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Is this and other political message boards safe from the Russians?

I

independentusa

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I often wonder if there are Russian trolls on this and other political message boards. The reason being is that sometimes I read such far out posts, it makes we doubt that the person writing them could actually believe what they are posting. I have read that it is something the Russians do, troll on political message boards, to spread which messages they are interested in pushing. Does anyone else out there wonder the same thing or am I just being paranoid?
 
There is absolutely nothing to stop Russians from doing that here but I don’t think it is a useful use of their time and resources. Political forums attract people who are actively interested in politics. They usually have strong views and take considerable convincing to change their minds.

I think other social media platforms are a better source of easily swayed people.

But you never know.
 
I think they can rely on their "unwitting" accomplices to spread their BS rather than wasting any direct resources here. But then who knows.
 
independentusa said:
I often wonder if there are Russian trolls on this and other political message boards. The reason being is that sometimes I read such far out posts, it makes we doubt that the person writing them could actually believe what they are posting. I have read that it is something the Russians do, troll on political message boards, to spread which messages they are interested in pushing. Does anyone else out there wonder the same thing or am I just being paranoid?
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Nyet

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Short answer: nope. Long answer: DP moderators do not, to my knowledge, engage in any kind of ip address filtering that would prevent Russian trolls from posting here.
 
Skeptic Bob said:
There is absolutely nothing to stop Russians from doing that here but I don’t think it is a useful use of their time and resources. Political forums attract people who are actively interested in politics. They usually have strong views and take considerable convincing to change their minds.

I think other social media platforms are a better source of easily swayed people.

But you never know.
Click to expand...



They definitely targeted comments sections when they were starting to focus on this on a large-scale (2013-2015). They became more and more sophisticated in the various ways they attempted to spread influence, so maybe they are on debate boards.

I have noticed how a particular idea tends to spread among those already primed to accept it. They wouldn't necessarily have to invent things out of whole cloth to influence a debate community. They'd just have to focus on amplifying certain parts of existing debate memes, for example, the notion that Hillary was some kind of supervillain rather than just a scummy politician who was reckless with her private email server despite promising transparency/responsibility.

I watched as criticism of Hillary turned into relentless attacks on Hillary turned into wild conspiracy theories ("Killary!", etc). If they plugged into something like that but amplified the extreme end, I can see how they could get people who already hated her repeating absurdities. And then, other people who already generally approved of what the "people" I just mentioned in the last sentence liked to post would be more likely to start repeating it themselves, or even just "liking" the post.
 
Skeptic Bob said:
There is absolutely nothing to stop Russians from doing that here but I don’t think it is a useful use of their time and resources. Political forums attract people who are actively interested in politics. They usually have strong views and take considerable convincing to change their minds.

I think other social media platforms are a better source of easily swayed people.

But you never know.
Click to expand...

I’m starting to believe some posters here are bots, I mean the FBI had a press conference couple days ago and made it positively clear that NO Americans were involved, but some seam to have so much hate for Trump they just keep going with the Trump Russian collusion thing, I mean are liberals really that stupid, or could it be bots?


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MrShangles said:
I’m starting to believe some posters here are bots, I mean the FBI had a press conference couple days ago and made it positively clear that NO Americans were involved, but some seam to have so much hate for Trump they just keep going with the Trump Russian collusion thing, I mean are liberals really that stupid, or could it be bots?


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Actually they said that there were no Americans that were named in that particular indictment. I would not be surprised to see other Americans, especially those who worked for the Russians knowingly and willingly, be indicted. Mueller is like the tortoise, working slowly and surely and in the end will get to all of those who were in collusion with the Russians. I am hopeful that once we know who did collude, no matter who that is, they will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
 
independentusa said:
I often wonder if there are Russian trolls on this and other political message boards. The reason being is that sometimes I read such far out posts, it makes we doubt that the person writing them could actually believe what they are posting. I have read that it is something the Russians do, troll on political message boards, to spread which messages they are interested in pushing. Does anyone else out there wonder the same thing or am I just being paranoid?
Click to expand...

Congratulations. You are about twenty years late. I told a discussion board full of libertarians in 1997 that terrorists were probably on the board disguised as typical Americans, running down republicans and praising Bill Clinton. The libertarians roared with laughter at the idea. I was amazed they could be so naïve. Even after 9-11 you could make them break out in scoffing and jeers by mentioning the idea. It wasn’t until the media itself began to report on such events in recent years that they began to see this obvious thing. When I mentioned it then they would go silent, as Lefties always do when you mention the truth.
 
independentusa said:
I often wonder if there are Russian trolls on this and other political message boards. The reason being is that sometimes I read such far out posts, it makes we doubt that the person writing them could actually believe what they are posting. I have read that it is something the Russians do, troll on political message boards, to spread which messages they are interested in pushing. Does anyone else out there wonder the same thing or am I just being paranoid?
Click to expand...

Safe?

Do you feel you might be in danger from Russians? Maybe they'll use their "mind control" and make you do something you don't want to do?

Why do you fear the Russians?
 
Cardinal said:
Short answer: nope. Long answer: DP moderators do not, to my knowledge, engage in any kind of ip address filtering that would prevent Russian trolls from posting here.
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Russians working from the Internet Research Agency (the troll factory) in St. Petersburg, Russia use VPN's and proxy IP's.
 
Skeptic Bob said:
There is absolutely nothing to stop Russians from doing that here
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Your enemies are China, North Korea and the Middle East. Members of ISIS are far more interested in destroying your society from the inside, than Russians. You’ve had way too much nothingburger and need a new diet.
 
No, and nor should anyone expect it to be. Rather than depending on others to erect fire-walls and other cyber defences to protect your collective minds from other points of view, no matter how dishonestly they are delivered, it is wiser to harden your own brains through the development of mental muscles which allow you to use critical thought and analysis in order to identify, critique and if necessary discount such other political views. Don't depend on others to maintain ideological hygiene in your mind for you. Do it yourself by reading, analysing and thinking critically. You should be asking, "Qui bono?", whenever you read a post on any forum by anyone, known or anonymous.

Cheers.
Evilroddy.
 
independentusa said:
I often wonder if there are Russian trolls on this and other political message boards.
Click to expand...

Cardinal said:
Short answer: nope.
Click to expand...

So, Russian trolls are on no other political boards? Whew. They must be nice kids with good manners. :mrgreen: :lamo:mrgreen:

Not that Russians are the problem to begin with. It's nice to know that at least trolls from one country never venture onto other boards. Thanks Cardinal. We can rest easy now.
 
Mycroft said:
Safe?

Do you feel you might be in danger from Russians? Maybe they'll use their "mind control" and make you do something you don't want to do?

Why do you fear the Russians?
Click to expand...

They've been eating the giant nothingburger CNN has been cooking for the last year about the Russians. It's their latest myth and they're very proud of it.
 
Cardinal said:
Short answer: nope. Long answer: DP moderators do not, to my knowledge, engage in any kind of ip address filtering that would prevent Russian trolls from posting here.
Click to expand...
Sounds like collusion. I think we are going to need to appoint an independent poster to lead an investigation into this.

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independentusa said:
I often wonder if there are Russian trolls on this and other political message boards. The reason being is that sometimes I read such far out posts, it makes we doubt that the person writing them could actually believe what they are posting. I have read that it is something the Russians do, troll on political message boards, to spread which messages they are interested in pushing. Does anyone else out there wonder the same thing or am I just being paranoid?
Click to expand...

For me it goes past wondering. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Russian trolls post here on DP, representing both sides. The hard part is in determining which person is an American wacko or a Russian troll. Personally, I think DP and other social media should police IP addresses and not let suspected trolls post here, although I'm sure some of them don't actually originate in Russia.
 
trouble13 said:
Sounds like collusion. I think we are going to need to appoint an independent poster to lead an investigation into this.

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I'll do it. I have no political affiliations or strong opinions.
 
Evilroddy said:
No, and nor should anyone expect it to be. Rather than depending on others to erect fire-walls and other cyber defences to protect your collective minds from other points of view, no matter how dishonestly they are delivered, it is wiser to harden your own brains through the development of mental muscles which allow you to use critical thought and analysis in order to identify, critique and if necessary discount such other political views. Don't depend on others to maintain ideological hygiene in your mind for you. Do it yourself by reading, analysing and thinking critically. You should be asking, "Qui bono?", whenever you read a post on any forum by anyone, known or anonymous.

Cheers.
Evilroddy.
Click to expand...

Spot on...the question/concern shouldn't be "are those scary Russian trolls here or other places" but that apparently there are so many weak of mind that if it was happening then everything would breakdown. If the pitiful few activities that have been proven to be Russian activity is enough to bring down our democracy we have a much bigger problem than their interference, and it's internal.

And would we have to block anyone from a foreign country from participating? Is this strictly a US message board or do we accept contributors no matter where they come from? It just seems like so much McCarthyism and fear-mongering.
 
Rob Larrikin said:
Your enemies are China, North Korea and the Middle East. Members of ISIS are far more interested in destroying your society from the inside, than Russians. You’ve had way too much nothingburger and need a new diet.
Click to expand...

It isn’t an either/or situation. We can address multiple issues at once.
 
independentusa said:
I often wonder if there are Russian trolls on this and other political message boards. The reason being is that sometimes I read such far out posts, it makes we doubt that the person writing them could actually believe what they are posting. I have read that it is something the Russians do, troll on political message boards, to spread which messages they are interested in pushing. Does anyone else out there wonder the same thing or am I just being paranoid?
Click to expand...

No, this site is not immune, and there are probably at least a couple of Comrades posting here.
 
Cardinal said:
Short answer: nope. Long answer: DP moderators do not, to my knowledge, engage in any kind of ip address filtering that would prevent Russian trolls from posting here.
Click to expand...

If they did..it would be Trumps fault! Right?
 
Is it wrong to try and perpetuate someone's paranoia?
 
MrShangles said:
I’m starting to believe some posters here are bots, I mean the FBI had a press conference couple days ago and made it positively clear that NO Americans were involved, but some seam to have so much hate for Trump they just keep going with the Trump Russian collusion thing, I mean are liberals really that stupid, or could it be bots?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

That's not bots.....that's lemmings
 
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