Disinformation for profit: scammers cash in on conspiracy theories

[KY_EnviroGuy]

Disinformation for profit: scammers cash in on conspiracy theories
Some accounts claiming to support the Canada trucker protests are run by con artists abroad
Nick Robins-Early
The Guardian UK, International Section
Mon 21 Feb 2022

Link: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/feb/20/facebook-disinformation-ottawa-social-media

Snips:

hen Facebook removed dozens of groups dedicated to Canada’s anti-government “Freedom Convoy” protests earlier this month, it didn’t do so because of extremism or conspiracies rife within the protests. It was because the groups were being run by scam artists.

Networks of spammers and profiteers, some based as far afield as Vietnam or Romania, had set up the groups using fake or hacked Facebook accounts in an attempt to make money off of the political turmoil.

That foreign networks of social media scammers had seized on a divisive political issue may feel like somewhat of a throwback. Before investigations into Russian troll factories’ operations during the US presidential election and culture war conflicts over content moderation, one of the biggest challenges facing social media platforms was profiteers pushing fake news articles and spam for easy money. Hundreds of websites mimicking US news outlets pushed their content on social media, reaping ad revenue from the traffic they generated.
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Disinformation for profit

It is hard to know the exact scale of the for-profit misinformation industry, researchers say, since it functions as part of an underground economy and comes in various forms. In addition to content mills and ad revenue schemes, there are also private firms across the globe that are hired to create fake engagement or push political propaganda. In 2021 alone, Facebook said it removed 52 coordinated influence networks across 32 countries that attempted to direct or corrupt the public debate for strategic goals, according to a company report on inauthentic behavior.

I am glad that Republican voters are far more gullible and likely to be scammed than our typical Democratic voters. The more money they shell out to scammers, the less available for Rethug political campaigns.

However, I'm surprised the Rethugs have a penny left to their name after all of tRump's dozens of grifts.

KY.......

[3Hotdogs]

1. Then there's Qanon.... Scientology for the dimwitted.