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Pro Gun Russian Bots Flood Twitter

A few things here:

1: Is this really going to be the new norm? Anytime something major happens the uptick in discussion regarding that major thing is going to get blamed on Russians attempting to cause division?

2: How do the groups in your article know that those Twitter groups they watch are Russian Bots? Has Twitter been giving out personal private information?

3: The debate regarding gun control laws and those against gun control laws has always been a hot topic. For decades. Are you suggesting that even if these are Russian Bots, which there has been no proof presented as such, they're going to some how make it even more of a hot button topic? Pfft.

4: Funny how you, calamity, are ignoring part of your own article in favor of pushing your own agenda. Your article clearly claims that these "Russian bots" are attempting to spread division by playing both sides. IE: they're also posting pro-gun control laws also. Yet you single out only the "Pro Gun Russian Bots". Are you a Russian Bot? Because going by your article you're doing the same exact thing. Pushing an agenda in such a way that it causes division.
 
TurtleDude said:
who are the new posters on this board who are pro gun and Russian "bots"? The foreigners on this board who post about guns are generally gun banners.
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You did read the thread title, correct?
 
Kal'Stang said:
A few things here:

1: Is this really going to be the new norm? Anytime something major happens the uptick in discussion regarding that major thing is going to get blamed on Russians attempting to cause division?

2: How do the groups in your article know that those Twitter groups they watch are Russian Bots? Has Twitter been giving out personal private information?

3: The debate regarding gun control laws and those against gun control laws has always been a hot topic. For decades. Are you suggesting that even if these are Russian Bots, which there has been no proof presented as such, they're going to some how make it even more of a hot button topic? Pfft.

4: Funny how you, calamity, are ignoring part of your own article in favor of pushing your own agenda. Your article clearly claims that these "Russian bots" are attempting to spread division by playing both sides. IE: they're also posting pro-gun control laws also. Yet you single out only the "Pro Gun Russian Bots". Are you a Russian Bot? Because going by your article you're doing the same exact thing. Pushing an agenda in such a way that it causes division.
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Answering #2 should cover it---it's Wired magazine. They know their ****.
 
Kal'Stang said:
Nothing in the article answers any of my questions. Try again.
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It did for me. I guess you could dig into the Hamilton 68 source for more info if you're skeptical :shrug:
 
Verax said:
The Methodology of the Hamilton 68 Dashboard | The German Marshall Fund of the United States

Scroll down to "How the Monitoring List Was Assembled".
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From your link:

How the Monitoring List Was Assembled

The monitoring list is based on analysis conducted over the course of roughly three years, with the specific networks identified over the last year. The networks were revisited, updated and the list finalized in the summer of 2017. The three networks are based on the following criteria:

We tracked disinformation campaigns that synchronized with overt Russian propaganda outlets like Sputnik and RT (Russia Today). We analyzed the social networks of users who were promoting this disinformation to identify which users were centrally involved, and to remove users who tweeted disinformation casually, after encountering it online.
We identified a group of users online who openly professed to be pro-Russian and tweeted primarily in support of Russian government policies and themes. We analyzed followers of these accounts to identify a large and interconnected social network that tweeted the same themes and content.
We identified accounts that appear to use automation (bots) to boost the signal of other accounts linked to Russian influence operations, or to be the beneficiaries of such Each of the above activity.
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Who determines what is and isn't "disinformation"?

Being pro-Russian =/= Russian controlled.

And "appears to be bots"? Being a gamer I know that just because something appears to be a bot, it doesn't necessarily mean that it IS a bot.

Basically what I'm getting from all this is is that a lot of assumptions are being made.
 
Kal'Stang said:
From your link:



Who determines what is and isn't "disinformation"?

Being pro-Russian =/= Russian controlled.

And "appears to be bots"? Being a gamer I know that just because something appears to be a bot, it doesn't necessarily mean that it IS a bot.

Basically what I'm getting from all this is is that a lot of assumptions are being made.
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Disinformation would be information that is easily proven to be false.

You think another country is driving pro Russian propaganda? Who? Why? Our own intelligence agencies and others have fingered the Russians for years now.

It doesn't really matter if it's a bot or a person that is part of the network. However it makes zero sense to pay people to do what thousands of bots can be scripted to do in a methodical manner and almost for free. All the persons do is write variations of the content and then it gets tweeted and retweeted through the networks.
 
Verax said:
Disinformation would be information that is easily proven to be false.

You think another country is driving pro Russian propaganda? Who? Why? Our own intelligence agencies and others have fingered the Russians for years now.

It doesn't really matter if it's a bot or a person that is part of the network. However it makes zero sense to pay people to do what thousands of bots can be scripted to do in a methodical manner and almost for free. All the persons do is write variations of the content and then it gets tweeted and retweeted through the networks.
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He should already know this.
 
Kal'Stang said:
From your link:



Who determines what is and isn't "disinformation"?

Being pro-Russian =/= Russian controlled.

And "appears to be bots"? Being a gamer I know that just because something appears to be a bot, it doesn't necessarily mean that it IS a bot.

Basically what I'm getting from all this is is that a lot of assumptions are being made.
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"Not sure if serious"
 
Verax said:
Disinformation would be information that is easily proven to be false.
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What have they determined to be "information that is easily proven to be false"?

Verax said:
You think another country is driving pro Russian propaganda? Who? Why? Our own intelligence agencies and others have fingered the Russians for years now.
Click to expand...

Did I say that? Nope. But just because someone is pro-Russian it does not mean that they are being controlled by the Russians. For example: There have been plenty of Americans that have moved to Russia because they like Russia better than the US. Are they being controlled by the Russian government? The assumption this organization is making is that anyone that is pro-Russia is automatically to be considered Russian government controlled. They have given no proof that is the case in all of the cases that they cite. Some of the orgs that they have cited are, yes, Russian government controlled. But that doesn't mean that all of the ones that they cite are.

Verax said:
It doesn't really matter if it's a bot or a person that is part of the network. However it makes zero sense to pay people to do what thousands of bots can be scripted to do in a methodical manner and almost for free. All the persons do is write variations of the content and then it gets tweeted and retweeted through the networks.
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I know how bots work. :p I'm questioning whether they really are bots. Unless you have inside data its not easy to find bots. You can assume certain accounts are bots. But without inside data it does not mean that they ARE bots.
 
Kal'Stang said:
What have they determined to be "information that is easily proven to be false"?

Did I say that? Nope. But just because someone is pro-Russian it does not mean that they are being controlled by the Russians. For example: There have been plenty of Americans that have moved to Russia because they like Russia better than the US. Are they being controlled by the Russian government? The assumption this organization is making is that anyone that is pro-Russia is automatically to be considered Russian government controlled. They have given no proof that is the case in all of the cases that they cite. Some of the orgs that they have cited are, yes, Russian government controlled. But that doesn't mean that all of the ones that they cite are.

I know how bots work. :p I'm questioning whether they really are bots. Unless you have inside data its not easy to find bots. You can assume certain accounts are bots. But without inside data it does not mean that they ARE bots.
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This is all explained in detail from that link... They use machine learning algorithms. You can do incredible things with big data. There's a reason why every large tech company is pouring billions into it.
 
calamity said:
You know like when you feel you are beating your head against a wall arguing with gun nuts? Well, there may be a reason.

https://www.wired.com/story/pro-gun-russian-bots-flood-twitter-after-parkland-shooting/
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Oh great, so you think the second amendment has something to do with Russian interference, what next? Anyone who criticises the government for launching illegal wars based on circumstantial evidence of nonexistence chemical weapons to get revenge on the regime that beat his dad was Soviet propaganda from a time capsule hidden on the dark side of the moon?
 
Kal'Stang said:
A few things here:

1: Is this really going to be the new norm? Anytime something major happens the uptick in discussion regarding that major thing is going to get blamed on Russians attempting to cause division?

2: How do the groups in your article know that those Twitter groups they watch are Russian Bots? Has Twitter been giving out personal private information?

3: The debate regarding gun control laws and those against gun control laws has always been a hot topic. For decades. Are you suggesting that even if these are Russian Bots, which there has been no proof presented as such, they're going to some how make it even more of a hot button topic? Pfft.

4: Funny how you, calamity, are ignoring part of your own article in favor of pushing your own agenda. Your article clearly claims that these "Russian bots" are attempting to spread division by playing both sides. IE: they're also posting pro-gun control laws also. Yet you single out only the "Pro Gun Russian Bots". Are you a Russian Bot? Because going by your article you're doing the same exact thing. Pushing an agenda in such a way that it causes division.
Click to expand...

I can't tell from your post if you do or don't accept the idea that Russians are playing both sides.
 
Cardinal said:
I can't tell from your post if you do or don't accept the idea that Russians are playing both sides.
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He's skeptical as am I. There too many things being blamed on Russia to take this article seriously.
 
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