Is there anyway DU can verify true posters and not trolls and bots like Twitter does?

[kimbutgar]

Have a poster be verified. I encountered one fake poster yesterday by looking at their journal. It was an obvious plant to divide us. That is not that we will ban new members to DU but have some verification they are American or from a friendly country not from the Russian federation states, perhaps looking at their IP addresses to verify. I pay for the star membership to support DU but these trolls and bots are discouraging to me.

[trueblue2007]

1. i agree

[ProfessorGAC]

2. Honest Curiosity

What in the journal drove you to that conclusion? I don't mean that as pushback. I'm not sure i would be able to tell by looking at the journal.

[kimbutgar]

5. It was an article about how things was coming to naught about Muellers investigation

I would tell you but you might be a bot so I don’t want to give away from I found.

I rarely do alerts and I alerted on that article and others had a quicker alert finger than I did.

[lagomorph777]

9. Alerts are the main tool, I think.

I've been pretty shy about using them; I start with public shaming; usually they disappear pretty quickly.

[Rhiannon12866]

40. You do know that MIRT checks out every single new member

Though sometimes it takes more than one post to identify a disruptor. And alerts are always appreciated if you spot one.

[lagomorph777]

43. OK thanks.

[NCTraveler]

11. Office of Internet Trolls and Bots here.

ProfessorGAC is ok. They are on solid ground. You may share with them.

The woodchuck has lifted the berry. The woodchuck has lifted the berry.

[Agschmid]

37. Lol.

[ProudLib72]

38. Not woodchuck!

I am the eggman and you are the walrus. Remember that.

[hlthe2b]

3. Perhaps you could email the admins directly with your question.

The changes in Ask the Admin forum may not be amenable to submitting this as a question given the limited subjects available, but if not, you can email them directly. Contacts are at the bottom of every page.

[MineralMan]

4. DU has MIRT.

If you think someone is a fake or troll, contact any MIRT member and call attention to that new DUer. They'll check it out.

There's a list of current MIRT members in the Announcements forum. You can search for them and DU mail them.

[Rhiannon12866]

41. Thanks! That really is the best idea

If someone's causing a problem, chances are MIRT is already watching. MIRT checks out every single new member, but it can take more than one post to identify a disruptor.

[Greybnk48]

44. What does MIRT stand for? What is it?

I googled it and I didn't get a plausible definition out of the 6 offered.

[MineralMan]

45. Malicious Intruder Removal Team

They're volunteers. See this post in the Announcements Forum:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10138892

[Rhiannon12866]

46. MIRT is our current moderator system here on DU.3

They check out every single new join and have the ability to ban those who come here with the intention to disrupt. If you think you encounter a disruptor, you can either alert or contact a current MIRT member.

[kimbutgar]

6. If someone gets alerted does the Mirt team check them out?

We just know that we’re going to see an increase in these troll bots as we get closer to the election and those who want to divide the Democratic Party voters.

[FSogol]

7. If they are a new memeber, MIRT gets a notification. Email someone on MIRT if you are suspicious

and the member is new-ish. Email the admins if they have been around a while.

[mopinko]

15. only if the alert is upheld, and the poster has less than 100 posts.

[NCTraveler]

8. I truly cannot think of a reason a Russian shouldn't be able to post here under the rules.

There are progressive minded people in Russia. A lot of them.

We should welcome posters from Russia.

[stonecutter357]

12. lol

rofl: :

[NurseJackie]

18. Ha!! :-D

We should welcome posters from Russia.

You kill me!

[Hekate]

23. I imagine Maria Butina appeared to be just another open-minded foreign exchange student...

...not so long ago.

Sorry, NCTraveler, I am absolutely out of sympathy for any Russian in this country at this point in time, much less ones posting on social media -- and this is just not like me.

[spin]

33. Reports are that Putin's popularity in Russia is dropping. ...

If true that would obviously mean some Russians who oppose Putin might consider posting here. However it might be wise to realize that not all Russia posters will have good intentions.

PUTIN'S POPULARITY IS QUIETLY DROPPING, DESPITE WORLD CUP: STATE POLLSTERS
BY DAMIEN SHARKOV ON 6/23/18 AT 11:59 AM

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s popularity is dipping and Russians’ dissatisfaction is slowly building, despite the feel good factor of the World Cup, state pollsters show.

Putin has enjoyed record high approval since 2014, when his government’s annexation of Crimea, supported by an information campaign to present the Kremlin as combatting Western encirclement, drummed up patriotic fervour. His popularity has remained high since and he easily won this year’s presidential election. Persistent economic problems, faltering social services and corruption have dented the approval for all senior officials but him, until now.

Putin's approval rating, consistently higher than that of any other Russian official, has now experienced a drop in four consecutive weeks since last month. It dropped from 79 percent to 72 percent, while dissatisfaction has ticked up from 13 percent to 18 percent, state pollster WCIOM reported. Another state pollster, FOM, published more damning figures, showing this month only 54 percent of Russians would vote for Putin if the elections were this Sunday. This is down from 62 percent earlier this month, marking the first time since 2014 that this figure has dropped below 60 percent.
https://www.newsweek.com/despite-world-cup-putins-popularity-quietly-dropping-state-pollsters-992814

[demtenjeep]

10. I used to pay for the star

but have not since the great hack of 2016

[irisblue]

13. May I ask why not?

It's worth it not to have the freakin' ads.

[demtenjeep]

17. about the same time of 2016 I was sick enough people thought I would die

I had to go on work disability and was off work for about 6 months

we are just slowly digging out of that hole

[irisblue]

19. That would do it.

Any amount can be sent in.
Glad you're still here.

[demtenjeep]

20. Thank you

will do again

[Hekate]

21. Glad you're still around

There were times I only sent in five bucks, no explanation necessary.

Take care of yourself.

[icymist]

36. I went through a similar situation with my health right after that hack.

Had to quit my job and recover. Still not 100% (I have good days and bad days)but I did manage to find ten bucks to give. I'm glad you're still around.

[left-of-center2012]

14. IP addresses ... verification they are American?

1. Could not a "Russian bot" live in the USA and have a valid American IP addresses?
What about Americans living overseas?

2. Don't we have some Canadians posting here? Will we tell them to "get out"?

slippery slope

[mopinko]

16. we need an "i think this poster is a troll" alert.

it could go to mirt if less than 100 posts, and to admin if more.

[Hekate]

22. I would go for that. Also, in the old days when we were able to state what we thought...

...instead of just checking off boxes, I would often point out a "pattern of posts, not just this one."

[Algernon Moncrieff]

24. Yeah....no

I get the point, but I see plenty of posters here that insinuate someone is a troll for posting an opinion with which they disagree. Arguments over primaries seem to bring this out.

Juries, MIRT, Elad all do a stellar job, IMHO.

[mopinko]

25. meh. they can use their judgement.

its just a tip, not a verdict.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

28. I've seen many longtime posters come and go, as you have

Some posters (now gone) were trolls. Some weren't trolls, but had an annoying "schtick." And other posters dislike one another for whatever reason, and tend to get flamey with one another, or thread-stalk one another, or whatever. I've had posters with whom I've disagreed imply that I must be a Russian or Republican...Я не из тех вещей.

[mopinko]

34. that stuff is usually pretty obvious.

having served some time in the hot tub, when you lay this stuff all out, the petty usually shows.
thing is the best trolls know how to skirt the line, escape a hide, and stay under the radar. never hurts to pull the guys coattails. they arent eager to ban people, but they also dont read everything that gets posted here. they dont know who is being an ass if they dont get hides.

[Trust Buster]

26. There is tolerance for ya'. Disagree with this poster and get tossed from DU.

WILL WE BE ABLE TO KEEP OUR SECURITY CLEARANCES ? thanks in advance.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

29. Nyet

[B2G]

27. Sounds a lot like Trump's travel ban. Nt

[NY_20th]

30. This is a private message board on the internet.

There is no free right for any trolls to troll any site on the internet that they wish to.

[B2G]

31. The mindset is the same.

Sorry but it is.

[NY_20th]

32. sorry,

but not even close.

[Codeine]

35. Except that whole part

where it bears not the slightest resemblance in any way, shape, or form.

[muriel_volestrangler]

39. From your comments in this thread, I don't think you understand what a 'bot' is

It's short for 'robot' - something that is largely automated, and designed to amplify responses and make things look very popular (or unpopular). It's fairly unlikely that DU has bots, since it has a unique interface and is not a major social media platform (like Twitter or Facebook) that it would be worth developing the automation for. But posts from them are going to look simple, similar to others, and won't involve discussions.

You say that the post that convinced you about a user was an article saying Mueller was going nowhere. I have to remind you that the people in the world most likely to say that, in English, aren't Russian trolls, but Trump's base, of whom there are still millions, all with American IP addresses (and I'd expect any paid Russian troll to have a proxy American IP address anyway).

The alert for "spreading right wing claims" is the best way to deal with such things. This will catch the right wingers, whether American, or from anywhere else.

[Nero Mero]

42. Twitter is full of trolls

Russia used and continues to use Twitter to spread lies, pretending to me MAGA Americans.