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We've known this is a thing for quite some while. The Russians have been running a bunch of these propaganda accounts at least as far back as the 2016 election

We've known this is a thing for quite some while. The Russians have been running a bunch of these propaganda accounts at least as far back as the 2016 election (see the Mueller report).

deleted 11mo ago
[deleted]
clanky 11mo ago
Russia doesn't control X moderation policies or algorithms. These accounts have gained the purchase they have because Silicon Valley and Elon Musk specifically now see it as advantageous to sow racial animus and division, and to scapegoat migrants for domestic problems which are in fact caused by elite looting. This is being done to strengthen the status quo regime, not undermine it.
- marginalia_nu 11mo ago
  I just pointed to evidence this was happening several years before Elon had anything to do with Twitter takeover, all the way back when Obama was still in office.
  - clanky 11mo ago
    The fact that it existed in some nonzero quantity at some point before the choreographed Musk takeover does not contradict what I wrote in any way.
    - marginalia_nu 11mo ago
      One of the central points of the Mueller report is that they were organized and operated at a large scale, running major social media accounts and were infiltrating various fringe groups such as the Tea Party and BLM. Though it's worth noting this was happening under Prigozhin's lead, and since he's fallen out of a window now, it's unclear what's become of his troll factories.
      - clanky 11mo ago
        You could pilot a 747 through the range that encompasses what one might mean by "a large scale." None of the Mueller findings really showed anything likely to have had a substantial impact on popular discourse or voting, or anything within even 2, probably 3 orders of magnitude of the algorithmic reach of the modern day Xitter bluecheck flying monkeys. These accounts couldn't even get bluechecks back then!
    - cyberge99 11mo ago
      Did Elon switch political parties after auditing the chatbots on XTwitter? Wasn’t the bot ratio a prerequisite for the purchase of Twitter?
input_sh 11mo ago
This is different. There are not ideological in nature, they're looking for that revenue share that can change the life of someone living in a low-cost country. Being pro-MAGA just happens to be the only thing that works really well (aside from gimmick accounts that repost from subreddits). If Elon suddenly made a 180 into being anti-MAGA and tweaked the algorithm to reflect that, these "bots" would switch their message as well.
ChocolateGod 11mo ago
I don't think this is actually anything to do with Russia, it's just people finding it profitable to spread muck.
rsynnott 11mo ago
Longer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Research_Agency https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Research_Agency 2013 for the Internet Research Agency, but likely before for other organisations.

We've known this is a thing for quite some while. The Russians have been running a bunch of these propaganda accounts at least as far back as the 2016 election (see the Mueller report).

deleted 11mo ago

[deleted]

clanky 11mo ago

Russia doesn't control X moderation policies or algorithms. These accounts have gained the purchase they have because Silicon Valley and Elon Musk specifically now see it as advantageous to sow racial animus and division, and to scapegoat migrants for domestic problems which are in fact caused by elite looting. This is being done to strengthen the status quo regime, not undermine it.

marginalia_nu 11mo ago
I just pointed to evidence this was happening several years before Elon had anything to do with Twitter takeover, all the way back when Obama was still in office.
- clanky 11mo ago
  The fact that it existed in some nonzero quantity at some point before the choreographed Musk takeover does not contradict what I wrote in any way.
  - marginalia_nu 11mo ago
    One of the central points of the Mueller report is that they were organized and operated at a large scale, running major social media accounts and were infiltrating various fringe groups such as the Tea Party and BLM. Though it's worth noting this was happening under Prigozhin's lead, and since he's fallen out of a window now, it's unclear what's become of his troll factories.
    - clanky 11mo ago
      You could pilot a 747 through the range that encompasses what one might mean by "a large scale." None of the Mueller findings really showed anything likely to have had a substantial impact on popular discourse or voting, or anything within even 2, probably 3 orders of magnitude of the algorithmic reach of the modern day Xitter bluecheck flying monkeys. These accounts couldn't even get bluechecks back then!
  - cyberge99 11mo ago
    Did Elon switch political parties after auditing the chatbots on XTwitter? Wasn’t the bot ratio a prerequisite for the purchase of Twitter?

input_sh 11mo ago

This is different. There are not ideological in nature, they're looking for that revenue share that can change the life of someone living in a low-cost country. Being pro-MAGA just happens to be the only thing that works really well (aside from gimmick accounts that repost from subreddits). If Elon suddenly made a 180 into being anti-MAGA and tweaked the algorithm to reflect that, these "bots" would switch their message as well.

ChocolateGod 11mo ago

I don't think this is actually anything to do with Russia, it's just people finding it profitable to spread muck.

rsynnott 11mo ago

Longer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Research_Agency https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Research_Agency 2013 for the Internet Research Agency, but likely before for other organisations.