Against Astroturfing and Social Media Manipulation

!fediverse_vs_disinfo@lemmy.dbzer0.com

Since the lemmyverse is rather small, this community, while of a relevant topic only saw a couple posts per month and limited discussion. On top of that, the only mod of this community (me) is having health problems and is unsure whether I will be able to be active as a moderator.

This has led to the decision of “merging” this community with !fediverse_vs_disinfo@lemmy.dbzer0.com, which is larger and has a more generalised topic. The theme of the community we are merging with is very much linked to astroturfing, and so any content that relates to astroturfing will likely fit there. In the future, it may be open to discussion to re-open this community, if lemmy has a larger userbase. But as of now, it makes little sense to have a community with a couple posts a month, when these posts would still be relevant and be seen by more in a larger community.

Here’s the link again !fediverse_vs_disinfo@lemmy.dbzer0.com.

A special thanks to @flatworm7591@lemmy.dbzer0.com (the head mod of !fediverse_vs_disinfo@lemmy.dbzer0.com) for making this possible.

If you have any thoughts or concerns about this, you’re welcome to share them in the comments below.

It's so artful in its imitation of the form of a lot of genuine climate and economic doomerism that gets published on the net, that it's easy to miss that it tends to always come back around in the end to the same handful of highly dubious conclusions:

1. The UK trying to move away from fossil fuels is a horrifying blunder which is sure to lead to economic disaster
2. Specifically, it needs to start buying Russian oil and gas again
3. Oh by the way, the war in Ukraine is a bad idea

Draw whatever conclusions you like.

I was very surprised by the nature of the comments, until I got near the end and found a lot of:

> [deleted] 3 hours ago > > [removed]

> A-CAB[M] 1 point 2 hours ago > > Rule 6, no lesser evil rhetoric. This includes encouraging people to vote for any capitalist political party and any capitalist politician. There is no harm reduction in supporting either of two parties headed by genocidal fascists. The extent to which any elected official of a Capitalist Party in a Capitalist state can enact evil is the extent to which that official is allowed to do so by Capital. As such, neither candidate is the lesser or greater evil. See more on our position here: Rule 6 "no lesser evil" rhetoric - is it accelerationist or doomer? Is it intended to discourage voting?

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/13586199

> Taking the fight to Reddit... FOR MONEY.

cross-posted from: https://dubvee.org/post/1878799

> Instance Admins: Check Your Instance for Vote Manipulation Accounts [PSA] > > Over the past 5-6 months, I've been noticing a lot of new accounts spinning up that look like this format: > > - https://instance.xyz/u/gmbpjtmt > - https://instance.xyz/u/tjrwwiif > - https://instance.xyz/u/xzowaikv > > #### What are they doing? > They're boosting and downvoting mostly, if not exclusively, US news and politics posts/comments to fit their agenda. > > Edit: Could also be manipulating other regional news/politics, but my instance is regional and doesn't subscribe to those limiting my visibility into the overall manipulation patterns. > > #### What do these have in common? > 1) Most are on instances that have signups without applications (I'm guessing the few that are on instances with applications may be from before those were enabled since those are several months old, but just a guess; they could have easily just applied and been approved.) > 1) Most are random 8-character usernames (occasionally 7 or 9 characters) > 1) Most have a common set of users they're upvoting and/or downvoting consistently > 1) No posts/comments > > #### What can you, as an instance admin, do? > Keep an eye on new registrations to your instance. If you see any that fit this pattern, pick a few (and a few off this list) and see if they're voting along the same lines. You can also look in the login_token table to see if there is IP address overlap with other users on your instance and/or any other of these kinds of accounts. > > You can also check the local_user table to see if the email addresses are from the same provider (not a guaranteed way to match them, but it can be a clue) or if they're they same email address using plus-addressing (e.g. user+whatever@email.xyz, user+whatever2@emai.xyz, etc). > > #### Why are they doing this? > Your guess is as good as mine, but US elections are in a few months, and I highly suspect some kind of interference campaign based on the volume of these that are being spun up and the content that's being manipulated. That, or someone, possibly even a ghost or an alien life form, really wants the impression of public opinion being on their side. Just because I don't know exactly why doesn't mean that something fishy isn't happening that other admins should be aware of. > > #### Who are the known culprits? > These are ones fitting that pattern which have been identified. There are certainly more, but these have been positively identified. Some were omitted since they were more garden-variety "to win an argument" style manipulation. > > These all seem to be part of a campaign. This list is by no means comprehensive, and if there are any false positives, I do apologize. I've tried to separate out the "garden variety" type from the ones suspected of being part of a campaign, but may have missed some. > > > https://lemy.lol/u/ihuklfle > https://lemy.lol/u/iltxlmlr > https://lemy.lol/u/szxabejt > https://lemy.lol/u/woyjtear > https://lemy.lol/u/jikuwwrq > https://lemy.lol/u/matkalla > https://lemmy.ca/u/vlnligvx > https://ttrpg.network/u/kmjsxpie > https://lemmings.world/u/ueosqnhy > https://lemmings.world/u/mx_myxlplyx > https://startrek.website/u/girlbpzj > https://startrek.website/u/iorxkrdu > https://lemy.lol/u/tjrwwiif > https://lemy.lol/u/gmbpjtmt > https://thelemmy.club/u/avlnfqko > https://lemmy.today/u/blmpaxlm > https://lemy.lol/u/xhivhquf > https://sh.itjust.works/u/ntiytakd > https://jlai.lu/u/rpxhldtm > https://sh.itjust.works/u/ynvzpcbn > https://lazysoci.al/u/sksgvypn > https://lemy.lol/u/xzowaikv > https://lemy.lol/u/yecwilqu > https://lemy.lol/u/hwbjkxly > https://lemy.lol/u/kafbmgsy > https://discuss.online/u/tcjqmgzd > https://thelemmy.club/u/vcnzovqk > https://lemy.lol/u/gqvnyvvz > https://lazysoci.al/u/shcimfi > https://lemy.lol/u/u0hc7r > https://startrek.website/u/uoisqaru > https://jlai.lu/u/dtxiuwdx > https://discuss.online/u/oxwquohe > https://thelemmy.club/u/iicnhcqx > https://lemmings.world/u/uzinumke > https://startrek.website/u/evuorban > https://thelemmy.club/u/dswaxohe > https://lemdro.id/u/efkntptt > https://lemy.lol/u/ozgaolvw > https://lemy.lol/u/knylgpdv > https://discuss.online/u/omnajmxc > https://lemmy.cafe/u/iankglbrdurvstw > https://lemmy.ca/u/awuochoj > https://leminal.space/u/tjrwwiif > https://lemy.lol/u/basjcgsz > https://lemy.lol/u/smkkzswd > https://lazysoci.al/u/qokpsqnw > https://lemy.lol/u/ncvahblj > https://ttrpg.network/u/hputoioz > https://lazysoci.al/u/lghikcpj > https://lemmy.ca/u/xnjaqbzs > https://lemy.lol/u/yonkz > > > Edit: If you see anyone from your instance on here, please please please verify before taking any action. I'm only able to cross-check these against the content my instance is aware of.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/28275057

> When he first emerged on social media, the user known as Harlan claimed to be a New Yorker and an Army veteran who supported Donald Trump for president. Harlan said he was 29, and his profile picture showed a smiling, handsome young man. > > A few months later, Harlan underwent a transformation. Now, he claimed to be 31 and from Florida. > > New research into Chinese disinformation networks targeting American voters shows Harlan’s claims were as fictitious as his profile picture, which analysts think was created using artificial intelligence. > > The account was traced back to Spamouflage, a Chinese disinformation group, by analysts at Graphika, a New York-based firm that tracks online networks. Known to online researchers for several years, Spamouflage earned its moniker through its habit of spreading large amounts of seemingly unrelated content alongside disinformation.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/post/16166999

> The full document entitled “Guerilla media campaign on the United States” seized by the FBI from Russian government sources, is available here: https://www.justice.gov/d9/2024-09/exhibits_9a_and_9b.pdf > > If you’ve been noticing more and more ableist content online like I have, this could explain it.

Rest of the document is visible here:

https://www.justice.gov/d9/2024-09/exhibits_9a_and_9b.pdf

The rest is available to read on the justice.gov website here

WASHINGTON — The U.S. government on Wednesday indicted two Russian citizens and seized more than 30 internet domains related to a campaign to influence the American election.

But the trove of information filed in court by the FBI also revealed another bombshell: A Russian operation to manipulate German, French, Italian and U.K. politicians, businesspeople, journalists and other influencers.

The goal of the Kremlin’s campaign in Europe was to sow division, discredit America and undermine support for Ukraine, according to a host of Russian documents, memos and minutes from Russian psychological warfare meetings.

[…]

One memo from Russia’s “Social Design Agency” described a plan to target people via real posts and comments on social media to circumvent social media companies' bot filters.

The Social Design Agency acts under the orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s deputy chief of staff Sergey Kiriyenko, according to the FBI court affidavit.

The Russian document says the goal of the campaign is to “evoke in the audience rational (such as, 'really, why do WE need to help Ukraine?') and emotional (such as, 'Americans are such scumbags!') reactions.”

The psy-ops also relied on so-called doppelgänger domains to spread fake articles and content made to look like they came from Western media outlets.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/26054371

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/1940634

> Archived link > > 5,000 AI-Controlled Fake X Accounts Linked to China Disinformation Campaign > > Researchers have uncovered a network of at least 5,000 fake X (formerly Twitter) accounts that appear to be controlled by AI in a disinformation campaign linked to China – and the activity appears to be heating up as the U.S. election approaches. > > The X disinformation network, dubbed “Green Cicada” by researchers, “primarily engages with divisive U.S. political issues and may plausibly be staged to interfere in the upcoming presidential election.” > > The network has also amplified divisive political issues in other democracies, including Australia, western Europe, India, Japan and other democratic countries. > > The finding is the latest example of attempted interference in the U.S. presidential election, which just this month has seen reports of increasing activity by Iran. > > [...] > > The researchers, from CyberCX. [...] said the network is unlikely to be very effective in its current state, but they added that it “is plausible that the network operators are preparing to increase activities in the lead up to the U.S. presidential election.” > > Most accounts on the network are currently dormant, but activity increased sharply in July. The network has been rectifying operational errors over time – including reducing malformed outputs – which could make its activities more effective and harder to detect over time. > > The network uses a Chinese-language LLM system and links to an AI researcher affiliated with Tsinghua University and Zhipu AI, a prominent Chinese AI company. So far the actors haven’t had specific political leanings, but instead have focused on amplification of divisive content, “consistent with China’s information operation playbook,” the researchers said. > > [...] > > The researchers said [that] "our findings also indicate** key gaps in X’s willingness and ability to detect inauthentic content. **While we have observed X taking sporadic action against Green Cicada Network accounts during our period of monitoring, we have observed a failure to take systemic action against overtly linked accounts." > > “We note that X has reversed initiatives put in place by Twitter to combat inauthentic activity, including efforts to detect, label and/or ban inauthentic accounts.” > > The researchers said the network is a sign of things to come, with generative AI able to produce “a significant scale of malicious output with limited human oversight, at low cost and with low barriers to entry. It is possible that the system underpinning the network is operated by high-end consumer-grade hardware and is developed by just one individual. > > “We assess that a more mature, future version of the system underlying the Green Cicada Network would be extremely difficult for parties other than X to detect.”

You'll know it's their bot because the account is suspended and the profile page can't be viewed. They deliberately get the account shadowbanned and manually approve the posts from the moderator queue so users can't scrutinize the account's post history. I suspect they're buying upvotes because the posts frequently make it to the front page despite top comments being critical of the message.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/17793163

> It's unbelievable how vocal the minority of conservatives on reddit have suddenly gotten in the one sub where a large demographic of important voters often interact. Hmmm. Coincidence?

• There are 229 accounts in Lemmy that have used the phrase “Democratic Party” more than once in the last 6 months or so.
• There are 188 that have used the phrase “Republican Party” more than once.
• There are 25 that have used the phrase “Democrat Party” more than once

Having "Democrat Party" (or similar constructions like "Democrat voters") be unusual on Lemmy makes perfect sense. It's something I pretty much never hear outside of conservative circles. It always sounds really weird to me and I don’t think it would ever occur to me to use it. It’s not surprising that it’s so rare on Lemmy.

What is unusual is that there's quite a bit of overlap between accounts that use this unusual phrasing that's pretty much only seen from conservatives, and accounts that claim to be opposing the Democrats from the left -- giving reasons and arguments why Lemmy users should not vote for the Democrats, because they are not doing enough to advance a leftist agenda (or, that voting is not worthwhile, or similar things.)

The conclusion is left for the reader. I am, honestly, a little bit on the fence about listing the accounts or going into the data. I decided it would be drama-inducing to list accounts specifically; honestly, it's useful and informative detail, but it would create some heat without light, probably, and there's no reason to think that 100% of the accounts that are part of the overlap are what the obvious conclusion would be that a lot of them are. I'm going to simply state the conclusion, and anyone who wants to replicate the data for themselves is welcome to do so.

I did ask two of the accounts that were part of the overlap what was up with it, and neither of them answered me, although a third party did chime in with this explanation:

> I've had various liberals tell me Democrat was a form of dog whistle or sign I'm a right winger. One person started to dig into my mutual aid info trying to figure out if I was a Russian bot because I said "Democrat" instead of Democratic. I've tried to Democratic as a noun, and it felt grammatically incorrect. "I'm running as a Democatic." "The current majority in the house is with the Democratics." > > Personally I think "Democrat" works for both candidate, party, and voter. "Biden is the Democrat's Nominee" vs "Biden is the Democratic nominee".

Threat level: NATO has also found that its adversaries, chiefly Russia, are spreading climate and energy-transition-related disinformation in order to undermine political will for climate action.

• It cites an uptick in Russian disinformation tied to the European green energy transition on social media and on online news sites. Russia, a major producer of oil and gas, has an interest in slowing the transition to renewable energy sources.
• Disaster-related disinformation is another emerging trend, which seeks to impair NATO members' ability to respond effectively. This was observed, for example, in association with the deadly fire in Lahaina, Maui, in August of last year, the report states.
• Russia, for example, sought to benefit from that by spreading the narrative that the U.S. should be aiding its own citizens in Hawai'i instead of Ukraine, the report notes.

What they're saying: "Russia and other NATO adversaries use climate disinformation to sow division, delay action, and cynically undermine the public understanding of climate change in ways that put people in harm's way during climate-exacerbated disasters," Kate Cell, a senior climate campaign manager at the Union of Concerned Scientists, told Axios.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/17327755

> PARIS (AP) — Photos of blood-red hands on a Holocaust memorial. Caskets at the Eiffel Tower. A fake French military recruitment drive calling for soldiers in Ukraine, and major French news sites improbably registered in an obscure Pacific territory, population 15,000. > > All are part of disinformation campaigns orchestrated out of Russia and targeting France, according to French officials and cybersecurity experts in Europe and the United States. France’s legislative elections and the Paris Olympics sent them into overdrive. > > More than a dozen reports issued in the past year point to an intensifying effort from Russia to undermine France, particularly the upcoming Games, and President Emmanuel Macron, who is one of Ukraine’s most vocal supporters in Europe. > > This story, supported by the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting, is part of an Associated Press series covering threats to democracy in Europe.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/23769589

> You may want to start with the related article: The Decomposition of Rotten Tomatoes: The most overrated metric in movies is erratic, reductive, and easily hacked — and yet has Hollywood in its grip. > > > Critics have long been accused of accepting money from companies in exchange for a review of their gadget, book, or movie. Most writers would scoff at the idea, but the practice is widespread—and growing. > > Archive link: https://archive.ph/JezNe

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/11281076

> Russia aims to undermine Biden in November election, intel officials say

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/17411808

> U.S. officials said the scheme was organized in 2022 after a senior editor at RT, a Russian-state-funded media organization, helped develop technology for a so-called social media bot farm > > A Russian propaganda campaign backed by the Kremlin that spread online disinformation in the United States and was boosted by artificial intelligence has been disrupted, the Justice Department said Tuesday. > > U.S. officials described the internet operation as part of an ongoing effort to sow discord in the U.S. through the creation of fictitious social media profiles that purport to belong to authentic Americans but are actually designed to advance the aims of the Russian government, including by spreading disinformation about its war with Ukraine. > > U.S. officials said the scheme was organized in 2022 after a senior editor at RT, a Russian-state-funded media organization that has registered with the Justice Department as a foreign agent, helped develop technology for a so-called social media bot farm. It received the support and financial approval of the Kremlin, with an officer of Russia's Federal Security Service — or FSB — leading a private intelligence organization that promoted disinformation on social media through a network of fake accounts.