DailyBeast: Russians Used Reddit and Tumblr to Troll the 2016 Election

[emulatorloo]

https://www.thedailybeast.com/russians-used-reddit-and-tumblr-to-troll-the-2016-election/

Russians Used Reddit and Tumblr to Troll the 2016 Election
The internet giants are staying mum after a leak from the Kremlin-backed troll farm confirmed that they were key nodes in the Russian disinformation campaign.

03.01.18

A leak of internal data from the Kremlin-backed Internet Research Agency discovered by The Daily Beast serves as the first confirmation that the Russian troll farm deployed its online agitators on Reddit as part of its campaign to interfere in American politics.

The leak also reveals 21 Tumblr accounts, including login credentials, run by the Internet Research Agency (IRA). The listing for the leak offers “American proxies” for Reddit and viral meme site 9Gag. The leak comes after months of speculation from Reddit users that the site had been targeted by a foreign influence campaign.

Content from IRA-backed websites like BlackMattersUs.com received hundreds—and sometimes thousands—upvotes on subreddits like r/The_Donald and r/HillaryForPrison in the run-up to the 2016 election. Trolls purporting to represent the troll farm promised an Ask Me Anything session in October, but the Q-and-A never occurred.

When The Daily Beast reached out to Reddit for comment, a public relations representative requested screenshots and details of the leak, which The Daily Beast provided. The spokesperson told The Daily Beast the company would be in touch if it had any further comment.

Reddit then ignored repeated further requests for comment.

Much more at link

[bettyellen]

1. They were trolling forums on LinkedIn- of retired Nat Sec workers and getting some thrown out of

groups they had participated in for years by hanging up on them and alerting. Because they mentioned links to Russia. Same as they did here. They were everywhere they could think of, creating the illusion of being a force.


https://www.google.com/amp/www.newsweek.com/russia-putin-bots-linkedin-facebook-trump-clinton-kremlin-critics-poison-war-645696%3famp=1

[Kirk Lover]

2. The illusion worked very well because I could barely find another Hillary supporter

online. It was slim pickins and few and far between. I remember Hillary's Facebook page was overrun with trolls that even I couldn't combat them and that's saying something because my last name is Trolston .

Same thing on twitter. Now the roles are reversed and the great thing is that the #Resistance are REAL PEOPLE.

[emulatorloo]

3. Thats awful about LinkedIn. I was not aware of that

I feel like Reddit and others will never own up to what happened and their culpability in not trying to stop it. They just hope everyone will forget that they gave legitimacy to this. Hence their refusal to comment.

[bettyellen]

4. There was a scary story in Newsweek I think- some had been contacted in real life! They were

Retired Americans living abroad one in the UK and one in France. Strangers striking up conversations in a pub and a supermarket I think, knowing way too much about them. And they realized it was from their Linked In profiles. I hope I can find the link for you. It’s insane!

[bettyellen]

5. Here you go- this is some crazy shit!

https://www.google.com/amp/www.newsweek.com/russia-putin-bots-linkedin-facebook-trump-clinton-kremlin-critics-poison-war-645696%3famp=1

[emulatorloo]

6. Thank you! (Edited)

That stuff is shocking. the way these people were targeted. Cannot get over the poisoned umbrella attack.

[laserhaas]

7. It happens everywhere.

DK bojo'd me due to group trolling (baiting me to scream back at them).

On LinkedIn too (but I block them there ; which prevents them from seeing me or my seeing their crap).

Twitter licked me out - 3 times...

And....ummmm

[ismnotwasm]

8. Explains some the high drama crap

I think Trump was ultimately elected by racists, sexist and assholes, but those people were enabled by bad information I guess. The thing is, it’s not that hard to find Hillary’s record of service, but the will had to be there. So many WANTED to think the worst, WANTED to spin out of control. To the point of seemingly be unable to process properly.

Anywhere you turned there was trolling. We found our “safe spaces” We Hillary supporters, as best we could. We were trolled even there. It wasn’t enough to overcome the manipulated distaste so many felt for her. Even today, the “bad candidate” meme is still out there. Trump was no secret. He never should have had a chance. Whatever Hillary’s faults, there aren’t enough for one single vote for Trump.

And here we are. I am still angry. The thing the right doesn’t understand, with all their ‘trigger a liberal” cringy nonsense, is the right is history, they need to be fought, because we are evolving past them, nobody is going back. Joy-Ann Reid had a great article on that. But there are elements of the left, who cling to the Democratic Party while constantly tearing it down, without even the moral courage to openly go third party. I can deal with third party people. I get them. I can’t deal with, or rather, am “triggered” by the enemies within.

I’m not talking about criticism or “echo chambers”. The day we stop improving and evolving is the day we die as a party, we have to be open to criticism, we can’t afford to be an echo chamber. I’m talking about the ego-driven assholes who simply use the Democratic Party to shout their shit in front, and talk their shit in back.

[Wounded Bear]

9. It would be silly to think they ignored any platform to push their chaos...

[emulatorloo]

10. Lots of Reddit folk in total denial though

Last edited Tue Mar 6, 2018, 02:25 AM - Edit history (1)

The Bob’s over there are in full panic mode.