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Yes, Facebook lets people skip US corporate media and mainline disinformation straight from Russian military intelligence agents posing as Americans. https://

Yes, Facebook lets people skip US corporate media and mainline disinformation straight from Russian military intelligence agents posing as Americans. https://www.npr.org/2018/12/17/677390345/new-reports-detail-expansive-russia-disinformation-scheme-targeting-u-s https://www.npr.org/2018/12/17/677390345/new-reports-detail-...

makomk 8y ago
From what I've seen in earlier reports, a decent chunk of the Russian work was just them reposting things that actual Americans had come up with and managing to reach a smaller audience than the original Americans. This really is about Facebook letting people skip US corporate media and about ideas they don't approve of reaching a broad audience.
- faceplanted 8y ago
  Reposting things is likely the most effective idea, there's no risk of them accidentally sounding Russian, and it doesn't matter if they reach a smaller audience if that audience is significantly more targeted.
ayyyyylmao2000 8y ago
And Hillary Clinton, backed by George Soros, had direct collaboration from a Google-owned company. Your point being?
- jacobolus 8y ago
  > collaboration from a Google-owned company Can you be more specific? I don’t know what you are referring to. Youtube and Google’s G+ social network were (like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.) used by Russian agents in the past few years to target Americans with disinformation with the intention of affecting US domestic politics. Youtube in particular is a powerful vector for fringe conspiracy theories etc., and IMO Google should take more responsibility for the poor quality of their recommendation engine and the negative social consequences thereof. Soros is a wealthy US citizen philanthropist who spends his money on promoting government transparency, civics education, investigative journalism, free and fair elections, cultural exchange between different parts of the world, public health, and so on. He also spends money on political campaigns and advertising in a way comparable to any number of billionaires with varying agendas. Personally I think it is indefensible that US campaign finance laws have been gutted and billionaires can spend unlimited money on political advertising etc., but Soros is not essentially different from numerous other billionaires (Adelson, Simons, Bloomberg, Koch, Uihlein, Mercer, ...) involved in the same type of political spending. Disclaimer: when I was in high school 15 years ago, Soros’s Open Society Institute funded a US State Dept. sponsored program which sent my high school debate team on an exchange trip to Azerbaijan, and brought a group of Azeri students to California. It was a great experience for me.
- pluma 8y ago
  > backed by George Soros Can we please stop dropping conspiracy-fueled asides like that? It's entirely tangential if taken at face value and my ears are bleeding from the dogwhistling.

makomk 8y ago

From what I've seen in earlier reports, a decent chunk of the Russian work was just them reposting things that actual Americans had come up with and managing to reach a smaller audience than the original Americans. This really is about Facebook letting people skip US corporate media and about ideas they don't approve of reaching a broad audience.

faceplanted 8y ago
Reposting things is likely the most effective idea, there's no risk of them accidentally sounding Russian, and it doesn't matter if they reach a smaller audience if that audience is significantly more targeted.

ayyyyylmao2000 8y ago

And Hillary Clinton, backed by George Soros, had direct collaboration from a Google-owned company. Your point being?

jacobolus 8y ago
> collaboration from a Google-owned company Can you be more specific? I don’t know what you are referring to. Youtube and Google’s G+ social network were (like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.) used by Russian agents in the past few years to target Americans with disinformation with the intention of affecting US domestic politics. Youtube in particular is a powerful vector for fringe conspiracy theories etc., and IMO Google should take more responsibility for the poor quality of their recommendation engine and the negative social consequences thereof. Soros is a wealthy US citizen philanthropist who spends his money on promoting government transparency, civics education, investigative journalism, free and fair elections, cultural exchange between different parts of the world, public health, and so on. He also spends money on political campaigns and advertising in a way comparable to any number of billionaires with varying agendas. Personally I think it is indefensible that US campaign finance laws have been gutted and billionaires can spend unlimited money on political advertising etc., but Soros is not essentially different from numerous other billionaires (Adelson, Simons, Bloomberg, Koch, Uihlein, Mercer, ...) involved in the same type of political spending. Disclaimer: when I was in high school 15 years ago, Soros’s Open Society Institute funded a US State Dept. sponsored program which sent my high school debate team on an exchange trip to Azerbaijan, and brought a group of Azeri students to California. It was a great experience for me.
pluma 8y ago
> backed by George Soros Can we please stop dropping conspiracy-fueled asides like that? It's entirely tangential if taken at face value and my ears are bleeding from the dogwhistling.