Exposed: Russian troll farm that sends paid trolls to sites like Huffpo, Politico & ???

[uhnope]

I wonder how many Putinistas on DU are working for the "Internet Research Agency" in Russia that pays Russian students from a $10 million budget to each post from six fake FB accounts and 10 fake Twitter accounts--all because Putin hates the internet and thinks it's a CIA plot!
Crosslink: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017221989

http://www.buzzfeed.com/maxseddon/documents-show-how-russias-troll-army-hit-america#1zny7f

Documents Show How Russia’s Troll Army Hit America

The adventures of Russian agents like The Ghost of Marius the Giraffe, Gay Turtle, and Ass — exposed for the first time.

Russia’s campaign to shape international opinion around its invasion of Ukraine has extended to recruiting and training a new cadre of online trolls that have been deployed to spread the Kremlin’s message on the comments section of top American websites.

Plans attached to emails leaked by a mysterious Russian hacker collective show IT managers reporting on a new ideological front against the West in the comments sections of Fox News, Huffington Post, The Blaze, Politico, and WorldNetDaily.

The bizarre hive of social media activity appears to be part of a two-pronged Kremlin campaign to claim control over the internet, launching a million-dollar army of trolls to mold American public opinion as it cracks down on internet freedom at home.

“Foreign media are currently actively forming a negative image of the Russian Federation in the eyes of the global community,” one of the project’s team members, Svetlana Boiko, wrote in a strategy document. “Additionally, the discussions formed by comments to those articles are also negative in tone.

[Purveyor]

1. Oh christ, that reminds me I have met my 'quota' yet today.

[uhnope]

2. Don't worry, some people don't have to be paid

& troll for some other sick reason

[HubertHeaver]

3. Gremlins!!!11!

From the Kremlin!!

Where's Bugs Bunny when ya need him?

[LanternWaste]

4. Three employees on DU is my guess... with an additional two witless lackeys...

"I wonder how many Putinistas on DU are working for the "Internet Research Agency" in Russia"

Three employees on DU is my guess... with an additional two witless lackeys.

[hifiguy]

8. The "witless lackeys" being the equivalent of

the red-shirted crew members on Star Trek. Expendable.

[eridani]

45. The same number as there are of pro-Saddam posters.

Being against US fucking around in Ukraine means you love Putin, just as being against the Iraq invasion means you love Saddam.

[Historic NY]

5. I'd bet a few get paid to post here too...

they know who they are.

[Union Scribe]

6. I guess it wouldn't be a day in GD

without a "people who disagree with me are obviously paid infiltrators" post.

...But I wonder if people are paid to post such things in order to sow division?

[Electric Monk]

7. Here's a link to your other thread on this in V&M

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017221989

[uhnope]

10. thx

[JPZenger]

9. Mother Russia must not be criticized!

I write dat as a fellow Amerikan Democrat, of course.

Thank you very great.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

31. Googled "Mother" and "Russia" lately?

[freshwest]

11. Internet equivalent of telemarketers with bad tempers. They're GMO, too! From the link:

“The Kremlin is weeding out the informational field and sowing it with cultured plants. You can see what will happen if they don’t clear it out from the gruesome example of Ukraine.”

That Buzzfeed article, wow!

[William769]

12. And they think they are fooling us.

[freshwest]

14. Kinda desperate and pathetic, like crabs trying to claw out of a bucket.

Hey, and love the LGBT world logo. It's beautiful!

[William769]

15. Thanks! I just need to fine tune it a little bit.

[SidDithers]

13. Thngs you won't read at RT...

Sid

[NCTraveler]

16. RT is just a more costly and advances version of internet trolling. nt

[Historic NY]

19. LOL...+1

[Rex]

21. Should be called RCT.

Why anyone would believe state run 'news', is beyond me.

[hunter]

24. It's about as reliable as corporate run 'news.'

Which is not at all.

Public radio is especially annoying in the U.S.A. now that they rely on corporate 'foundations' for money.

You'd think they were owned by the fracking, pharmaceutical, and finance industries.

[Tarheel_Dem]

55. +1! Sid, you slay me!

[CreekDog]

17. we had several regular posters who tried to downplay the severity of the anti-gay laws in Russia

one even posted a link to an article downplaying those laws at rt.com.

many of these users consistently argued against boycotting or taking any negative action against Russia in advance of the Olympics. many of these users consistently argued to defend Russia after it invaded Ukraine.

do the math.

[The Magistrate]

18. One Of Those Is On Forced Vacation, Sir

Two others are still present, though a bit more quiescent just now.

[Bluenorthwest]

20. I think of this one...

"It is a personal hatred of Russia on the part of some . . .Russian laws have insulted their life style, so they demand we fight a third World War to assuage their wounded pride."
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014881926#post185

[William769]

33. Pretty much sums it up doesn't it.

[Hekate]

47. That whole thread is .... fascinating. Jeez, America's "well-deserved senescence" to be managed...

...by China and Russia.

Where am I?

[The Magistrate]

49. That One Is a Particular Treat, Ma'am

"I have to stop asking people if they're really that stupid. They take it as a challenge."

[bravenak]

58. I am number two.

I found this alert to be strange.

On Tue Oct 21, 2014, 11:56 PM an alert was sent on the following post:

I think of this one...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=5695580

REASON FOR ALERT

This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate.

ALERTER'S COMMENTS

This is a needless call out of another poster

You served on a randomly-selected Jury of DU members which reviewed this post. The review was completed at Wed Oct 22, 2014, 12:06 AM, and the Jury voted 2-5 to LEAVE IT.

Juror #1 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: seems OK to me
Juror #2 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: I don't think so.
Juror #3 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: A link to a publicly-available post does not strike me as a call-out.
Juror #4 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #5 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #6 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #7 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: I see nothing uncivil here.

Thank you very much for participating in our Jury system, and we hope you will be able to participate again in the future.


I do no like when the hide voters do not explain their votes.

[NuclearDem]

22. They can go west all they want, I don't give a ballyhoo.

But who cares about my opinion, I'm just another liberal.

[uhnope]

27. a bunch of kokonuts

[Codeine]

48. I won't be a purveyor of such nonsense. nt

[Purveyor]

51. {{{chuckle}}} indeed! eom

[Douglas Carpenter]

23. but wait a second, I read right here on DU that Cenk is a rethug rightwing troll

[jeff47]

25. This article is just part of the CIA plot.

And shows just how widespread the plot is!!!

[el_bryanto]

26. I think Troll Ranch is more appropriate. Troll Farm just doesn't have the right feel. nt

[yurbud]

29. neither is appropriate: farm sounds nurturing and ranch sounds like you rounded up free range trolls

brothel or whorehouse would be more appropriate for paid trolls.

[yurbud]

28. because god knows we don't have any GOP or corporate Democrat paid trolls here

No siree.

They're either billionaires or regular Americans who want to buy their own politician as soon as they win the lottery.

[DeSwiss]

30. And The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street.......

[Man from Pickens]

32. The US and UK do this too (Snowden exposed)

http://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/02/24/jtrig-manipulation/

And our government very likely does more of it than the rest of the world combined... of course we will never know just how much they do it, because they won't tell us - ever.

[uhnope]

35. you sound like Glenn Beck on the radio while I was driving yesterday

He insisted that the black audience had walked out on an Obama speech, but he didn't have any audio or video because the evil MSM refused to turn their recording devices into that direction, which further proves how we're all going to hell.

In other words, I call BS.

[Man from Pickens]

38. You think Glenn Greenwald and Ed Snowden are the same as Glenn Beck?

Unless you're simply confusing the names, I can't imagine the train of thought that equates a right-wing lunatic with two of the most important figures of our time.

[uhnope]

39. I said your assertion of something you cannot prove at all was like Glenn Beck's assertion

of something he couldn't prove at all.

[Man from Pickens]

43. I did provide a link

to a Greenwald article which he sourced from Snowden.

Hardly an unsupported assertion, given that it's coming from someone who has proved correct time and time again about things your government has lied about.

[uhnope]

44. That link is about a theoretical program

Here's another "story" that Greenwald/The Intercept might run with http://www.addictinginfo.org/2014/10/20/lying-media-help-obama-haters-falsely-portray-killer-speech-to-jam-packed-crowd-as-epic-fail/

[Man from Pickens]

46. It's not theoretical

Try reading the article - it's quite actual.

The chances that there are one or more NSA employees on this site - and any other political site as prominent as this one - for the purpose of influencing the direction of discussion are quite near 100%.

[uhnope]

50. sorry, that's paranoia

bordering on the clinical. "Quite near 100%" is a stat pulled from a (tinfoil) hat.

[Tarheel_Dem]

56. Tread carefully, unhope. It appears you have offended the forces of nature.

[uhnope]

59. hilar

ious

[Karmadillo]

52. Thank you for the link. Your patience

with the Glenn Beck fan is admirable.

[Marr]

34. If the Russians will fund trolls on an english-speaking board, how many are US think tanks funding?

Oh no-- that's just "paranoia". Sorry.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

36. "paranoia"? Hell, I'm lookin' for an application.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

37. Anyone else find this funny?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025695902

[CJCRANE]

40. Reds under the bed!

Some people don't like neocon propaganda.

That doesn't make them Putinistas.

The reality is that RW warmongers own most of the western media so it's not surprising that a lot of people disagree with what they publish.

Try reading news sites based outside America or Europe (in Africa or Asia for example) and you'll see that people all over the world have their own independent points of view that don't always agree with the establishment viewpoint.

[red dog 1]

41. K&R...Thanks for posting

This explains a lot.

I am a regular user of the website Experience Project, where members can join or create "experience groups" of like-minded folks.

For example, one of the largest EP groups is "I am a Democrat"

EP also has a Q & A section, with 13 different categories, including "Politics"

Shortly after Russia's incursion into eastern Ukraine earlier this year, I noticed that there were a lot of "pro-Putin" questions being asked, such as .'Who loves Vladimir Putin?" and "Who would win fight between Putin & Obama?"

These pro-Putin questions were being asked by brand new EP members, not by members who had been on EP for years, which is a dead giveaway that they were "trolls"

Within the past month or so, there has been a drop-off in the number of such pro-Putin questions, probably because of the Ebola outbreak and the coming Congressional elections.

Of course, Russia isn't the only "troll Farm" on EP, (and probably other sites as well)

As the pro-Putin questions have decreased, the anti-Obama, anti-Democrat, & Anti-liberal questions have increased, mostly asked by obvious GOP trolls.

So, IMO, the Republican Party has been operating a "paid troll farm" on EP, & other sites as well, that is much bigger than the Russian troll farm, and probably has much more money with which to pay the GOP trolls to bad mouth Obama & the Democrats, most likely from GOP slush funds set up by people like Karl Rove & the Koch Brothers.

http://www.experienceproject.com/

[LiberalEsto]

42. There are quite a few here

They've been busy, busy, busy spinning ever since Mother Russia invaded the sovereign nation of Ukraine in violation of existing treaties.

[Tarheel_Dem]

57. +1! Threads like this are like sticky fly traps. They just can't resist.

[Warren DeMontague]

53. PERNICIOUS LIES-SKI, TOVARISCH!

I meam, uh, move along, nothing to see here.

[Tarheel_Dem]

54. Sssshhh! They've been relatively quiet lately. Now you've gone & woke 'em up.