press and heavy allegations are laid agains Russian government. Most of those are still just allegations and rumors. Russians themselves see that as a part of continuous effort by the west to decompile Russia as a global player.
Russians call this recent phenomena "russaphobia". They repeat all the time that they have never threatened the west at any point. The keep calling the US "our american partners".
While US has openly supported the Ukrainian revolution of 2014, Georgian war of 2008 and the Chechen rebellion.
I guess this piece of news can be easily attributed to the general theme.
US is taking a big financial hit with a new set of sanctions on Russia. The official reason is a failed assasination attempt on a british double agent who was spook-swapped for a Russian spy many years before while having no evidence linking the attempt with Russia.
This is all weird.

Re: Smells like war mongering all around

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah weird. Poor little Russia, being blamed by everyone when there's no evidence they ever invaded Chechnya, Georgia and Ukraine, let alone any of the other nasty things people accuse her of. No evidence at all.

Re: Smells like war mongering all around

[Anonymous Coward]

Chechnya is in Russia, Georgia attacked first, and Ukraine's government was overthrown by the US.
Perhaps they could have done nothing at all in Ukraine but blaming them for everything because shit went awry is a little bit easy!

What if Texas seceded from the US with weapons and political support from Russia? You'd be pretty pissed and thinking about lobbing nukes I think.
Civil war in Canada and British Columbia gets attacked? Would the US meddle or not.

Re: Smells like war mongering all around

[Anonymous Coward]

"What if Texas seceded from the US"

Ukraine was already a separate country, you dolt. What Russia couldn't stand was Ukraine no longer obeying its orders.

The plural of anecdote is not data.

[Anonymous Coward]

Attributed to Frank Kotsonis.

Please do listen to real grown-up Russians.

[Anonymous Coward]

Remember when the Russians repeatedly warned in 2018 of a false flag or staged chemical weapon attack, and it did happen?

They are warning about this again. It might be somewhat imminent but there's no indication of when it takes place (maybe before November 6th?)
If a chemical attack does happen in the coming days, weeks, months (with or without chemical weapons) remember you read it here first, from the mouth of the Russian government.

-----

MOSCOW, August 25. /TASS/. A provocation with an alleged chemical weapons use in Syria, which terrorists are plotting to stage with the assistance of UK special services, will serve as a pretext for missile strikes by the West and the United States against the Arab country, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Saturday.

According to the Russian general, the provocation will be staged by terrorists of the Hayat Tahrir ash-Sham terrorist organization (formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra outlawed in Russia) and for this purpose eight containers with chlorine have been brought to the Idlib province.

"The staging of this provocation with the active participation of the UK special services is set to serve as a new pretext for missile and bomb strikes by the United States, Great Britain and France against Syria’s government and economic facilities," the spokesman said.

For this purpose, "the US Navy’s destroyer Sullivans with 56 cruise missiles on its board arrived in the Persian Gulf several days ago while a B-1B strategic bomber of the US Air Force armed with AGM-158 JASSM air-to-surface missiles was redeployed to the Al Udeid air base in Qatar," the Russian general said.

"Absolutely unfounded statements made by some high officials of the United States, Great Britain and France on Wednesday, August 22, about their intention to respond in the most resolute way to the alleged chemical weapons use by the Syrian government" can serve as an indirect confirmation of the preparations by the United States and its allies for a new act of aggression against Syria, the Russian Defense Ministry spokesman said.

"Therefore, the actions by Western countries contrary to public statements are aimed at another dramatic escalation of the situation in the Middle East and at disrupting the peace process on the territory of Syria," the Russian general stressed.

The US and its allies already used terrorists’ provocations in the past as a pretext for delivering missile strikes against Syrian government facilities.

On April 7, 2017, US President Donald Trump ordered a strike on the Shayrat air base. The attack, involving 59 Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles, came as a response to the alleged use of chemical weapons in the Idlib province on April 4. Damascus dismissed those accusations based on testimony by the White Helmets organization.

On April 14, the United States, Great Britain and France delivered a massive strike on Syria without the UN Security Council’s authorization. According to Russia’s Foreign Ministry, the attack with more than 100 missiles targeted a research center in Damascus, the headquarters of the Republican Guard, an air defense base, several military aerodromes and army depots.

Washington, London and Paris claimed that the missile strikes were a response to the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government troops in the town of Douma.

The Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organization (outlawed in Russia) is plotting a provocation with the alleged chemical weapons use by the Syrian government troops against civilians in Syria, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov said on Saturday.

"According to the information confirmed simultaneously by several independent sources, the active terrorist grouping Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra) is plotting a new provocation with the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government forces against civilians in the Idlib province," Konashenkov

Desensitized

[Anonymous Coward]

It's cute to watch baby Russia try and do anything they possibly can to the current Goliath.

Quite ironic that Russia is helping the US immunize it's citizens against bullshit and controversy, real or not. Next time a plane flies into a building people will shrug and laugh out loud, expecting it to be fake news.

Thanks Russia!

Yours truly, the US of A.

Re:Desensitized

[Anonymous Coward]

Americans are desensitized because they cut the skin off their dicks. They should stop doing that.

I never scream "HERESY"

[OrangeTide]

Screaming is bad for your throat.

Aerica is dumb because Russia...

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh come on... Don.t blame russia for America being dumb

The only valid anti-vaccine argument I've seen is

[Anonymous Coward]

The problem with anti-anti-vaccine arguments is they are attacking strawman arguments that only some fringe people seem to believe.

The only "valid" anti-vaccine argument -- and the argument people who don't vaccinate their kids actually rely upon -- are the various problems with the annual flu vaccine. Thos problems have led to a lack of confidence in the life-saving vaccines available, which is a shame.

The flu vaccine is not much more than a money-grab/crap-shoot each year. Moreover, the inhaler version spreads, rather than retards, the multiple strains of flu since they are not as "weakened" as they ought to be. The nasal spray flu vaccine "may have" led to increased flu across the country -- one sickness after another.

Before the flu vaccine became encouraged for everyone, people might get sick for a few days once or twice a year. Now, in some areas of the country especially, it's a year-round thing, one flu after another.

This is why the Obama administration discouraged the inhaler version's use around the country. It was reversed by Trump, of course.

Source: My spouse has been largely bed-ridden for 10 years after taking the inhaler version, followed by a serious strep infection. I wrote to Pres. Obama to reconsider the inhaler flu vaccine's use. He responded, and acted. Please vote in 2020.

The Russians are pushing division across the board

[Anonymous Coward]

Anything that has any debate in it has the Russians in their throwing their 2c in, in a way that will create confusion at least and division at most.

Russians Behind Climate Change Deniers

[Anonymous Coward]

My car broke down and they cancelled my favorite TV show. Those damn Russians.