When Russian trolls wanted to divide America, they knew what to use: race

[oberliner]

In September 2016, days after a police officer shot and killed a black man in Charlotte, North Carolina, a Russian troll farm called the Internet Research Agency created the following Facebook ad, targeted to people living within 25 miles of Charlotte.

What we’ve learned since then is that such ads were part of a larger plan — that the Internet Research Agency sought to produce ads that specifically prodded the racial and cultural fractures of America.

According to a new USA Today analysis, more than half of the 3,500 ads bought by the IRA had to do with race, and a quarter of them had to do with crime and policing, often in the context of race. Other divisive issues like abortion, gender equality, and LGBTQ rights were also stressed in the ads, such as in the one above.

This analysis gives us a fascinating insight into how Russian troll farms think about the America electorate — and specifically how to undermine it. But it also puts up a mirror to American tribalism. There’s a reason the Russian trolls believed this kind of political messaging would be effective.

https://www.vox.com/2018/5/15/17352456/russian-troll-facebook-race-social-science

[betsuni]

1. Really, propose to Effie already!

[irisblue]

10. 👏👏👏

[NurseJackie]

14. Ha!! :-D

It's so sweet to see how Effie has him wrapped around her little finger.

[sheshe2]

21. Hee Hee Hee

[Gothmog]

26. LOL

[EffieBlack]

33. From your keyboard to God's ears!

[ck4829]

2. This has been going on long before Russian troll farms

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100210621706

[oberliner]

3. That is true

Which is why Russian trolls are running that same effective playbook.

[JHB]

4. Why re-invent the wheel when it's already there?

Just install a second set of controls.

[meow2u3]

30. And guess who gave the russkies the fodder to divide Americans

None other than the Trumpanzees who work for Cheetolini.

[Exotica]

5. rec nt

[The Polack MSgt]

6. Well in light of this startling revelation, I vow that-

I'll endevour to convince my aquaintences of the darker races to be still.and stay quiet in steadfast calm lest their concerns be suborned for nefarious purpose.

GTFO Here with this.

[Tom Rinaldo]

7. All discussions about Race are not "Trolling". Silence about racism does not promote "Unity"

I've referred to the same research that you have here from time to time to point out that Russian trolling is not limited to attempts to help Trump etc. Yes, they want to sow division among us, and we must be vigilant about that.. But nothing sows division more than for one group of Americans to simply go about their lives relatively untargeted by hatred while another group suffers daily from the consequences of it. Whites, myself included, for a host of reasons are usually unaware of the full extent of that reality. We forget, or simply don't see, that it doesn't just emerge in white supremacist marches, it also flares up in a trendy Starbucks coffee shop. That doesn't change through silence.

It takes more than raising a potentially "divisive" topic to be divisive. Some discussions bridge potential divides through enhanced shared understanding. And yes, others are specifically intended to drive wedges between people. Just like some people lie while others tell the truth. This board centers around politics. If we can't summon the skills to discern the difference between sincerity and cynical manipulation, God help us.

[NurseJackie]

15. ...

[Tom Rinaldo]

37. ...

[EffieBlack]

34. You are, as usual, awesome

I missed this earlier because I rarely waste my time reading Oberlinrr’s threads (not only because they usually just mirror mine or just plain boring, but also because I’m trying to play a little hard to get while he chases me around the board so he doesn’t think I’m too easy).

But I’m glad I popped in and saw this. You always lay everything out so beautifully!

[Tom Rinaldo]

39. You have started some of the best discussions I've been a part of in years

It's that lead I'm just following. I grew up in turbulent times. I've seen what happens when people either don't care enough about or simply don't know how to reach out to each other across divides. My own life was changed for the better by some intimate discussions about race that I was fortunate enough to have had with people of color in the past. They don't happen frequently enough, not for me anyway.

There is surface cross talk of course among those of us of good will - which includes, perhaps ironically. a great many whites whose lives are infected by prejudice. We easily can find common ground condemning the KKK, and resisting racist policies of the Trump Administration. But it rarely gets down to the personal level where prejudices are rooted. That's a difficult door to open, and not just for the obvious reasons. For many of us it's as if we've suddenly been stripped of opposable thumbs when confronted by that door knob. We don't know how or where to begin when it becomes personal, and racism is very personal in how it impacts all of us. Too often we're inhibited, perhaps by fear of saying the wrong thing and making matters worse in real time with a real person. Racism unavoidably breeds anger and anger itself is frightening, but without sharing personal insights and experiences racism will never be defeated. It at best can only be countered through clumsy tools like legislation.

Thank god for our ability to politically organize but it will take much more than that to uproot racism. As a white I know that part of me rebels at being crushed by the sins of "my forefathers" which are impossible for me to rectify. Likewise I can't cancel out all of my inherited white privileged no matter what conscious choices I make, and it is uncomfortable to feel guilt over something I can not change. Virtually as difficult is purging all vestiges of prejudice that flowed into my life since birth essentially through osmosis, growing up as I did in defacto segregation.

Defacto segregation is perhaps less pronounced now for generations younger than mine, but to believe it belongs to the past is nonsense. As a part of the majority culture most whites spend most of our lives in a world governed by (often unwritten) white rules. Those norms are not necessarily wrong intrinsically, but we too often mistake them for being universal and judge others by how they measure up to them.

We have to be having these talks, and I credit you Effie for taking a lead in ensuring that we do, and doing so in such a personally revealing and open way, that helps free others to follow that path

[Hortensis]

8. Russia's main tactic is to augment existing attacks by

our own domestic right-wing enemies, of course, both spreading massive lies and joining Republicans in creating big divisions out of ordinary ones.

Equally of course, both enemies are now working very hard to grow divisions between the Democratic Party's powerful monolithic black bloc and the rest of the party. Suddenly, in the run-up to the midterms, accusations of white racism -- NOT of conservative that would focus on Republicans but on a white label that cuts across the Democratic Party and creates a false equivalency -- are everywhere.

POC being drawn in by this need to beware every bit as much as anyone else. As long as the threats that created the black coalition remain, it's certainly not going to collapse. But it has its own natural divisions that are already being exploited to weaken it. These attacks on their image of the Democratic Party they're part of and work through is a salvo, and their part in the Democratic Party's successes guarantees these are just opening ones.

Black conservatives, naturally not entirely happy at best in a party dominated by white liberals and including many other diverse groups, are an obvious target for this insidious manipulation, and this current campaign suggests their attitudes are already being exploited. But there are plenty of other areas to focus on, same as among white Democrats, religious and secular, ethnic/cultural, working class, affluent, urban, rural, gender, etc. If not this year, how about in the run-up to 2020 as they have more time to work on it?

[betsuni]

9. Seriously, declare your love for Effie and propose.

What kind of cake do you want for the wedding, Coconut?

[irisblue]

11. 👏👏👏

[NCTraveler]

12. Boom! nt

[NurseJackie]

16. "Coconut?"

[SidDithers]

19. Vanilla...nt

Sid

[ProudLib72]

20. Well now hold on there just a second pardner

Did anyone ask Effie what she thought of this match?

[betsuni]

23. Oh, she doesn't have to actually go to the wedding.

We wouldn't have to go all Royal Wedding or anything. More of a symbolic thing. With cake.

[EffieBlack]

36. Definitely cake. Just not coconut ...

[EffieBlack]

35. I'm not really crazy about coconut

[NCTraveler]

13. Dumb as fuck.

"Other divisive issues like abortion, gender equality, and LGBTQ rights were also stressed in the ads, such as in the one above."

Shhhh. Talk about these issues and you support Russian trolls as well.

You are looking pretty uncomfortable. Seems to be the topic.

Interesting correction considering the direction of the article.

Correction: A previous version of this story said police shot and killed a man during a Charlotte Black Lives Matter protest. There was a shooting at the protest, but it was committed by a man who was not a police officer. The protest happened after Keith Lamont Scott was shot and killed by police earlier in the month.

[NurseJackie]

18. Uncomfortable indeed. I see it too.

[kwassa]

17. Still trying to stifle conversations with your, um, concern?

[NurseJackie]

22. ...

[Overseas]

24. Absolutely. Putin knows our weaknesses and exploits them.

He also knows the NRA helps stoke the fires of division between people and that's why Russians have donated to them.

He also knows Trump's weaknesses and has exploited them well enough to get his puppet into office, and encourage him to create rifts with our NATO allies.

He also knows the GOP's weaknesses-- they can't win without cheating-- and has exploited those.

[Gothmog]

27. Putin's attacks were to motivate trump's racist base and not to divide Democrats

Putin used race to motivate the racists who make up trump's base. These idiots are called deplorables for a reason. Putin was not trying to divide the democrats but to motivate the racists

The base of the Democratic Party is African American women. We need to make sure that we keep these voters motivated

[Qutzupalotl]

29. Putin played all sides.

You are correct that the racist Facebook ads emboldened a bloc that seldom votes, motivating them to turn out for Trump. But the IRA trolls also divided Democrats, stoking resentment among disaffected Bernie voters, for instance. One of their goals was to depress African-American turnout specifically, in hopes of electing Republicans. Some were shown the “super-predtor” remark over and over. They were happy to amplify the message that Clinton was a sure thing, so why bother voting. They didn’t have to stop all Democratic voters, just make them a little less motivated to stand in long lines.

[Overseas]

41. You don't seem to know the extent of the trolls' activities

They not only were working to motivate Trump's racists but also to demonize Hillary & exaggerate grievances of Sanders supporters in order to be sure Democratic voters stayed home.

Demotivating Democratic voters was a major part of their efforts.

I was surprised by how successfully they augmented Hillary hate among Democratic voters. They not only posted the wild Hillary is a demon kind of ads, but also ads pretending the Clinton Foundation was corrupt or that she was beholden to Goldman Sachs.

Russian & GOP trolls knew a lot of us Democrats support the most progressive candidate in the primary and then vote for the leader in the general election, so they worked hard to be sure Sanders voters were full of resentment that would make them stay home. They encouraged progressives to think Hillary would be more of a warmonger than Trump. That he was a businessman who wouldn't want war. Even though we knew he was a criminal thug who would do anything to stay in power if he were given the chance, and admired Putin above President Obama.

They are still at work trying to keep the resentment of Bernie voters alive. To stop them from accepting the fact that 4 million more voters backed Hillary during the primary. To stop them from realizing that ANY Democrat would be 1,000 times better than the Republican and especially Trump.

Russian & GOP bots & trolls will do their best to encourage backers of progressive Democrats in state primaries to resent it if more establishment candidates win & stay home in November. I hope Democrats don't fall for that.

[Gothmog]

25. The Trump era is a renaissance of half-witted intolerance

Trump is using race because his base is full of racist idiots. This is horrible but we can fight back. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-trump-era-is-a-renaissance-of-half-witted-intolerance/2018/05/17/09c8848c-59f7-11e8-858f-12becb4d6067_story.html?utm_term=.542d5c23298d

This is more than a disturbing pattern; it is an organizing political principle. And it has resulted in a series of radiating consequences.

First, it has given permission for the public expression of shameful sentiments. People such as Blankenship, Williams, Arpaio and Nehlen are part of a relatively (and thankfully) small political group. But the president has set boundaries of political discourse that include them and encourage them. Even when Trump opposes their candidacies, he has enabled the bolder, more confident expression of their bigotry. The Trump era is a renaissance of half-witted intolerance. Trump’s Christian supporters in particular must be so proud.

Second, Trump’s attacks on outgroups have revealed the cowardice of a much broader faction within the GOP — those who know better but say little. Some Republican leaders (see House Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin) have been willing to criticize specific instances of Trump’s prejudice. But few — and very few with a political future — have been willing to draw the obvious conclusion that Trump is prejudiced, or to publicly resist the trend toward prejudice among the GOP base.

Third, Trump’s attitudes toward diversity have moved the center of gravity of the whole GOP toward immigration restrictionism. In Republican Senate primaries such as the one in Indiana, candidates have engaged in a competition of who can be the most exclusionary. Mainstream attitudes toward refugees and legal immigration have become more xenophobic. Trump has not only given permission to those on the fringes; he has also changed the Republican mean to be more mean.

The good news about bias against outgroups is that it can be mitigated. And that, in fact, describes the high calling of a democratic leader — to set an aspiration of unity, to speak the language of empathy, and to emphasize our common goals, our common values and our common fate as a people. The GOP waits on leaders who will make these tasks their own.

Trump is using racial attacks to appeal to his base but we can fight back. We are not going to win back the support of deplorables or trump's base but we can motivate our voters to turn out and fight trump's racists attacks

[Glamrock]

28. Don't really know what's going on with the posts above...

But thanks. Good read.

[Dawson Leery]

31. kick

[Dalida]

32. Interesting article. Thanks!

Last edited Sat May 19, 2018, 10:46 AM - Edit history (1)

I often find worthwhile reading on Vox. According to Wikipedia, their "audience leans a bit left, but it doesn’t lean overwhelmingly so", so there can be something to challenge my perceptions sometimes, but this is not one of those times - and it is really interesting to see this illustrated. Do the people posting weird replies to this thread deny the truth of the article?

So what can be done to counter American tribalism? The Russan trolls didn't create it, they just use it to their advantage. They couldn't build on it unless there wasn't already a foundation in place. It seems every year America is becoming more segregated and divided along political lines. I believe Trump would be unthinkable as president in a society that had more cohesion, so he's a glaring example of America's problems in this regard.

Edit: Shame the reply to me was removed; I would've liked to see what it said.

[MineralMan]

42. So, let me get this straight - protests calling out racial prejudice and racism

are all Russian-sponsored? Is that it? Well, then, now I know...



Could you possibly be more transparent?