Russian fake-news network, led by an ex-Florida sheriff's deputy, storms back into action with 200+ new sites The Russian troll farm that in the lead-up to the 2024 US presidential election posted a bizarro video claiming Democratic candidate Kamala Harris was a rhino poacher, is back with hundreds of new fake news websites serving up phony political commentary with an AI assist. In a paper published today, Recorded Future's Insikt …
> Is that because the AI is that good, or their critical thinking skills are so poor?
No, it's because it supports their world view, and thus they want it to be true: It's called Confirmation bias...
The miracle of modern social media makes it possible to identify the biases held by people and target them with messages that exploit those biases. That way the messages can be completely different and/or quite extreme with little risk of alienating the recipients.
"No, it's because it supports their world view, and thus they want it to be true: It's called Confirmation bias..."
It's called a dictatorship. One government approved view being pushed onto the people regardless of any actual truth content.
Is that because the AI is that good, or their critical thinking skills are so poor?..
I wonder if he knows how his predecessor ended?
Probably working at the Bbc. They publish a lot of fake news, so 'Russian' drones damaging a building in Poland that turned out to have been hit by a dud US missile fired by a Polish F-16. Or this absolutte classic-
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5ye0x28vzqo
Tests show Navalny was poisoned in jail, his widow says
In a video shared on social media, Yulia Navalnaya said analysis of smuggled biological samples carried out by laboratories in two countries showed that her husband had been "murdered".
She did not provide details on the poison allegedly used, on the samples or on the analysis – but challenged the two laboratories to publish their results.
Trust me bro, he was poisoned. Why now, and why the Bbc didn't wait until Yoland (Bidens name for Yulia) provided some shred of something that looked like evidence is anyone's guess.. But then the Bbc did love puffing up Navalny for some reason. Which is possibly related to this story.
So outside the UK, the Bbc's 'news' is covered in adverts so the usual clickbait 'journalism' to drive views and ad revenues that the Florida deputy has been busily exploiting. I haven't tried looking at any of the sites to see which ad flinger is paying for the content, but suspect that if the ads are blocked, the sites would soon vanish.
I mean, he was clearly poisoned, and likely more than once.
Clearly? Where is your evidence for this? Where is the Bbc's evidence?
Just because your literal job is to make stuff up on the Internet doesn't mean we won't call you out on it here.
Nope, not my job at all. I'll leave that to 'trusted' news organisations like the Bbc. And 'we'? But back in the old days, typosquatting was a pretty common hobby with the landing pages slathered in ads. A very cheap scam to run and no different to today, except this time it must be 'Russian disinformation'.. Which rather pales into comparison with the amount of 'fake news' churned out by either a very gullible, or complicit media.
YetAnotherLocksmith: "Just because your literal job is to make stuff up on the Internet doesn't mean we won't call you out on it here.
Jellied Eel: "Nope, not my job at all. "
Wow. You spend your precious time on earth making pre-Russian shit up on the internet for free! Get your sorry arse over to St Petersburg*, you can be paid for spouting this rubbish, and even get a pension. We'll still call you out on it, but there's some interesting night life out there and the architecture and historic art is incredible.
* I was going to clarify to say "in the Russian Federation", but then realised that with the Orange Stain spreading across the stars and stripes, and indeed with the theme of the article, if could equally be St Petersburg, FL. Weather will mostly be better in Florida, on the other hand there's no architecture worth a spit in the US, little art or culture. And you're equally likely to be shot in either country.
We'll still call you out on it
'We' again. Tell me, are those voices telling you to take up brass engraving?
But I was simply contrasting this news. On the one hand, the UK state broadcaster interferes in a foreign country and describes Navalany as "With Navalny's death Russia lost the last towering opposition figure who challenged Putin's rule.". Except he was never any challenge to Putin's rule because despite attempts by the Western media to embiggen him, he was a political nobody inside Russia. Basically much the same as this Florida deputy and a political irrelevance to anyone other than those who still see Reds under every bed. Despite all the hype around the last couple of elections in the US, all the investigations showed that Russia, or Russians had virtually zero influence on the outcome.
There is a learning process here.
17thC.
Bloke 1: I just read in a pamphlet that Anne of Austria gave birth to rabbits.
Bloke 2: You are a cretin. You shouldn't believe everything you read.
Bloke 1 checks his sources before making a prat of himself again.
21stC.
Bloke 1: I just read on the web that Kamala Harris gave birth to rabbits.
Bloke 2: You are a cretin. You shouldn't believe everything you read.
Bloke 1 checks his sources before making a prat of himself again.
There will always be gullible idiots. They will go through the same learning process. It is not a reason to ban pamphlets (17thC) or the net (21stC).
"Is that because the AI is that good, or their critical thinking skills are so poor?"
The idea that the majority of the populace of the US of A (the UK being only marginally better) is capable of critical thinking in even its most basic form is frankly laughable (see icon).
In democracies we get the governments we deserve. Currently people in the UK want to believe that they personally should pay less tax but have access to better services and so we have an administration that was elected pandering to this myth (the previous shower were no better). Reform believe even more fervently in the magic money tree but wherever they've been elected they suddenly seem unable to find it even though they claim that it's in plain sight before they get in. Trump is just a more extreme version of this cakeism.
I never thought I'd say this but Theresa May was right when she said that "There is no magic money tree". Presumably there was a sensible politician in there but the Tory party were determined to have a blond-haired money-spaffing idiot in charge (HS2 anybody?).
Currently people in the UK want to believe that they personally should pay less tax but have access to better services and so we have an administration that was elected pandering to this myth
Except it isn't entirely a myth. The NHS could save millions and cut waiting lists by investing in AI that could walk patients through performing their own surgery. Or it could save millions and cut waiting lists by performing sugery on NHS manglement that want to spaff millions on AI. There is a lot of waste in government that could be surgically removed and then taxes cut, or better services provided. My favorite example is the huge boost to the economy government could get by halving tobacco duty. That increases RPI, which increases the cost of hospital's PFI projects and energy bills. Cut the cost of energy as well and inflation would fall, there'd be a lot less pressure on the public purse and consumers would be able to spend more.
Here’s a link to the Wikipedia page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dougan_(conspiracy_theorist) and yep as the AC says the perfect Russian stooge.
Wonder what will happen once the Trump admin understands, that a stong, unified U.S. under Trump is not in the best interest of Russia.
Only a weak opponent self-occupied with internal political struggles is a good opponent, after all.
So I would expect the disinfo networks aimed at the US to be positioned against Trump and the Republicans already for the Midterms in 2026, while their EU-based counterparts will continue to push the right-wing agendas.
> a stong, unified U.S. under Trump
That's a MAGA pipe dream and has an ice cube's chance in hell to happen.
Especially the "strong" and the "unified" parts, given the constant dismantling of US structures and the increasing polarization of its inhabitants. Putin doesn't have to do anything, Trump is obligingly doing it for him.
Hmm, somebody should start to dismantle MAGA real soon. Rebuilding the US education system would also be a good idea too: It'll need a big overhaul after the OT and his friends finish wrecking it. But I'm not holding my breath for either to happen: the US populace was far too micro-fractured for that, even back in the mid 1970s, and it seems to be even worse now.
Example: back then, I was a keen and competitive Free Flight model flyer, so when I got the computer system design and build gig in 1976 in NYC, naturally I took my models with me and joined the Brooklyn Skyscrapers, the local free flight model club. That was fun: I made new friends and did quite a lot of model flying too, but I was amazed to find that even the Skyscrapers had their fracture lines apart from the usual ones (all Free Flight models are gliders, but launch methods are very different: those using engines, tow-lines, rubber bands, or hand-launching all have separate competition classes and fly from different places on the flying field), but in the Skyscrapers the non-drinking members had surprisingly little to do with those of us who enjoy a few beers after a long day of flying, chasing and retrieving their models.
I somewhat agree, depending how you define "strong" and "unified".
However, so far the disinfo networks have favored MAGA-like ideas and memes. They played nice with Republicans, augmenting the party line with false material compatible with a right-wing world view.That now resulted in a super majority for Republicans. House, Senate and President (that`s what I meant with strong an unified).
These are weak personalities, certainly not unifying the nation, but strictly formally and politically, the current presidency is one of the strongest in the last few decades.
So what should be the incentive for russian influencers/disinfo slingers to further push the US Republicans, to further stabilize their current super-majority?
Based on their own interests they might favor a classical split, where House and Senate will neutralize the powers of the president more effectively.
So I predict the desinfo networks to play less nicely with Republicans in the upcoming elections and instead push Democrats.
So gutting efforts to counter election disinfo - probably in the hope that they will continue to support Republicans - might turn out to be the provervial bullet in the own foot for the current administration.
> the current presidency is one of the strongest in the last few decades
Define "strongest".
I agree there is what you call a "super majority" which allows the Reps to do about anything they want. Unfortunately all they seem to want is to help their buddies make more money: I haven't heard about anything supposed to actually help the US economy as a whole. So yes, super majority maybe, but one running in circles chasing it's own tail, dismantling the country's vital structures, antagonizing its supposed partner countries, and getting internationally more and more isolated while under the illusion that everybody fears and respects them. I wouldn't call that "strong", "delusional" is more appropriate. Very sad.
Somebody wanting a weak and isolated USA would do anything possible to preserve the current situation (if not amplify it). Besides, some other president might step up and do something against Putin, while Trump definitely won't. The USA are currently neutered, leaving Russia free to do as they like. What's not to like?
> Define "strongest". I agree there is what you call a "super majority" which allows the Reps to do about anything they want.
Yes, that is exactly what I meant by "strongest". The current administration is the one that is least constraint by checks and balances since decades.
As you describe it: They just help their buddies to make money. So to define themselves politically, they need an enemy. This role is currently played by the politically left spectrum of parties and media.
And once its internal enemies are defeated, their search for new enemies will need to switch to other countries.
I guess I`m not the only one seeing parallels between 1933 and 2025, and probably no one needs a re-enactment of 1939 with the USA starting WW III.
That's why I assume that the support of DT by Russian disinfo might not live up to its expectaions in the Midterms.
You are correct. None of course.
Dobbies kiddies, and their paid lackeys like the guy in the article, are paid to sh**-stir.
His goal is not a right-wing or a left-wing government but a chaos government brought on by a wannabe dictator who is actually a thin-skinned man-child backed by a truly vile collection of grotesques from Stephen Miller (Architect of Project 2025 and I think it would be fair to say a Jewish Fascist) Leonard Leo (Fundamentalist Catholic Christo-Fascist) and the little yapping jackals of JD Vance (waiting to fulfil the dreams of his long term boyfriend backer Peter Tiel) and the human weasel himself Mike Johnson, as they wait for decades of take-outs, diet cola and alleged other substances to finally send him to Arlington.
In the Controls-White House-Congress-and-Senate sense of the term you are factually correct.
And yet they are also claiming, despite majorities in both houses, that without the Democrats assistance they will have to have a government shutdown (again), which like the 5 previous USG shut downs will be caused by a Republican government (not exactly strong-and-stable government is it?)
It seems 'lil Mike Johnson (the Johnson of choice the FOCF whips out when some exceptionally evil, or self-serving policy needs to be justified) can't control his own party, and this time the Democrats will leave them too it.
I do hope the Democrats stay firm, sit on their hands and let the least-experienced house Speaker in about 140 years sort his own s**t out.*
*For a bonus it would be a good idea to run an actual candidate in his district. They literally fielded no one last time round. Maybe they wouldn't win but they would send a message that they are contesting all districts, and all districts are in play.
Trump makes the US weak and actively divides people - he's the furthest thing from a unifier we've ever had as president.
He's doing a great job for Putin, and I'm sure Putin gives him a pat on the head and says "good dog" each time they meet.
That's true, but sadly no matter what his actions, or what information comes out about his happy and cordial relationship with the owner of Pedo Island, his approval ratings seem to sink no lower than 44%. Which means he doesn't need to swing things very much to do OK at the mid terms.
Rather a lot of Americans do like their orange saviour.
