Remember: the original stated motive of these supposed bots wasn't to "sow chaos", it was to support Trump and Brexit using huge networks of bots that appeared

Remember: the original stated motive of these supposed bots wasn't to "sow chaos", it was to support Trump and Brexit using huge networks of bots that appeared human but weren't. When the evidence that this wasn't real became overwhelming, the conspiracy mutated. The whole idea that people disagreeing with each other on Twitter is sufficient to sow chaos is itself kind of ridiculous, don't you think? That happens all the time naturally, what kind of government looks at the USA or Europe and thinks, ah yes, a totally peaceful place in which nobody ever disagrees on Twitter. If this were true the only things people would fight about on social media are things where Russia could credibly have an interest, but of course they fight about everything. Even the premise of this conspiracy is ridiculous. You are literally creating a new, unfounded conspiracy to de-bunk an established, documented conspiracy Sigh. This is what I mean. I'm alleging no conspiracy. Where did I do that? You don't need a conspiracy theory to work out why "Russiagate" took off - it gave lots of people whose grip on reality isn't that strong an explanation for Trump and Brexit that they preferred to the real explanations. No conspiracy needed, no evil puppet masters, just group psychology. Compare that to Russiagate or QAnon - specific allegations of an organised group of people manipulating the world for evil ends, and denying they're doing it. If someone is falsely accused of murder, does that mean there is never murder or that in a particular case, a mistake was made? Obviously it can mean either. But the justice system has mechanisms to stop someone constantly accusing someone else of murder with ever changing stories and no evidence: the concept of double jeopardy and perversion of justice. That's why people don't have to deal with endless troll accusations of murder. Seen as a criminal justice case, Russiagate would have ended in "not guilty" long ago. The given motive collapsed under cross-examination. The evidence is highly circumstantial and all has obvious alternative explanations. The guilty parties aren't usually named, and when they are named they turn out to not be Russian, or not be bots, or both. The alleged behaviour isn't even illegal; after all the USA deliberately and openly funds foreign propaganda outlets like Voice of America.