Slashdot Mirror
To Disrupt America's 2020 Elections, Russian Internet Trolls Amplify Divisive Messages, Assemble 'Massive' Followings (time.com)
An anonymous reader quotes Bloomberg:
Russian internet trolls appear to be shifting strategy in their efforts to disrupt the 2020 U.S. elections, promoting politically divisive messages through phony social media accounts instead of creating propaganda themselves, cybersecurity experts say. The Kremlin-linked Internet Research Agency may be among those trying to circumvent protections put in place by companies including Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. to find and remove fake content that hackers created to sow division among the American electorate in the 2016 presidential campaign. "Instead of creating content themselves, we see them amplifying content," said John Hultquist, the director of intelligence analysis at FireEye Inc. "Then it's not necessarily inauthentic, and that creates an opportunity for them to hide behind somebody else."
Other hackers are breaking into computing devices and using them to open large numbers of social media accounts, according to Candid Wueest, a senior threat researcher at Symantec Corp. The hacked devices are used to create many legitimate-looking users as well as believable followers and likes for those fake users... Wueest said he observed a decrease in the creation of new content by fake accounts from 2017 to 2018 and a shift toward building massive followings that could be used as platforms for divisive messages in 2020.
Facebook's head of cybersecurity policy responded that policing foreign influence campaigns is "an incredibly hard balance" between the need to slow down bad actors while maintaining "meaningful public discussion."
Other hackers are breaking into computing devices and using them to open large numbers of social media accounts, according to Candid Wueest, a senior threat researcher at Symantec Corp. The hacked devices are used to create many legitimate-looking users as well as believable followers and likes for those fake users... Wueest said he observed a decrease in the creation of new content by fake accounts from 2017 to 2018 and a shift toward building massive followings that could be used as platforms for divisive messages in 2020.
Facebook's head of cybersecurity policy responded that policing foreign influence campaigns is "an incredibly hard balance" between the need to slow down bad actors while maintaining "meaningful public discussion."
I love how the media decries the "fact" that Russia is supposedly amplifying racially and socially divisive messages to disrupt our democracy and elections. Isn't that what the media and Democrats do every day in order to manipulate us, themselves? I guess they don't like the competition.
Yep, sad. Democrats lost so they made up Imaginary Russian bots! They made up Imaginary Russian Collusion, and made up all sorts of hateful things like there's Nazi's everywhere and Trump and his followers are racist and any other foul things against the other side. It's serious derangement. I don't remember the Republicans acting out so badly like that when Obama was pres but I'm sure it happened then to some degree too. The left wants to act like they are smarter with less hate and all but in practice it seems just the opposite. We're seeing the left's true colors. I'm surprised they have even gone further to approving and advocating socialism and even communism. It's like they went deranged and are doubling and tripling down on that derangement. The media hates the pres and is so wanting to impeach the Pres that they are even willing to brainwash their viewers about it even though there's nothing to impeach him for. It has really been a circus since Trump became president and I'm glad I have butter for my popcorn. Watching youtube videos about nonsense has been a laugh but really I'd rather the nation be back to normal and removing Trump and putting a Democrat pres in won't do it. Dems have to realize they will need to fix themselves before this mess will be fixed. I have doubt it will be fixed on its own. Imaginary enemies do not disappear and derangement needs a doctor. Come quickly Jesus!
Let me explain who benefits from blaming Russia (hint its the DNC in the US).
Currently the DNC in the US is facing these issues in the upcoming election...
A KKK member as the VA Gov that they are not calling for him to resign.
A serial rapist as the VA Lt. Gov they are refusing to impeach or call to resign.
The House Majority Speaker (the real one AOC) is going to be charged with embezzling $1Million of her campaign funds for personal use illegally
The DNC is unable to mention anti-Semitism is bad
Many members of the DNC support killing of live born babies and calling it abortion
They want to protect illegals who attempt to illegally buy firearms or kill US citizens
If you eat a steak or fly a plane they want to make you a criminal
Now if someone points all that out, they have quite a hill to overcome to get people on their side. There really is no way to counter all this bad stuff they are supporting, and all of it is completely true. However, if you can convince people Russians are saying this they get a head start at getting over it.
In 2016 they literally rigged a national election, the DNC primary, and have not been held responsible. This is because their supporters, the ones whos votes were not counted, were told Russia hacked the election (they didn't). All "Russia did" was show how the election was rigged, and in reality no one has shown evidence that Russia was the one that showed it. Evidence has shown a DNC member released it because he was upset about Bernie.
So they have a lot of problems, and were successful in fooling their dumber supporters that Russia was responsible for their bad deeds in the past.
The establishment and their media cronies are the ones responsible. They always demonized republicans, called them racists, ever since LBJ lost the Civil Rights Act battle to them.
And now it's that same establishment trying to deflect their own divisiveness unto some strange boogeyman. And the media cronies repeat and spread for their master. Yes that means you Slashdot Editors. My god has this site gone to shit.
"Not to mention all the idiots who use words like boxen."
Anonymous Coward on Monday August 04, @06:49PM
Yea, the DNC appears to be attempting to destabilize the West just like Russia wants. Maybe they should stop taking orders from Putin?
Actually, the evidence I have seen suggests they are taking orders from Poroshenko.
"DNC denies working with Ukrainian government, but contractor floated anti-Trump material"
https://edition.cnn.com/2017/0...
"Robert Mueller’s ’13 Russian trolls indictment’ is a COPY + PASTE job from 2015 Ukrainian Radio Free Europe post"
http://theduran.com/busted-rob...
Oh, and for good measure:
"Exclusive! Yanks To The Rescue. The Secret Story Of How American Advisers Helped Yeltsin Win"
https://img.timeinc.net/time/m...
'Victoria Nuland Admits: US Has Invested $5 Billion In The Development of Ukrainian "Democratic Institutions"'
http://www.informationclearing...
And:
"When Will the US Stop Organizing Foreign Coups?"
https://russia-insider.com/en/...
"Here's the short list of U.S.-backed coups over just the past seven-plus decades . . .
Syria 1949.
Guatemala 1954.
Tibet 1955-1970s.
Indonesia 1958.Cuba 1959.
Iraq 1960-1963.
Democratic Republic of the Congo 1960-1965.
Dominican Republic 1962.
Iran 1963.
Guatemala 1963.
South Vietnam 1963.
Brazil 1964.
Ghana 1966.
Chile 1970-1973.
Argentina 1976.
Afghanistan 1979-1989.
Turkey 1980.
Poland 1980-1989.
Ecuador 1981.
Panama 1981.
Nicaragua 1981-1990.
Grenada 1983.
Haiti 1991.
Iraq 1992-1996.
Venezuela 2002.
Haiti 2004.
Iran 2005-present.
Honduras 2009.
Libya 2011.
Syria 2012-present.
Ukraine 2014.
"Moreover, it's no secret that we're at it again right now with Venezuela, and a poorly-kept secret that Russia, Ecuador, Uruguay, Bolivia, probably another shot at Cuba, and recently added Kyrgyzstan, are also in the queue".
I am sure that there are many other solipsists out there.
That's not an argument for leaving the EU. That's the kind of moronic Rule Britannia bollocks that got us into this mess. Delusions of grandeur that made people think other nations would just be lining up to do great deals with us once free of the EU, when in fact they are all holding back just waiting for the UK to be weak and desperate enough to sign up to anything.
The world has changed, the Empire has gone. The UK is a major player... in Europe.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC