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I Can Destroy Your Reputation and Career in Two Minutes
Townhall.com ^ | September 1, 2014 | Rachel Alexander

Posted on 09/01/2014 5:21:49 AM PDT by Kaslin

There is a new form of cyberbullying out there and it is scary, because it could derail the professional career of any conservative - even those working in apolitical jobs. Slimy folks like “Busta Troll” are hijacking Facebook pages of conservatives, replacing the content with goats and anti-conservative messages. Some believe a goat is used because it is a Satanic symbol; many of the conservatives are targeted because of their Christian or Jewish views.

The conservative Citizens’ Post page on Facebook was hijacked by the “Goatz Alliance,” which also goes by the name “Busta Troll,” by pretending to be from a conservative organization called Freedom Alliance. The bullies also set up several fake conservative Facebook groups to give themselves credibility. Once they cajoled the owner into giving them admin privileges, the hijackers posted anti-conservative propaganda all over the page. On one of their fake Facebook pages, a cyber thug claims to be paid by George Soros.

Another conservative Facebook page, “America, the Next Generation,” was hijacked not just once but twice by the cyber thugs, who pretended to offer help fixing a rude post about Obama, but then posted goats. R.W. Burgin, who runs a Facebook page called The Seditionist, told The Examiner that liberal cyber thugs copied photos from his page and photoshopped them into parody pages and videos, including alongside pornography. He was called a pedophile and his employer was contacted, in order to try and get him fired.

The cyber thugs are clever and have a lot of time on their hands. The main thug, Busta Troll, apparently gave an anonymous interview to the Atlanta Conservative Examiner, boasting that he had “goated” 17 Facebook pages. Then he supposedly set up an elaborate scheme where he pretended that a conservative named Kevin Kopper had his Facebook page hijacked, so Kopper offered $1,000 to anyone who could out Busta Troll. Kopper claimed he found someone for $1,000 who identified Busta Troll as Christopher Lyman. Busta Troll explains the scheme on his website and how all the names involved are fake. It looks like Busta Troll’s identity may have finally been discovered. Fortunately, Facebook appears to be cracking down on Busta Troll, at least for the most part.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. There are even more disturbing ways cyber thugs are going after conservative activists. Donna Cruse, a vocal Tea Party activist, had one of these hateful people photoshop her Facebook page to make it look like she said something racist related to her credit union employer and how they give out loans. The screenshot was then posted publicly by Americans Against the Tea Party, and the credit union was contacted to complain about her.

The problem? They should have contacted the credit union first. The bank told the anonymous coward that she hadn’t been employed there since 2010! Her alleged comment makes no sense in 2014. Unfortunately, her current employer watched as the cyber storm occurred on the credit union’s site, and due to the frenzied public reaction to this hoax, she was immediately suspended and has been placed on indefinite, unpaid suspension. She is nowreceiving death threats. Her previous co-workers are afraid to associate with her, possibly out of fear for their jobs. Even more outrageous, Donna has many black friends - who I happened to notice in photos with her on her Facebook page - and last year, she shaved all her hair off her head to show her support for an ethnic friend who was undergoing chemotherapy for cancer.

Nevertheless, her current employer launched an investigation into her and found what they believed to be another Facebook profile of hers, but it was actually a dormant account of a leftist troll who simply changed the name and added a stolen photo, causing further investigation into her personally. In other words, Donna has become “the criminal” in the story. This is how they terrorize people on the right to the point of suicide.

I am fairly good with photoshopping, and know how simple it would be to superimpose a fake comment onto a screenshot of someone’s Facebook page. I photoshopped a screenshot of Barack Obama’s Facebook page to say he was becoming a Republican in less than two minutes. How this tactic could be used to take out conservatives is frankly terrifying. The best way to prevent it is to spread the word and explain how the photoshopping works. Someone loves Hitler? Someone wants to kill Obama? Someone is a white supremacist? Someone hates gays? Photoshopped sex photos? The possibilities are endless. The left is excellent at making this kind of thing go viral and getting activists to call and make complaints.

Progressives and their comrades in the media are always trying to claim there is a link between right-wing conservatives and offensive viewpoints - even though the truth is abhorrent viewpoints are more closely connected to the left - so some employers may believe the anonymous thugs over a Tea Party member. Especially if they pile it on by having a few more anonymous people post comments after the article claiming the person has made offensive comments in the past (even though they have no proof), and bang! It begins to sound convincing.

One little two-minute photoshopping incident and your entire career aspirations could be over - forever. Anyone who Googles you for the rest of your life will likely find the abhorrent things about you. And it’s not just what someone said about you - it’s what YOU supposedly said so it’s even tougher to dispute.

Wikipedia is another forum conservatives need to take on, since it has become the number one source for encyclopedia-like, general information. Trolls - probably mostly unemployed criminals living in their parents’ basements - have taken over much of it, posting horrendous things about conservative people and conservative organizations. Unless someone has a lot of money to pay someone to clean up their reputation, or time to spend hours learning how to maneuver the complexities of editing Wikipedia, this site can significantly hurt their credibility.

Hopefully, entities like Facebook will address this in the future, perhaps by setting up a department to deal with requests for records in order to prove the photoshopping is false. A spammer took my photo and started a fake Facebook profile with it recently; I complained to Facebook and they wouldn’t remove it (fortunately it has since disappeared). Another solution is to set up a website where these incidents can be exposed and debunked. If anyone is looking for a new venture to help conservatives, this would be a very valuable project. Otherwise, expect to see many more conservatives destroyed over false accusations - including some big names.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: bullying; careers; conservatives; cyberbullying; employment; fakebutaccurate; internet; jobs; progressives; ratherbiased
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1 posted on 09/01/2014 5:21:49 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

Don’t use facebook, problem solved.


2 posted on 09/01/2014 5:27:27 AM PDT by wrench
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To: Kaslin
Once they cajoled the owner into giving them admin privileges,

Someone has to be pretty stupid and lazy to fall for this.

3 posted on 09/01/2014 5:28:08 AM PDT by palmer (This comment is not approved or cleared by FDA)
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To: Kaslin
Here's a clue. Don't do social networking. Period.


4 posted on 09/01/2014 5:28:15 AM PDT by Vaquero (Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.)
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To: Kaslin

Get off Facebook, it is stupid and so many people’s legal cases implode because of stupid idiocy they post on Facebook


5 posted on 09/01/2014 5:32:02 AM PDT by yldstrk ( My heroes have always been cowboys)
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To: Kaslin

Does anyone use Snopes anymore?


6 posted on 09/01/2014 5:36:51 AM PDT by skeeter
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To: Kaslin

It would take a lot more than that to ruin a responsible conservative’s reputation but it won’t stop the assh*les from trying.


7 posted on 09/01/2014 5:38:14 AM PDT by equaviator (There's nothing like the universe to bring you down to earth.)
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To: Vaquero
Your comment is ironic considering you are posting it to a social media website. And yes, Free Republic is part of social media as well. All our comments are out there for all the world to see. While most of us post anonymously through screen names, it would not be too difficult for a determined hacker to figure out who most of us are in real life.

I am pretty much resigned to the fact that eventually, my employer and my family will eventually have access to all that I've ever said here over the past 17 years.

8 posted on 09/01/2014 5:40:16 AM PDT by SamAdams76
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To: Vaquero; wrench
Exactly.

When I interview prospective entry-level job candidates in my company, I give high marks to those who don't use social media.

9 posted on 09/01/2014 5:41:40 AM PDT by Alberta's Child ("What in the wide, wide world of sports is goin' on here?")
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To: SamAdams76
Your comments are valid, but FreeRepublic is a political forum more than a social media outlet. With the exception of close friends and family members, I've never even met a Freeper in person.

You're a very recognizable poster here to me, and I love reading your posts on most subjects. But I wouldn't recognize you if I ran into you on the street. LOL.

10 posted on 09/01/2014 5:45:43 AM PDT by Alberta's Child ("What in the wide, wide world of sports is goin' on here?")
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To: wrench

I am with you.

I don’t use Facebook, don’t have the time, and I have no inclination to use it. It sounds extremely narcissistic to me, a continual “look at me...look at me” endeavor.

However, I have one Facebook site that I was convinced into creating for a reunion which I created and have never gone back to, and two other sites created for me by friends who are dismayed I am not on Facebook.

Ugh.


11 posted on 09/01/2014 6:09:30 AM PDT by rlmorel ("Every kid worth his salt has one scar from a flaming marshmallow, and a story to go along with it.")
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To: SamAdams76

When I am in a position that my ‘alias’ is compromised, I will quit.


12 posted on 09/01/2014 6:12:04 AM PDT by Vaquero (Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.)
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To: yldstrk
I was foolish enough to open a Facebook account and use it for a time, but I soured on the experience. I wound up with “friends” who weren't friends at all. They only added my name to their list so they could bombard me with useless posts about their boring lives. Do I really care that so-and-so went to the salon to get her nails done today?

Unfortunately, to my knowledge, there is no way to delete the account, at least there wasn't a few years ago when I tried. That's what bothers me. Any enterprising hacker could locate my account and send out posts in my name.

13 posted on 09/01/2014 6:15:06 AM PDT by fatnotlazy
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To: fatnotlazy

I shut mine down when my liberal sisters kept posting utter lunacy that ended up on my page.


14 posted on 09/01/2014 6:17:53 AM PDT by yldstrk ( My heroes have always been cowboys)
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To: Alberta's Child

To further illuminate the situation, FR is monitored by so.some with a screen name”ozzymandius” and runs a site called Freeper Madness. Lots of freepers profiled there, made to look as bad as possible with their own words.

My own rule is to use the WaPo test. Don’t post anything you wouldn’t want seen in the WaPo.


15 posted on 09/01/2014 6:21:46 AM PDT by sauropod (Fat Bottomed Girl: "What difference, at this point, does it make?")
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To: Alberta's Child
When I interview prospective entry-level job candidates in my company, I give high marks to those who don't use social media.

If I WAS social networking (which I'm not) and applying for a job. I would tell you I didn't use social media. Of course I don't believe it is a companies business what one does outside of work.
Now retired, while working folks kept trying to get me to join Linkedin. Never happened

16 posted on 09/01/2014 6:23:10 AM PDT by Vaquero (Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.)
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To: Kaslin

Report all trolling actions to the AM of the site, problem solved.


17 posted on 09/01/2014 6:29:42 AM PDT by Biggirl (“Go, do not be afraid, and serve”-Pope Francis)
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To: skeeter

Snopes has a definite leftist bias and is not to be trusted


18 posted on 09/01/2014 6:31:03 AM PDT by Vaquero (Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.)
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To: sauropod

“My own rule is to use the WaPo test. Don’t post anything you wouldn’t want seen in the WaPo.”

I don’t think you understand the problem. It’s not what you post, it’s what “they” say you post.

But yea, I wouldn’t post anything I wouldn’t want my mother to read. For the most part.....


19 posted on 09/01/2014 6:31:09 AM PDT by saleman (?)
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To: Vaquero
1. If a job candidate tells me he doesn't use social media and it turns out he does, then he's not getting hired -- plain and simple.

2. What you do outside of work is your own business, but when you post things in a public venue then it does reflect on your employer. As such, your employer has every right to ensure that you don't present yourself in an irresponsible or unprofessional manner in your "social media" posts.

20 posted on 09/01/2014 6:32:34 AM PDT by Alberta's Child ("What in the wide, wide world of sports is goin' on here?")
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