MAGA Trolls roll out Fresh Astroturf

[blogslut]

Written by Caroline Orr a.k.a. @RVAwonk

Pro-Trump & Russian-Linked Twitter Accounts Are Posing As Ex-Democrats In New Astroturfed Movement

As pundits, politicians, and other Very Serious People spent last weekend admonishing “the left” for not being civil enough in their approach to pushing back against the Trump administration’s cruel policy of forcibly separating immigrant children from their parents, a peculiar and carefully crafted narrative began to take shape on social media. A closer look at this emerging narrative—a self-described “grassroots movement” of former Democrats fleeing the party—revealed an astroturfed campaign driven by pro-Trump Twitter users and amplified by automated and Russian-linked accounts.

The surge of tweets started on Saturday, June 23, when news broke that White House press secretary Sarah Sanders had been quietly asked to leave a restaurant in Lexington, VA, the night before. The social media campaign really took off the next day, after Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said in a speech that administration officials who support Trump’s policies should expect to face pushback when they go out in public.

Most of the tweets were strikingly similar, and the vast majority pushed a very familiar narrative. Using the hashtag #WalkAway and claiming to be former Democrats, social media users shared their stories of leaving the Democratic party after being turned off by the “hate” and “division” of “the left.” Many of them cited the incidents involving Sanders and Waters as examples of the “intolerance” and “bullying” that supposedly drove them to support Trump after years—in some cases, decades—of voting for Democrats...

more: https://arcdigital.media/pro-trump-russian-linked-twitter-accounts-are-posing-as-ex-democrats-in-new-astroturfed-movement-20359c1906d3

[mikeysnot]

1. womp womp

[irisblue]

2. I've seen more then a few of these over the last week.

[DBoon]

3. When a democrat cuts the gas line to a repulican's home as an act of arson

I might believe in equivalence

Calling out the violence and hate on the right wing is our civic duty and we will not stop

[Initech]

4. If you see it, report it!

I can smell this kind of troll from a mile away. You can find a lot of them on democratic candidates' twitter feeds.

[MrScorpio]

5. I knew that it was AstroTurf the moment I looked at those tweets

No one is going to be fooled by that bullshit unless they want to be fooled.

[Mc Mike]

6. 'Usta Bees'.

[Mc Mike]

7. Good source, excellent analysis.

Last edited Wed Jul 11, 2018, 04:26 PM - Edit history (1)

Candace Owens, redpillblack, America First, college repugs, q truth, and russian bots.

"For one thing, there is reason to believe that this psychological operation — and to be clear, that’s what this is — represents a trial run for future social media manipulation efforts...many characteristics of the “WalkAway Movement” suggest that there may be more going on than meets the eye. As I’ve written about previously, information warfare involves much more than “fake news” and propaganda."

Thanks, rec.