Posted on 09/21/2015 6:24:15 AM PDT by 1010RD
To some he was an Islamist extremist, to others a radical feminist, to others a neo-Nazi. These are all online identities that seem to have belonged to Joshua Goldberg - but in reality he was none of these things.
They were simply online aliases used to whip up ideological hatred, with seemingly dangerous and even violent real-world consequences. In reality he lives in Florida, spent huge amounts of time online - and has now been arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
SNIP
It seems Goldberg wasn't just posing as a racist neo-Nazi. Earlier this year an Australian journalist, Elise Potaka, discovered that someone was impersonating her, and one of her sources, online. Potaka enlisted the help of another journalist, Luke McMahon, and together they started chatting with Goldberg's online personalities.
"It was immediately apparent to me that I was dealing with like a classic Internet troll, but one that was obviously quite sophisticated," McMahon says. "When I first started engaging with him… I thought I was dealing with a member of the far right. But as the conversation progressed and I worked out this wasn't about any kind of ideological crusade, but it was something much different."
One of Goldberg's alleged identities was called "Australi Witness" - a persona that claimed to be a supporter of the the so-called Islamic State, living in Australia. Improbably, "Australi Witness" also claimed to have worked for human rights organisations and to have links with liberal Muslim human rights activists.
Read more at link.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Ping.
Does this describe some FReeper you know?
LOL!
> So why did a young man take on all of these cloaks and identities? Potaka and McMahon say that if Joshua Goldberg did have an ideology, it was one based on an extreme interpretation of the idea of free speech. But his aliases were so many and so contradictory that it’s difficult to tell what he really believed, or even if online essays published under his own name really represent his views.
The guy thrives on creating discord using manipulation and deception. He’s also 20 and living with parents. Hardly the profile of a FR’per.
Oh indeed it does.
^ with the exception of some liberal trolls that creep on here every once in awhile but we usually pickup the scent pretty quickly.
“Some people just want to watch the world burn” - Alfred
The reason for the arrest is well into the article. He was arrested for “providing the informant with detailed information about how to build a bomb.”
“Neo-Nazi, radical feminist and violent jihadist - all at once”
This amalgam of seemingly diverse political stances is one of the reasons we right-thinking people have such a hard time pinning down the left.
How can a Nazi be a Leftist?
How can a Jihadist be a Feminist?
How can a Left-Wing Atheist side with Islam?
How can a Feminist be a Nazi?
How can an Islamist be a Communist?
And on and on...
David Horowitz addresses this in his Book “Unholy Alliance” and Dan Greenfield speaks of it in the Sultan Knish Blog but the real crux of the matter is that all these groups are united by their hatred of the Judeo-Christian Ethic and Western Civilization. Their number one enemy is the God of The Bible, which means that all of these “isms” answer to the same boss.
“Their number one enemy is the God of The Bible, which means that all of these “isms” answer to the same boss.”
The one bit of information that makes it all comprehensible.
Yep.
Really need to do something about the job situation in this country.
Quickly.
You’re pretty good on that statement; however, I’d say there are many gods, doing the bidding of their master.
“the real crux of the matter is that all these groups are united by their hatred of the Judeo-Christian Ethic and Western Civilization. Their number one enemy is the God of The Bible, which means that all of these “isms” answer to the same boss.”
We have gone from a covert war of words against Christians and Jews who follow their religion to full frontal verbal attacks and use of the liberal courts to weaken and eventually kill our religions.
The Obama house of thugs/Muslim Brotherhood have let these attacks increase on a regular basis.
You didn’t get it. He created personas to jack people up. They can be anyone. Think of that the next time someone you are talking to online starts feeding you info that is unverifiable.
You need to apply a Turing tests of sorts. I’ve found most non-rightwing folks simply can’t pull off a rightwinger for very long without falling into parodt.
Yes.
The last seven years have been awful...
but a future seven will be even worse.
My daily Bible Study is about the book of Esther, and today was the pivotal chapter 4...”Such a time as this...”
KosmicKitty
Since Oct 12, 2002
Just saying :-)
Hard to pull the troll thing for too long. Don’t ask how I know (Dos NOT involver FR)
Oh I am quite adept at it myself but do it for good. I assume most people are not who they say they are online. I use the epwalks like a duck, talks like a duck test for starters and then hit them with statements I know will evoke an emotional response. Sometimes you have to keep jabbing until you hit the soft spots to out them.
A master troll is the most likely explanation.
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