Posted on 08/13/2014 6:16:31 PM PDT by WhiskeyX
Adolfych is opinionated. He certainly has bad manners. But is he a troll?
[....]
'Nothing New'
The Kremlin, which has waged a massive disinformation campaign aimed at legitimizing Russia's annexation of Crimea and support for separatists in eastern Ukraine, has employed so-called "troll armies" to invade online territories armed with pro-Moscow rhetoric.
A June article by Max Seddon of "Buzzfeed" reported the Kremlin was spending millions of dollars to pay English-speaking Russians to promote President Vladimir Putin and his policies in U.S. media like Fox News broadcasting and the "Huffington Post" and "Politico" news sites.
Trolls are reportedly expected to manage multiple fake accounts and post on news articles 50 times a day, often with sentiments as simplistic as "Putin makes Obama look stupid and weak!"
In order to promote its narrative, the Kremlin has adopted a two-fisted strategy, unleashing its troll armies even as it tightens Internet restrictions at home. On August 1, Russia enacted controversial new legislation aimed at muzzling social media, the last bastion of the country's embattled opposition and a free flow of information about the war in Ukraine.
Anton Nosik, a popular Russian blogger and programmer who is sometimes referred to as the "father of the Russian Internet," says the Kremlin is falling back on a time-honored strategy in its propaganda war on Ukraine. But this time, he says, the stakes are higher than ever before. ("Buzzfeed" reports that at least one trolling company, Internet Research Agency in St. Petersburg, is expected to spend more than $10 million in 2014 alone. )
(Excerpt) Read more at rferl.org ...
Well, some are just doing it out of ideological commitment to Putin. I mean their commitment is to the man himself.
“Well, some are just doing it out of ideological commitment to Putin. I mean their commitment is to the man himself.”
I wonder how far that commitment would last once Putin’s regime happened to receive some information that appeared to indicate the Putinista was actually serving as a Western intelligence agent?
You mean as a double agent? If so, I don’t know. Most of us remember the saying that politics ends at the oceans edge. Over the years, Democrats very much cancelled that adage out. I believe, however, that by temperament and culture most conservatives are more patriotic, unabashedly than liberals. And it’s that that surprises me when I see so many FREEPERS unabashedly supporting a foreign despot like Putin. Admittedly, most of their support is mere words, but out of their animus for the failed president Obama they’re turning a blind eye to Putin’s goals and his methods.
I was talking about the Putinistas who are posting on FR from Russia, the Crimea, etc. Don’t we have a few of those? I believe at least one poster was supposedly in the Crimea?
If we’re purging trolls can we do something about the GOPe cheerleaders? They’re increadibly lame.
Oh, I almost forgot.
You a bitch!
Yeah, I think there are three or four of them. They’re here to help us understand how stupid Obama is and that Putin is the answer.
I’m betting there are far more than three or four Soviet-Russian agents aboard FR, and I’m also making an educated guess there are at least a few of them who were assigned the task to join from the early beginnings of the forum. Consequently, you cannot tell who they are by looking at when they joined FR. Soviet intelligence maintained extensive dossiers on every U.S. officer and as many of the enlisted personnel as they could discover. Likewise, they are anal retentive when it comes to monitoring the political and social activities of political and economic targets of their operations. Blackmail was always a preferred tool for NKVD, GRU, KGB, and FSB agency use against their chosen targets. FR is one of those venues which would attract their close attention. It remains to be seen how much the dissolution of the Soviet Union disrupted this type of intelligence gathering in the 1990s versus their resumption in more recent years.
I estimate there are at least 12 Russian trolls (intelligence agents) active on FR. There are several categories of Russian trolls. Some are blatant and easily identifiable. Others are insipid and conduct the classic communist influence operation: demoralization, repudiation, propaganda and reconciliation. The purpose is to accept the propaganda without actually realizing it. This is possible because the focus of interaction is attaining a consensus with the operative over some innocuous point. This redeems the target’s confidence and, more importantly, requires them accept the propaganda -the real purpose of the interaction.
They are very active, and successful, on conservative and conspiracy sites. Some sites may even be run by them.
IMO they are currently running an influence operation to support Russia’s interests in Syria and energy exports to Western Europe. Middle east oil exported into Europe via Turkish pipelines competes directly with Russian oil exports. Qatar, Kuwait, SA and Iraq all want to export to the EU but do not have secure pipeline routes. Imagine that.
‘The Hunt for Red October’....I really liked that movie.
“there are at least a few of them who were assigned the task to join from the early beginnings of the forum. Consequently, you cannot tell who they are by looking at when they joined FR.”
Additionally, If the account is 10 years old, it doesn’t necessary mean that the same person is using it these days...
Russian Orthodox 15-20%, Muslim 10-15%, other Christian 2% (2006 est.) note: estimates are of practicing worshipers; Russia has large populations of non-practicing believers and non-believers, a legacy of over seven decades of Soviet rule
Muslim 70.2%, Christian 26.2% (Russian Orthodox 23.9%, other Christian 2.3%), Buddhist 0.1%, other 0.2%, atheist 2.8%, unspecified 0.5% (2009 Census)
Muslim 75%, Russian Orthodox 20%, other 5%
Sunni Muslim 85%, Shia Muslim 5%, other 10% (2003 est.)
Eastern Orthodox 80%, other (including Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim) 20% (1997 est.)
Armenian Apostolic 92.6%, Evangelical 1%, other 2.4%, none 1.1%, unspecified 2.9% (2011 est.)
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