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CousinIT

(9,151 posts)
Tue Sep 1, 2020, 10:22 PM Sep 2020

Russian internet trolls hired U.S. journalists to push their news website, Facebook says

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/russian-internet-trolls-hired-u-s-journalists-push-their-news-n1239000

Some of Russia’s most notorious internet trolls have launched a news website that hired real-life journalism freelancers — including Americans — to contribute, Facebook said Tuesday.

The site, called Peace Data, launched this year with coverage focused largely on the environment and corporate and political corruption. Facebook learned through a tip from the FBI that people formerly associated with the Russian Internet Research Agency, which created a number of influential Twitter and Facebook personas to inflame political tensions in the 2016 election, ran Peace Data and has taken down its known affiliated accounts. It had yet to gain a serious following, said Nathaniel Gleicher, the company’s head of cybersecurity policy.

“It confirms what I think we’ve all thought: Russian actors are trying to target the 2020 elections and public debate in the U.S., and they’re trying to be creative about it,” Gleicher said.

“But the second thing that it confirms is, it’s not really working,” he said. “You can run a loud, noisy influence campaign like the one we saw in 2016, and you get caught very quickly. Or you can try to run a much more subtle campaign, which is what this looks like. And A, you still get caught, and B, when you run a subtle influence campaign, you’re sort of working at cross-purposes with yourself. You don’t get a lot of attention for it.”

Twitter separately announced Tuesday that it had suspended five accounts related to Peace Data, calling them "Russian state actors."

Peace Data aimed to court left-leaning voters, said Ben Nimmo, whose company, Graphika, released a report on the site.
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Russian internet trolls hired U.S. journalists to push their news website, Facebook says (Original Post) CousinIT Sep 2020 OP
They have had 4 years to improve their methods. BigmanPigman Sep 2020 #1
Is Jill Stein listed on the Board of Directors? Nt BootinUp Sep 2020 #2

BigmanPigman

(51,430 posts)
1. They have had 4 years to improve their methods.
Tue Sep 1, 2020, 10:26 PM
Sep 2020

Now the photo identifies of their bots are computer generated, not even a real, fake picture of a fake person but a fake/fake photo of a fake person is being used to promote their agenda.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/01/technology/facebook-russia-disinformation-election.html#click=https://t.co/IwYpvjWMzk

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