Axios (Oct 2020): Russia eyes far-right U.S. social media networks

[TomCADem]

Is it any wonder that after Twitter and Facebook and other media outlets started to police disinformation operations on mainstream platforms, that Russia targeted alternative platforms favored by the far right, such as Gab and Parler. Likewise, Parler was used to organize the insurrection and riots this week. Yet, for all their talk about patriotism, watch Republicans like Devin Nunes rush to the defense of parler despite this weeks riots.

https://www.axios.com/russia-eyes-far-right-us-social-media-networks-203ae482-fa2f-4f62-8ce1-b798c56140e4.html

The Russian troll farm central to Moscow's 2016 U.S. election interference campaign appears to be behind a new operation targeting U.S. voters on Gab and Parler, social media platforms favored by the far right.

Why it matters: The shift by Russia's Internet Research Agency to more marginal platforms may signal that the techniques and strategies that paid off for Russia in 2016 are seeing declining returns. If Moscow is trying to influence a broad swath of U.S. voters, being relegated to platforms unknown to 99% of Americans simply won’t get the job done.

Driving the news: The move to Gab and Parler was documented in a report from social media analytics firm Graphika and an accompanying Reuters investigation late last week. This is Russia's first known use of these platforms.

Details: The fake network described by Graphika revolved around an ostensibly Europe-based website called the Newsroom for American and European Based Citizens (NAEBC).

[Budi]

1. Oddly, it was capitalist corperations that finally shut off RU's means to American viewers.

Donald Trump wouldn't have been president were it not for Twitter.
Yet it was finally, & oddly our biggest Capitalists who held the power to shut down Russia & Trump.

Were these media co's owned (as in RU) by a privitized govt & under set laws, such a mass shut off of communication would not have been possible. 1st Amedment Rights apply to Govt rules, however it was the rules of Corporations that pulled the plug

Corporations like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, etc, operate with their own Terms of Service as to what can be posted on the sites they own.

It was due to these Terms Of Service that gave corporations the right to shut down Russia's RW propaganda communications.

Moral to the story:

This is why no nation should Nationalize large industries in order to turn them into public services, as it would be near impossible to fight the scourge of white supremacist domestic terrorism if industries like social media companies, airlines, and banks were not private entities.

Trump the Authoritarian Dictator would have had the power to order the Nationalized large media, banking & airline industries to remain open, for his & Russia's message to continue & grow.