Before the DNC hack, Russian internet trolls were being hired to pose as pro-Trump Americans

[Cali_Democrat]

Source: Business Insider

Russia's troll factories, were at one point, likely being paid by the Kremlin to spread pro-Trump propaganda on social media.

That is what freelance journalist Adrian Chen, now a staff writer at The New Yorker, discovered as he was researching Russia's "army of well-paid trolls" for an explosive New York Times Magazine exposé published in June 2015.

"A very interesting thing happened," Chen told Longform's Max Linsky in a podcast in December.

"I created this list of Russian trolls when I was researching. And I check on it once in a while, still. And a lot of them have turned into conservative accounts, like fake conservatives. I don't know what's going on, but they're all tweeting about Donald Trump and stuff," he said.

Linsky then asked Chen who he thought "was paying for that."

"I don't know," Chen replied. "I feel like it's some kind of really opaque strategy of electing Donald Trump to undermine the US or something. Like false-flag kind of thing. You know, that's how I started thinking about all this stuff after being in Russia."

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/russia-internet-trolls-and-donald-trump-2016-7

[msanthrope]

1. Well......I wonder how many of those Comrades we have with us.

Perhaps I should go read another thread about how the greatest threat we face in America is Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

[Cali_Democrat]

2. Excellent point.

[MADem]

3. A shitload, I suspect.

[rjsquirrel]

57. Look at all the posts promoting Russia Today content

That's a known Putin propaganda unit that employs Thom Hartmann and Ed Schultz, among other "progressives" who constantly tear down Hillary Clinton.

Some of us regularly warn that RT is not a reliable or honest source, and that those commentators are severely compromised by accepting Putin's money, usually to boos and jeers.

Some on the American left are happy to be Putin's useful idiots. That's an old story about how the US left can't help itself.

[merrily]

4. I'd love to mock some threads that say that, but have seen zero. Can you link me to a few?

Even one or two would be fun. Thanks.

[uhnope]

9. maybe not that extreme, but's there's an overlap of pro-Putin and anti-Wasserman DUers

the ones who kept a constant drumbeat against her, threads like these http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511032536

[billhicks76]

10. Wow

Now you're a Russian commie if you opposed DWS or corruption? LMFAO

[mpcamb]

65. Or, as the commenter in the article you referenced said, DWS is actually incompetent

[merrily]

13. "Maybe" not that extreme? "An overlap?"

Trying to link criticizing DWS with being anti-American shows what DU has devolved into. People now smeared by their association, not with certain people, but by their association of criticism of a DNC chair.

A DNC chair who campaigned for her Republican friends in Florida. A DNC chair whose campaign strategy of "Obama who?" and "Obamacare is probably repairable" lost us the 2014 midterms by historic proportions. (You have to go back to Hoover for more losses.) A DNC chair who got caught redhanded violating the DNC's own charter during a Democratic Presidential primary, got "quarantined" with the "blessing" of both the Hillary campaign and the Sanders campaign and resigned. And we're now going smear people for posting a WAPO article about her or calling her incompetent and corrupt?

My god.

[billhicks76]

15. Straight Out Of The FOX News Playbook

Where do these people come from? Many of the Bernie folks are actually Russian secret agents because no real American would oppose DWS? The emperor definitely wears no clothes on this thread.

[merrily]

17. I'd crack a borderline salacious joke about the naked Emperor except I am seriously too horrified.

Somewhere in hell, Joe McCarthy's going "Why didn't I think of that?"

[billhicks76]

20. So If You Were Behind Bernie You Were An Undercover Trumper?

All 30 million of them? Please someone tell the winners of the primary to move forward. It's against the rules to drag out the primary. It's over. Get a grip and move on.

[merrily]

24. Like hell. Anybody who reads my posts knows I am a Rand acolyte.

Cut them some slack. They need time to grieve their win before they can wipe out the bitter taste of such a painful, hard-won victory, aided only by 98% name recognition, the DNC, state parties, almost every Democratic officeholder, establishment media, PACs, paid internet posters and tweeters, and a bottomless pit of big donor $$. They'll get over it and be with us by November, I promise.

[uhnope]

19. I have been a Sanders supporter all along so you're talking into your hat n/t

[billhicks76]

21. You At Least Toned It Down

[merrily]

28. I hadn't noticed.

[uhnope]

29. yes, I didn't get into the trenches on this site that much but it's true. n/t

[merrily]

30. Well, you did do a good job defending Hillary on this site during the primary, so there's that.

[uhnope]

33. for example? n/t

[Grey Lemercier]

68. the poster was pro Sanders, even said they didnt like Clinton, so they are telling the truth on that

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141278848#post3

[merrily]

71. Here's the post. What part of it negates that the poster defended Hillary, as Reply 30 states?

Hillary would wipe the floor with Trump

First of all, we'd probably get the Hispanic vote out up to 90% and it would be as strongly for any Dem against Trump as African Americans were for Obama in 2008. I think we'd also see a historic turnout by women, and I think it would also be very strong for Clinton (not 90% but strong).

Hillary's experience and manner would make Trump look like the chump he is. Trump would lose worse than Romney.

All IMO but that's coming from a Sanders supporter who isn't too fond of HRC.

Great defense of Hillary, ending with a perfunctory statement about being a Bernie supporter (a pattern with which Bernie Group members were familiar during the primary, btw).

So one of my posts relevant to this issue said I had not noticed that the poster supported Sanders. The poster replied that he or she didn't get into that "here." So, it's not surprising that I hadn't noticed, right?


The other of posts relevant to this issue said the poster did defend Hillary. The above post proves that.

Where's the beef?

[Grey Lemercier]

74. to me they sound like a reasonable Sanders supporter who also says that Sec Clinton

would also beat Trump. I find no fault on that. I have always been a Hillary supporter but certainly would have rallied behind Bernie if he had won the primary. I am a Democrat, and support my party first and foremost. The Republican Party has morphed over the last 40 years into a systemic threat to what I consider the American way of life. Internationally they are a threat to the rest of the world. The only possible response in the American political system is support Democrats.

[merrily]

77. I'm sorry GL, but you are pretty much ignoring what I actually do post, then lecturing me about

things you seem to have imagined I posted, as well as things someone who has posted on political boards for over ten years doesn't need to be lectured about.

I am sure you are a lovely person, but I am not up to snuff physically today and not in the mood for those things today.

Perhaps another time.

[Grey Lemercier]

78. I am not trying to lecture at all. I apologise if it came out that way as well.

I hope you feel better.

[merrily]

79. Thank you. Another day.

[uhnope]

18. uh I was just answering your question.

I did not say criticizing DWS is anti-American. I do not believe that at all.

I was noting that some of the more vehement and constant anti-DWS DUers also happened to pro-Russian gov DUers (and also, by the way CTers).

[merrily]

27. The way you answered spoke volumes.

[uhnope]

32. then I hope my clarification spoke libraries n/t

[LanternWaste]

75. It helps to realize the critical difference between 'imply' and 'infer' is that of 'catch' and 'thro

It helps to realize the critical difference between 'imply' and 'infer' is that of 'catch' and 'throw.'

[merrily]

76. I realize the difference. I also grok metaphors.

[Gore1FL]

39. Channeling Allen West? nt

[uhnope]

40. see post 18 n/t

[DetlefK]

7. At least two come to my mind:

One was a few years back. He posted videos of night-time flights over Moscow to show what a great country Russia is... That was all he did. Regularly posting those videos.

The other one is more recent. He always posts stuff that makes Russia look good, he's aggressive in discussions when it comes to others and deflective when it comes to him, and I have seen him nowhere in the recent threads about the hacking-scandal.
(Plus a few minor obscurities.)

[billhicks76]

16. Sounds Like Military Base Stuff

[uhnope]

22. extreme claims require extreme proof. We're waiting

and please don't just link to that one report about the US gov's program in foreign languages aimed at websites in the Arab world that are designed to give a counter-argument to jihadists, since it has nothing to do with US and English-language websites.

[merrily]

34. "*Sounds like* military base stuff" is an extreme claim? ok.

[uhnope]

35. It needs some proof, of course. n/t

[merrily]

36. Not really. "That is military base stuff" needs proof.

"That sounds ("sound to me" obviously implied) like military base stuff" does not.

[uhnope]

42. see post 12 for more of what the DUer is claiming that requires proof. n/t

[merrily]

46. No thanks. My comment was about only whether Reply 16 required proof, not

whether something the poster might say later on the same or a related topic might require proof.

[uhnope]

47. lol

[merrily]

49. My comment quoting Reply 16 and only Reply 16 was not about only Reply 16? Silly me!

[uhnope]

53. silly indeed

Given that the poster posted the same claim almost simultaneously on this thread. And btw that poster has tried to spread the same, false, debunked claim in the past and I've called them on it: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1017&pid=283956

now you know the background too. You're welcome and have a good day

[merrily]

55. None of which has diddly squat to do with my post about Reply 16.

I commented on a one sentence post, not the poster or the poster's entire life philosophy or your past or future squabbles with the poster. While all that may be very important to you, it has nothing to do with me or my comment about Reply 16. I don't know why my pointing that out to upsets you. You may want to look into that.

[billhicks76]

83. Sock Puppet Thing Is Real

And anyone who thinks its not used here is either extremely naive or Disengenuous. Stingray devices were developed for Iraq to ensnare phone conversations and texts by pretending to be a cell phone tower. Now the DEA and every local anti-narcotics agency uses them...illegally. The same goes for sock puppet software to manage public opinion for NSA and military contractors who lose the PR battle when the truth is heard because what they're doing is inherently evil and wrong. Anyone claiming that they would only be used in foreign theaters should be greeted with suspicion and questioned.

[uhnope]

88. Flat Earth Thing Is Real

lol

[uhnope]

90. worst excuse for not providing any proof or links EVER

You're way to rude and disengenuous for me to research links for you

the only probable paid trolls on DU are Kremlin trolls, which is what this thread is about. You don't seem to care about that. And you come in with wild claims of US gov "sockpuppets" influencing politics in US websites, the usual yeah-but-we-do-it-too whataboutism and but-we-are-worse junk, and all you have is your personal belief that it's true. Almost like religion or something.

Wake up, the fascist Kremlin and Russian blood money is heavily influencing Trump while Russian gov trolls are putting hundreds of thousands of social media messages per day. It's important and dangerous. Come in from the cold and start doing the right thing

[billhicks76]

80. I Meant Sounds Like Someone Who Used To Be Military In Europe

I used to live overseas amongst military people. That's all I meant.

[merrily]

82. I had zero problem with your post.

I did not get that meaning from it, but whatever it means, it clearly was your opinion about something. People don't have to give any proof for a statement of opinion, let alone extreme proof, whatever the heck that means.

[tavernier]

45. Just a couple of days ago here on DU

I was lectured about NATO being the cause of all evil in the Baltics.

[workinclasszero]

67. You may be on to something there

[glennward]

69. I can tell you for sure...there are HUGE numbers of Russian immigrants among us AND

I am not certain about weather or not they are documented. We only worry about Mexican and Islamics, remember. They do have some serious organized crime Russian groups in NY,CA, DC, NV and MI.

[Red Knight]

72. Surely every Bernie supporter is a Russian troll

[yardwork]

73. I can name several off the top of my head.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

5. The shit connecting Putin to Comrade Don (his Useful Idiot) keeps piling up. Release the TAX returns

There is something or many things really damning hidden in those returns.

Could be one of or all of:

* Loans from Russian oligarchs

* Net worth a lot less than he wants us to believe

* Offshore accounts / offshore manufacturing

* Paid ridiculously low taxes

[Lady_Chat]

8. Why is Trump getting away with not releasing his Tax Returns?

I've never seen the media pressuring him on this. Ironically, when Trump was vetting for his VP, those candidates had to release their returns to him.

[merrily]

50. It's good to be the king.

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. Is this article 'news'? It's about what other people wrote back in June 2015

and a summary of some other stuff that's been said and written since then.

[uhnope]

14. yes, it's news...

when an important but forgotten report is brought back into the news cycle because the general topic has come up again.

[muriel_volestrangler]

44. No, by definition, that's not news. If the general topic has come up,

then this is background analysis. 'News' is when something new happens.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

37. The news is that the trolls have metamorphosed & are active NOW. . . . nt

[muriel_volestrangler]

43. But it doesn't actually say that. We just assume it.

So it's not 'news'.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

48. You missed this NOW part of the original post:

"I created this list of Russian trolls when I was researching. And I check on it once in a while, still. And a lot of them have turned into conservative accounts, like fake conservatives. I don't know what's going on, but they're all tweeting about Donald Trump and stuff," he said.

"all tweeting" present tense.

[muriel_volestrangler]

56. "Chen told Longform's Max Linsky in a podcast in December". 7 months old. (nt)

[RapSoDee]

11. Republicans betraying America with Russian Inet thuggery

What's next?

[billhicks76]

12. Sock Puppet Profiles From USA Too

Military contractors and pro-war/pro-NSA NGOs were caught running full time online commenting factories. As many as 100 analysts could control a single profile over a year. Thousands of comments a year per profile. Some got caught because they commented 24/7. Humans need sleep lol.

[uhnope]

23. see post 22. extreme claims require extreme proof. n/t

[billhicks76]

25. The New Yorker and LA Times 6 or 7 years Ago

[uhnope]

26. um... link? I hope you're not pushing that same debunked false claim you've pushed before

Last edited Wed Jul 27, 2016, 07:12 AM - Edit history (1)

see http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1017&pid=283956

[Bernardo de La Paz]

51. Links (plural) to the Web Brigades

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_brigades

38 References (links clickable via the above article):

"Russia This Week: Here Comes the Kremlin’s Troll Army (2-7 June)". interpretermag.com.
Shaun Walker. "Salutin' Putin: inside a Russian troll house". the Guardian.
Paul Gallagher (27 March 2015). "Revealed: Putin's army of pro-Kremlin bloggers". The Independent.
Daisy Sindelar. "The Kremlin's Troll Army". The Atlantic.
Olga Khazan. "Russia's Online-Comment Propaganda Army". The Atlantic.
http://gizmodo.com/a-tweetbot-caught-the-russian-govt-editing-flight-mh17-1607483459
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2014/07/21/flight_mh17s_wikipedia_page_edited_from_ip_address_associated_with_putins_office.html
http://calvertjournal.com/comment/show/2967/wikipedia-russian-government-edits
(Russian) "They are killing Galina Starovoitova for the second time", by Anna Polyansky
(Russian)Virtual Eye of the Big Brother by Anna Polyanskaya, Andrei Krivov, and Ivan Lomko, Vestnik online, April 30, 2003
"Russian-American Russian Language biweekly magazine "Vestnik": Main Page [English]". Vestnik.com. Retrieved 2014-05-19.
Vestnik online, April 30, 2003
(Russian) Eye for an eye by Grigory Svirsky and Vladimur Bagryansky, publication of the Russian Center for Extreme Journalism [1]
Miriam Elder. "Polishing Putin: hacked emails suggest dirty tricks by Russian youth group". the Guardian.
(Russian) "Kremlin's Blogshop" by Anastasia Karimova. Kommersant Dengi, February 13, 2012
Freedom of the net, Report 2013, freedomhouse
(Russian) "Kommersant Director General Files Complain against Nashi Spokesperson". Izvestia, February 9, 2012.
[2]
Russia's Online-Comment Propaganda Army, The Atlantic, by Olga Khazan, 9 October 2013
"Internet Troll Operation Uncovered in St. Petersburg", The St. Petersburg Times, by Sergey Chernov, 18, September,2013
Ukraine conflict: Inside Russia's 'Kremlin troll army', BBC
"The Menace of Unreality: How the Kremlin Weaponizes Information, Culture and Money". The Interpreter Magazine. 2014-11-22. Retrieved 2015-03-13.
"Documents Show How Russia’s Troll Army Hit America". BuzzFeed. 2014-07-08. Retrieved 2015-03-13.
"Novaya Gazeta Publishes List of Kremlin Trolls, Finds Further Information About 'Troll Farm'". The Interpreter Magazine. 2015-03-06. Retrieved 2015-03-13.
Dmitry Volchek, Daisy Sindelar (2015-03-26). "One Professional Russian Troll Tells All". Radio Liberty. Retrieved 2015-03-26.
Sindelar, Daisy (12 August 2014). "The Kremlin's Troll Army". The Atlantic (United States: Atlantic Media). Retrieved 6 June 2015.
Seddon, Max (2 June 2014). "Documents Show How Russia’s Troll Army Hit America". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
Peter Pomerantsev (2015-04-09). "Inside the Kremlin’s hall of mirrors". The Guardian. Retrieved 2015-04-11.
Lawrence Alexander (2015-04-02). "Social Network Analysis Reveals Full Scale of Kremlin's Twitter Bot Campaign". Global Voices Online. Retrieved 2015-04-13.
"#KremlinTrolls and Other Acquaintances of RU EMB Canada". kremlintrolls.com. Retrieved 2015-09-12.
Team "G" (How to unveil agents of siloviks at popular forums in the Internet), May 25, 2008
"The Kremlin's virtual squad". openDemocracy.
Freedom of the net, Report 2014, freedomhouse
Documents Show How Russia’s Troll Army Hit America, buzzfeed
The readers' editor on… pro-Russia trolling below the line on Ukraine stories, the Guardian, 4 May 2014
Putin's G20 Snub, The Moscow Times, Nov. 18 2014
"Open-Source Information Reveals Pro-Kremlin Web Campaign". Global Voices. Retrieved 2015-07-19.
"Google выдал логово кремлевских троллей". Retrieved 2015-08-20.
"Emails Link Kremlin Troll Farm to Bizarre New York Photography Exhibit". StopFake.org. August 20, 2015. Retrieved September 13, 2015.

[billhicks76]

81. Your Ridiculous IF You Think Because It's Used In Iraq It's Not Used Here

And I've seen many of your comments too. You can claim you supported whoever you want. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/mar/17/us-spy-operation-social-networks

[uhnope]

87. typical CT

big leaps of "belief" without proof and expecting everyone else to believe it or be "Ridiculous".

First, the burden of proof is on you.

Second, it's like saying the US uses drone strikes in the ME so they must be using them here too.
You really think that during the whole NSA surveillance scandal, all the hotheads who were all over that wouldn't have been all over this, and exposing exactly how the US gov is running trolls on US websites if it were true at all? But they weren't because there's no there there. So why don't you stop pushing this unproven CT (at best) / obvious BS propaganda (at worst)?

[Socal31]

31. I frequent an international forum focusing on defense issues.

I can tell you that China, Russia, and Pakistan have an extensive roster of government sponsored Internet personalities. (GSPs?)

[riversedge]

38. smoking gun.

[uawchild]

41. Lol

A free lance journalist discovered an army of Russian trolls "likely" being paid... BACK IN 2015!?!

Lol we are reduced to THIS as LBN now? Lol

Seems standards have fallen here on DU, hmm?

[reorg]

52. on the topic of 'the Russians did it'

everything goes as far as LBN is concerned.

I'm personally a bit miffed because in recent years I had a number of posts 'locked' because

a) the source may not have been trustworthy (Russian!)
b) a similar topic was already being discussed in another LBN thread
c) it was "background" instead of real news

All these rules don't mean a thing now, at least if the LBN post goes against "Russia" or the devil at the helm.

[jpak]

54. Thems ain't no Trump Trolls - thems Freedumb Trolls!!1

Hail Satan!!!1111

[bucolic_frolic]

58. I have noticed some Trolls to have challenges with English

Posting the same drivel in different ways, but unable to say
much else

[Nihil]

60. Ironic post is ironic. (n/t)

[Odin2005]

59. Is anyone surprised by this? Anyone? Bueller?

[tanyev]

61. It doesn't take long to find suspicious accounts in the Facebook comments on HRC's posts.

A lot of foreigners posting their admiration for Trump or U.S. accounts that have no activity or the only activity they have is Trump shares. What I don't get is what they think they are accomplishing. Who reads through thousands of comments? Of the people that do read comments, how many of them are in any way influenced by them? Very few, I'll wager.

[uhnope]

91. the accounts of the Russian troll farm activity inside Russia are just as bizarre

Paid government trolls are often the only commenters on government-run news sites! And they spend time pretending to have a debate according to a script. As you say, what do they think they are accomplishing? I guess a total, Orwellian control of everything in the media including fake dissent, but I don't know.

[Photographer]

62. K&R

[Mrs. Overall]

63. I often scan the main freeper site and definitely saw strange formulaic posts that praised trump--

I noticed freeper posts that had a certain verbal pattern to them and I found it odd--they would begin with "Go Trump Go" and then would spout something very superficial and fluffy about trump and then would end with the same Go Trump Go" phrase.

These were red flags to me and seemed completely manufactured and inauthentic, but the freepers, most of whom lack critical thinking skills, ate up these posts and then began adding the go trump phrase to their own posts.

It was a front row seat to how brainwashing and conditioning happen.

So, this news about Russians posing as trump supporters makes sense to me.

[groundloop]

64. Yes, agreed. I can't wait to hear what tRump's connection is with Putin

Sure, it could just be that Putin wants to see tRump elected because he'll be easy to manipulate, but I have to suspect that somehow or another tRump has his hand in this (think of Reagan and the Iran hostages).

[workinclasszero]

66. Yet another link between Trump and the russians

Drip...drip...drip

[riversedge]

84. I wish someone who make a graph connecting the dots as a visual.

[workinclasszero]

85. That would be great

[ancianita]

70. Two economic hit men & hired teams trying to capture the biggest military that will enable them

to rule the world.

None of this scenario is out of bounds for the boundless arrogance of Trump or Putin.

The GOP has been Trojan horsed!

[workinclasszero]

86. Trump and Putin damn

Screw the GOP they asked for a Trump and they got him.

Its the rest of the American people that has been Trojan horsed!