4 ms·

You don't even have to produce fake news. If you want to drive discussion on a topic, how much would it cost to hire people to sit at home and comment/upvote/do

You don't even have to produce fake news. If you want to drive discussion on a topic, how much would it cost to hire people to sit at home and comment/upvote/downvote in various portals? Those are chokepoints for information; control them, and you can control the flow. Correct the Record got 10 million dollars in funding last year. That goes a looong way. It wouldn't be surprising if disinformation campaigns were rampant. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correct_the_Record https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correct_the_Record

sr2 9y ago
You mean like a Sybil Attack? You might be right about a certain culture of sockpuppetry on places like Reddit where it's actually trivial to setup multiple accounts under different IPs and then upvote all your stuff. It's no secret you can pay for services where people do this for you and 'astroturf' your chosen topic and make it seem more popular than it actually is. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sybil_attack https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sybil_attack https://np.reddit.com/r/shills/comments/4kdq7n/astroturfing_information_megathread_revision_8/ https://np.reddit.com/r/shills/comments/4kdq7n/astroturfing_... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdaPJLJCK1M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdaPJLJCK1M
akhilcacharya 9y ago
Your best example is Correct the Record? AFAIK revolution media spent even more.
- thinkingemote 9y ago
  Who is Revolution Media? Why and what did they do? I've attached heard of CTR but not other groups, and am interested.
  - smacktoward 9y ago
    I'm guessing the reference is to Revolution Messaging (https://revolutionmessaging.com/ https://revolutionmessaging.com/), who provided most of Bernie Sanders' digital team. (See https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/2016/03/18/revolution-messaging-helps-drive-sanders-political-revolution/81977160/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/... for details.)
thinkingemote 9y ago
Is Correct The Record primarily an anti Fake News organisation or a pro US Democratic Party internet marketing wing? It seems to me, as an European that the last US election got many "rustles" "jimmied" particularly about finding reasons for why Trump got in, and more than why Hilary didn't. one factor that is mentioned is that people believed lies on the internet. CTR appears to me as an outsider as fighting the very real issue of Fake News but is actually fighting for the Democrats. I could be wrong though. Mainly I think it's interesting (and worrying) that popularist politics is associated with propaganda and manipulation and the those who see the lies are minority enlightened educated people.
- MichaelGG 9y ago
  They and Share Blue are just propaganda wings and aren't set out to provide accurate news. Both parties were pretty shitty and it's nice to see they both lost in their own way.
  - fivestar 9y ago
    They are left wing examples, but I know that during 2003 during the propaganda campaign that got us the second Iraq War that there was an unacknowledged but very real effort of the same size and scope going on initiated by the neocons. I am absolutely certain of what I observed back then. No one--no one--would believe me, though. I would add that the comedian Dennis Miller was also drafted into spouting pro-war propaganda on late night tv. It was all very deliberate.
- creaghpatr 9y ago
  More information: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/05/correct-the-record-online-trolls/484847/ https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/05/correct... Note that the organization has been reorganized into Shareblue, you can read about their tactics and decide for yourself whether it's fake news or just politics as usual. https://www.scribd.com/document/337535680/Full-David-Brock-Confidential-Memo-On-Fighting-Trump#from_embed https://www.scribd.com/document/337535680/Full-David-Brock-C...
- 9y ago

sr2 9y ago

You mean like a Sybil Attack? You might be right about a certain culture of sockpuppetry on places like Reddit where it's actually trivial to setup multiple accounts under different IPs and then upvote all your stuff. It's no secret you can pay for services where people do this for you and 'astroturf' your chosen topic and make it seem more popular than it actually is. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sybil_attack https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sybil_attack https://np.reddit.com/r/shills/comments/4kdq7n/astroturfing_information_megathread_revision_8/ https://np.reddit.com/r/shills/comments/4kdq7n/astroturfing_... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdaPJLJCK1M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdaPJLJCK1M

akhilcacharya 9y ago

Your best example is Correct the Record? AFAIK revolution media spent even more.

thinkingemote 9y ago
Who is Revolution Media? Why and what did they do? I've attached heard of CTR but not other groups, and am interested.
- smacktoward 9y ago
  I'm guessing the reference is to Revolution Messaging (https://revolutionmessaging.com/ https://revolutionmessaging.com/), who provided most of Bernie Sanders' digital team. (See https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/2016/03/18/revolution-messaging-helps-drive-sanders-political-revolution/81977160/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/... for details.)

thinkingemote 9y ago

Is Correct The Record primarily an anti Fake News organisation or a pro US Democratic Party internet marketing wing? It seems to me, as an European that the last US election got many "rustles" "jimmied" particularly about finding reasons for why Trump got in, and more than why Hilary didn't. one factor that is mentioned is that people believed lies on the internet. CTR appears to me as an outsider as fighting the very real issue of Fake News but is actually fighting for the Democrats. I could be wrong though. Mainly I think it's interesting (and worrying) that popularist politics is associated with propaganda and manipulation and the those who see the lies are minority enlightened educated people.

MichaelGG 9y ago
They and Share Blue are just propaganda wings and aren't set out to provide accurate news. Both parties were pretty shitty and it's nice to see they both lost in their own way.
- fivestar 9y ago
  They are left wing examples, but I know that during 2003 during the propaganda campaign that got us the second Iraq War that there was an unacknowledged but very real effort of the same size and scope going on initiated by the neocons. I am absolutely certain of what I observed back then. No one--no one--would believe me, though. I would add that the comedian Dennis Miller was also drafted into spouting pro-war propaganda on late night tv. It was all very deliberate.
creaghpatr 9y ago
More information: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/05/correct-the-record-online-trolls/484847/ https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/05/correct... Note that the organization has been reorganized into Shareblue, you can read about their tactics and decide for yourself whether it's fake news or just politics as usual. https://www.scribd.com/document/337535680/Full-David-Brock-Confidential-Memo-On-Fighting-Trump#from_embed https://www.scribd.com/document/337535680/Full-David-Brock-C...
9y ago