My life as a pro-Putin propagandist in Russia’s secret 'troll factory'

[LanternWaste]

Ms Savchuk says that for two months, she worked as one of scores of "internet operators" in a secretive “troll factory” called Internet Research, an anonymous four-storey building on a back street in St Petersburg, Russia’s former tsarist capital and Mr Putin’s hometown.

Ms Savchuk’s job was to spend 12 hours a day praising the Kremlin and lambasting its perceived enemies on social networks, blogs and the comment sections of online media.

The trolls' task, reminiscent of the black arts of Soviet disinformation, was to attack any opponent of the Russian authorities, be it dissenting politicians, pro-European Ukrainians or even Barack Obama – who was branded a "monkey" because of his black skin.

Samples of assignments which she secretly copied show that targets for the bloggers were the Ukrainian government, Mr Obama, and Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition blogger and anti-corruption crusader who has been frequently jailed on trumped-up charges. Pussy Riot, the feminist activists who performed a “punk prayer” in Moscow’s main church, were also singled out.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/11656043/My-life-as-a-pro-Putin-propagandist-in-Russias-secret-troll-factory.html


A well-written, in-depth article though six months old. Three or four times a week, a handful of posts on DU remind of its relevance.

[Archae]

1. I get the same feeling seeing the posts using as a cite "Sputnik" or "Russia Today."

[FSogol]

2. +1. I can think of another example.

[Tarheel_Dem]

3. It's a really shitty job, but I guess someone has to do it?

[Coventina]

4. *giggle*

K&R

Because nobody we know of here resembles this story......

[backscatter712]

5. That's right! American politicians, parties, and interest groups would never stoop so low!

Why just think of what DU would look like if it was constantly bombarded by sockpuppet armies spewing the Talking Point of the Day.

[Coventina]

6. Sorry, I didn't mean to touch your tender nerves.

[LanternWaste]

13. Rationalizing the faults of one by predicating them on the faults of another seems irrational.

Rationalizing the faults of one by predicating them on the faults of another seems irrational at best...

[CreekDog]

17. Nobody's posting a link to a White House Press Release and pretending it's a news story

There are plenty posting links to the Russian Government's "news" site and pretending they are news stories.

[LanternWaste]

11. Goodness, no!

"nobody we know of here resembles this story...."

Goodness, no!

Simply because someone minimizes Moscow's assault on GLBT rights, its imperialism into Ukraine, Georgia and the Crimea, its four recently constructed forward airbases in Syria, its incompetent and repeated flyovers into sovereign Turkish airspace, its bombing of the Turkmen, waging cyberwarfare on Estonia, threatening the gas supplies of Lithuania, the reassertion of Russian influence in the former communist states of Europe, whether those states want Russian influence or not, and Moscow's introduction of a law which restricted NGOs from getting funding from foreign governments, we should open our arms to any poster who relies exclusively on Russia Today for their opinions.

Orwell's Newspeak has become a Newthink as well.

[Nye Bevan]

7. "Bashing" President Putin has become the norm for Western mass media.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027479770

[ProfessorGAC]

9. Saw That!

Sheesh!

[FLPanhandle]

24. There are a few around here that somehow defend Putin

I wonder why any liberal would ever support him. I guess for pay is one good answer.

[GummyBearz]

8. Woah...

You can get paid to troll on line? Damn... kids have it great these days

[Nye Bevan]

10. Exposing the West's "Reverse Blame" game.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026265373

[Nye Bevan]

12. Ukraine: Founding false narrative + media distortion => World War III

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=5507927

[Nye Bevan]

14. Why the Ukraine Crisis Is the West’s Fault

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025497314

[Nye Bevan]

15. The West’s Looting of Ukraine Has Begun

http://www.democraticunderground.com/101689600

[Hekate]

26. They certainly have been busy little beavers, haven't they?

[CreekDog]

16. kick

[edhopper]

18. Most posters here would never do this

but another_poster might.

[CreekDog]

21. this is kinda random but:

another_liberal (8,631 posts)
4. Great to see you back, Go West!

Have you noticed how there are a lot fewer posts lately about the glories of Chechnyan terrorists fighting Russia. Someone must have finally looked up what hypocrisy means.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017237652#post4

[edhopper]

22. sure

I would never call out one DUer or another_ .

I wonder what the Kremlin pays these days?

Do they usually use people who profess to be conservative or _liberal?

[Hekate]

25. Depends on what site they post at would be my guess_

They get to pose as far-right one day and far-left the next_

[uriel1972]

32. ooooh you rotter :)... nt

[Gormy Cuss]

19. Paid or unpaid, there are a lot of one issue trolls in discussion boards.

Many are also good at posting without violating the site's TOS and moderation. Sites with little moderation seem to have these sorts of trolls by the score.

[backscatter712]

23. Fortunately, Skinner is an exceptional forum moderator.

Why, under his supervision, the trolls have all been driven off! All you have to do is look in GDP, the Guns/RKBA forum, and Snowden threads and you'll see how civil and insightful this board has become!

[emulatorloo]

29. Blame the juries.

[betterdemsonly]

27. If the media were not antagonisitic toward Russia they would portray the trolls in a positive light

like they do pro-israel posters, who Israel admits they pay. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/08/14/israel-students-social-media/2651715/ . This board has been more than welcoming of such people in the israel-palestine forum.

Not to mention the posters the American government has paid since the Bush years. http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/mar/17/us-spy-operation-social-networks

[emulatorloo]

28. Great article, thanks for posting

Appears to explain some of the pro-Putin nonsense I see on DU. And the bizarre glorification of RT by some DU'ers.

[LeftyMom]

30. I suspect some of the obvious accounts are shared by more than one person.

I've noticed that quite often the original post (citing Sputnik or RT, almost invariably) will have very little additional comment, the first few replies from the poster in any resulting discussion will be brief comments in clumsy English (using very few stock arguments as well,) but if the thread heats up and gets many replies the same poster will suddenly switch to very fluid English and longer, better argued replies in the remainder of their comments.

This suggests to me that posts that receive many replies or significant pushback are being handed off to more skillful colleagues at the troll factory.

[Nye Bevan]

31. Interesting observation.

I would be fascinated to see the IP logs of some of these accounts.

[Codeine]

33. Post west, young purveyor,

because it's not enough to be just another liberal. You better believe it.