3 ms·

Political manipulation is a problem, but I don't think it's nearly as profitable as pushing scams and gambling.

nine_k 4mo ago
I suspect that politicians right before elections may pay more than standard gambling. They gamble with much higher stakes.
- netsharc 4mo ago
  Hah, outsourcing political "influencing" to tiny "consulting" companies that promise great things but is a rickety AI slop shop in the backend. I suppose the only difference to the Big 4 is the price tag. I guess politicians could claim to be hiring a voter research company and profess to be oblivious to the "voter hacking" schemes (hacking the voters' minds to lean whichever way the politician wants them to lean).
tommica 4mo ago
On that level, power and control trumps profit
makethembroke 4mo ago
a kind of
saidnooneever 4mo ago
just get residential botnets to watch ur youtube channel click all the adds u dont need many bots..There are many ways to monetize things. Governments just run sim farms etc. they dont need to use this kind of approach for political influece. Not to say that some dont but generally they will not be stealing accounts. (most bots involved in campaigns to get trump in his seat were not stolen accounts)
SCdF 4mo ago
It's more profitable because it allows you to select political perspectives that allow you, the scammer and or gambler, to scam or gamble harder.
Cthulhu_ 4mo ago
You'd be surprised as how there's individuals and organizations willing to pay a lot of money to do political manipulation / influencing.
- lynx97 4mo ago
  > ... and organizations willing to pay a lot of money to do political manipulation / influencing. Like what, parties campaigning?
  - mschuster91 4mo ago
    We're talking about foreign influence here. All recent US and German elections reeked of Russian dark money, then there was the entire Cambridge Analytica mess and before that it was Brexit.
    - brettermeier 4mo ago
      And Elon Musks dark money. Don't forget that. He gives his best to influence european politics.
      - mschuster91 4mo ago
        Don't think he gives money, but yes, he definitely does everything he can to help out the far-right with his global audience.
    - sunaookami 4mo ago
      Not every result you dislike is "Russian inference".
  - edm0nd 4mo ago
    more like it would be from the nation state level. for example, RU pushing these lil psyop bots to get Trump elected and/or grow the divide in between Ds and Rs.
  - t-3 4mo ago
phatskat 4mo ago
It doesn’t need to be profitable if it’s cheap - political manipulation by unsavory parties is worth a cheap botnet if it means they can keep power and keep grifting. I will agree with a sibling up there that the political part is pure speculation, and I’d guess anyone running a moderately sized botnet is open to use for any nefarious purposes if the price is right.

I suspect that politicians right before elections may pay more than standard gambling. They gamble with much higher stakes.

netsharc 4mo ago
Hah, outsourcing political "influencing" to tiny "consulting" companies that promise great things but is a rickety AI slop shop in the backend. I suppose the only difference to the Big 4 is the price tag. I guess politicians could claim to be hiring a voter research company and profess to be oblivious to the "voter hacking" schemes (hacking the voters' minds to lean whichever way the politician wants them to lean).

tommica 4mo ago

On that level, power and control trumps profit

makethembroke 4mo ago

a kind of

saidnooneever 4mo ago

just get residential botnets to watch ur youtube channel click all the adds u dont need many bots..There are many ways to monetize things. Governments just run sim farms etc. they dont need to use this kind of approach for political influece. Not to say that some dont but generally they will not be stealing accounts. (most bots involved in campaigns to get trump in his seat were not stolen accounts)

SCdF 4mo ago

It's more profitable because it allows you to select political perspectives that allow you, the scammer and or gambler, to scam or gamble harder.

Cthulhu_ 4mo ago

You'd be surprised as how there's individuals and organizations willing to pay a lot of money to do political manipulation / influencing.

lynx97 4mo ago
> ... and organizations willing to pay a lot of money to do political manipulation / influencing. Like what, parties campaigning?
- mschuster91 4mo ago
  We're talking about foreign influence here. All recent US and German elections reeked of Russian dark money, then there was the entire Cambridge Analytica mess and before that it was Brexit.
  - brettermeier 4mo ago
    And Elon Musks dark money. Don't forget that. He gives his best to influence european politics.
    - mschuster91 4mo ago
      Don't think he gives money, but yes, he definitely does everything he can to help out the far-right with his global audience.
  - sunaookami 4mo ago
    Not every result you dislike is "Russian inference".
- edm0nd 4mo ago
  more like it would be from the nation state level. for example, RU pushing these lil psyop bots to get Trump elected and/or grow the divide in between Ds and Rs.
- t-3 4mo ago

phatskat 4mo ago

It doesn’t need to be profitable if it’s cheap - political manipulation by unsavory parties is worth a cheap botnet if it means they can keep power and keep grifting. I will agree with a sibling up there that the political part is pure speculation, and I’d guess anyone running a moderately sized botnet is open to use for any nefarious purposes if the price is right.