Social Media Political Lens

[hepcat]

Oh hey, what's "stable genius" Trump reposting today on his social media accounts? Something very statesman like, I imagine!



..nope.

Check out the Hillary and Kamala photo on the bottom left.

Christ, i cannot wait until this pond scum is gone for good from public life.

[GreenGoo]

If Russians are expressing "concern", it's because they don't want EU authorities to see their own communications.

How? It's encrypted, isn't it? It would be unethical and likely illegal if not outlined in their end user agreements to have a way to decrypt private communication.

The laugh was sarcasm. I fully expected Telegram to be compromised.

[Max Peck]

I've seen a few articles indicating that Telegram's relationship with Russia has markedly improved in recent years. It's no longer trusted or used by much of the Russian opposition.

The reports that Russian military units use Telegram operationally also suggests that the relationship between the company and the state is comfortable if not downright cozy.

[Alefroth]

https://www.reuters.com/technology/lula ... 024-08-30/

A Brazilian Supreme Court justice ordered on Friday the "immediate suspension" of social media platform X in the country, after a court-imposed deadline expired for the company to identify a legal representative in Brazil.

[Holman]

Please pardon the Twitter link, but it's easiest way for most people to see this.



In brief, Tucker Carlson has posted an interview with a Holocaust denier whom he calls maybe the "best and most honest popular historian in the U.S." The "historian" in question has praised Hitler in the past and considers the true villain of WW2 to be... Winston Churchill.

Musk liked and boosted Tucker's interview, calling it "Very Interesting. Worth Watching." (He has since deleted the tweet, but the damage is done.)

Oh, and people have already dug into the Holocaust-denying historian's social media and found that he is followed by several prominent Republicans, including J.D. Vance.

[Grifman]

Maybe I’ve missed this somewhere here, but the FBI has been investigating Russia paying MAGA/conservative social media influencers millions of dollars to hype pro-
Russian talking points:

[LordMortis]

Pyperkup linked to an article here

Spoiler:

Eventually the real Republicans will be able to reclaim their party. Some prominent figures are laying the groundwork now, but first trump has to lose again, and then it will be protracted and messy. In the end, though, we'll be able to go back to opposing them over normal political disagreements.

I wonder.

The GOP since the 1980s has been the party of the rich and of corporations. Its electoral success, however, always depended on subtly reassuring reactionaries and racists that it was their party too. Trump came along and seized control of the party simply by taking all the subtlety out of it.

Does "reclaiming the party" mean stuffing the reactionary shit back in the closet but still relying on it? I don't think Trump voters will settle for that.

"How you gonna keep 'em down on the farm/now that they've seen Paree [1930s Germany]?

Hate (and Hate related grift) sells. Now that the right-wing media, right wing bloggers, influencers, and general grift peddlers know how much money people are willing to fork over if you promise to punish their enemies I doubt that genie will go back in the bottle.

It also pays well. not only from the marks, but Russia. It sounds like there were over 500 RW "influencers" who may be on the Russia payroll in the US alone maybe...

The affidavit references one document maintained by the Social Design Agency, which is not included in the unsealed court documents, that contains a list of more than 2,800 people identified as influencers. While this list is global, US-based influencers account for around 20 percent of the accounts being monitored, including many US lawmakers, according to an analysis of the list by the FBI...

...In a note from one of the meetings with Russian government officials discussing the campaign’s use of influencers, Gambashidze wrote: “We need influencers! A lot of them and everywhere. We are ready to wine and dine them.” Though no links have been confirmed, hours before the Doppelganger affidavit dropped on Wednesday, Tenet Media, an organization that features a slate of right-wing commentators, was alleged in an unsealed Department of Justice indictment to have been largely funded by Russian state-backed news network RT.

The Social Design Agency operation appeared to be extremely well-run and well-resourced. There is a “project office” consisting of four teams that include one entire group dedicated to monitoring the social media posts from GOP lawmakers in order to generate ideas for topics to cover.

Including, of course, "US Lawmakers". I think we have a pretty good idea who some of them are...

[Max Peck]

"Unwitting"... Sure, let's go with that.

[Isgrimnur]

Some of them, I assume, are useful idiots.

[waitingtoconnect]

"Unwitting"... Sure, let's go with that.

Are they evil or inept? Or both. After watching that how can one be sure?

[Smoove_B]

Meta bans RT:

Social media giant Meta announced Monday that it is banning Russian media outlet RT, days after the Biden administration accused RT of acting as an arm of Moscow’s spy agencies.

“After careful consideration, we expanded our ongoing enforcement against Russian state media outlets. Rossiya Segodnya, RT and other related entities are now banned from our apps globally for foreign interference activity," a Meta spokesperson said in a statement.

...

Meta started limiting Russian state-controlled media two years ago. Enforcement of the ban announced Monday is expected to roll out in the next several days.

Meta’s apps include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads.

[Max Peck]

Facebook owner Meta bans Russian state media outlets over 'foreign interference activity'

Facebook owner Meta said on Monday it was banning RT, Rossiya Segodnya and other Russian state media networks, alleging the outlets used deceptive tactics to carry out influence operations while evading detection on the social media company's platforms.

"After careful consideration, we expanded our ongoing enforcement against Russian state media outlets. Rossiya Segodnya, RT and other related entities are now banned from our apps globally for foreign interference activity," the company said in a written statement.

Enforcement of the ban would roll out over the coming days, it said. In addition to Facebook, Meta's apps include Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads.

The Russian Embassy did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The ban marks a sharp escalation by the world's biggest social media company against Russian state media after it spent years taking more limited steps like blocking the outlets from running ads and reducing the reach of their posts.

It came after the U.S. filed money-laundering charges earlier this month against two RT employees for what officials said was a scheme to hire an American company to produce online content to influence the 2024 election.

In other news...

Major Russian disinfo site featuring anti-Trudeau articles prompts calls for new focus at public inquiry

A website at the heart of an international Russian disinformation operation has produced more than a dozen articles about Canadian politics in an apparent attempt to undermine support for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and boost his chief rival, Pierre Poilievre.

The website Reliable Recent News has been identified by officials in Europe and the U.S. as a repository for pro-Kremlin articles that are distributed through a network of affiliated sites disguised to appear as legitimate news outlets.

Earlier this month, U.S. authorities seized a domain that hosted Reliable Recent News (RRN), though it continues to operate on another domain. In an affidavit, authorities describe RRN as a tool to "further the malign influence campaign" waged by Russia in support of its invasion of Ukraine.

The RRN articles about Canadian politics focus on controversies involving the Liberal government, often supplying inaccurate descriptions of its policies and ridiculing Trudeau. He is referred to as the "incompetent prime minister" and, elsewhere, as being "better suited to a role in a political satire alongside Vladimir Zelensky," the Ukrainian president.

Some articles also indicate a preference for Poilievre, who in a recent piece is referred to as "the savvy leader of the pro-business Conservatives."

[gilraen]

So...the irony here is that Facebook has been banned in Russia for several years now (people access it with VPNs so it's not strongly enforced but still).

[Grifman]

Robinson is toast, if there was every any doubt:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/22/politics ... index.html

Wouldn't be surprised if his wife leaves him, he supposedly bragged about an affair with her sister.

[Jaymann]

Robinson is toast, if there was every any doubt:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/22/politics ... index.html

Wouldn't be surprised if his wife leaves him, he supposedly bragged about an affair with her sister.

I just watched a video on if Harris wins North Carolina it could mean an East Coast/early victory. Robinson may have unwittingly saved democracy.

[Isgrimnur]

Or at least staved off some late-night liver damage.

[Max Peck]

On the other hand, this is the timeline where nothing matters. Don't prematurely lock up that liquor cabinet...

Mark Robinson’s porn site scandal greeted with shrugs by some Trump backers

The scandal engulfing Mark Robinson’s campaign for North Carolina governor seems career-ending to many in politics. At Donald Trump’s rally here this weekend, however, plenty of people weren’t bothered.

So what if Robinson, the Republican nominee for governor, is linked to the account of a porn site user who once argued for the reinstatement of slavery, detailed an affair with his wife’s sister, called himself a “black NAZI” and praised Adolf Hitler’s book “Mein Kampf” as “a good read”?

“I didn’t put much credence in it,” Bob Judson, a 70-year-old unaffiliated voter, said of the allegations against Robinson. “We’ve all done things in our past that we’re sorry for. Some of the things are crazy.”

“I mean,” he added, “if we just went on that, we wouldn’t be here for Trump, would we?”

Really, WP, you're going with "unaffiliated"? You couldn't get away with "undecided" this time, I take it?

[LordMortis]

Really, WP, you're going with "unaffiliated"? You couldn't get away with "undecided" this time, I take it?

No kidding. Also whatever we have in our past and seeing how it influences who we are now absolutely should be considered. If you come out the other side free and clear but want to destroy everyone else around you for not meeting your new standards while being sketchy? Yeah, that says a lot about the person voting for them.

[YellowKing]

What kills me is if any one of these people found out their kid's elementary school teacher was a convicted felon, or a porn surfing Nazi sympathizer, they'd be raising hell. But leader of the free world? Governor of the state? By all means, right this way good sir.

[Max Peck]

To be fair, for an unaffiliated forever-Trump voter, the whole Nazi thing is a feature, not a bug, so I can understand why it doesn't faze them.

[Malificent]

On the other hand, this is the timeline where nothing matters. Don't prematurely lock up that liquor cabinet...

Mark Robinson’s porn site scandal greeted with shrugs by some Trump backers
Really, WP, you're going with "unaffiliated"? You couldn't get away with "undecided" this time, I take it?

To be fair, that guy may have been registered in North Carolina as unaffiliated. I am despite voting Democrat for the last two decades plus. So that may have been a statement of fact. Now, did it need to be included? *shrug*

[Grifman]

His campaign continues to crumble:

National Republican groups are pulling financial support for Mark Robinson, the party’s scandal-plagued nominee in the North Carolina governor’s race, as he tries to weather the fallout from a CNN report on inflammatory comments he made on a porn website.

In a statement Monday, the Republican Governors Association acknowledged that after its current media buy expires on Tuesday, “no further placements have been made.”

“We don’t comment on internal strategy or investment decisions, but we can confirm what’s public – our current media buy in North Carolina expires tomorrow, and no further placements have been made. RGA remains committed to electing Republican Governors all across the country,” RGA communications director Courtney Alexander said in a statement.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/23/politics ... index.html

[Grifman]

Hah, he rejected professional help to figure out who set him up:

[YellowKing]

To be fair, Robinson wasn't going to win even before this scandal. He's been trailing Stein by double digits for weeks. At this point the Republican party is just ceding a race they'd already lost.

Still, throwing more gasoline on that dumpster fire of a campaign can only help Harris.

[Smoove_B]

To be fair, Robinson wasn't going to win even before this scandal.

[Max Peck]

Telegram will now provide some user data to authorities

The messaging app Telegram has said it will hand over users' IP addresses and phone numbers to authorities who have search warrants or other valid legal requests.

The change to its terms of service and privacy policy "should discourage criminals", CEO Pavel Durov said in a Telegram post on Monday.

“While 99.999% of Telegram users have nothing to do with crime, the 0.001% involved in illicit activities create a bad image for the entire platform, putting the interests of our almost billion users at risk,” he continued.

The announcement marks a significant reversal for Mr Durov, the platform’s Russian-born co-founder who was detained by French authorities last month at an airport just north of Paris.

On Monday Mr Durov said the app was now using “a dedicated team of moderators" who were leveraging artificial intelligence to conceal problematic content in search results.

But making that type of material harder to find likely won’t be enough to fulfill requirements under French or European law, according to Daphne Keller at Stanford University’s Center for Internet and Society.

“Anything that Telegram employees look at and can recognize with reasonable certainty is illegal, they should be removing entirely,” Ms Keller said.

In some countries, they also need to notify authorities about particular kinds of seriously illegal content such as child sexual abuse material, she added.

Ms Keller questioned whether the company's changes would be enough to satisfy authorities seeking information about targets of investigations, including who they are communicating with and the content of those messages.

"It sounds like a commitment that is likely less than what law enforcement wants," Ms Keller said.

[Holman]

Bluesky has been enjoying a surge of users and now looks like it could be a legitimate substitute for X/Twitter.

Given Musk's endorsement of fascists and racists, it's time for normal and decent people to abandon the platform he owns. I'm hoping that most of the high-follower decent accounts will call for this.

[Pyperkub]

Leopards eating people's faces social media platform...

https://gizmodo.com/truth-social-users- ... 2000506604

[Smoove_B]

Gee, I wonder why he purchased Twitter?

[Kraken]

Leopards eating people's faces social media platform...

https://gizmodo.com/truth-social-users- ... 2000506604

if you were a scammer, who would you think might be the easiest marks on the planet, ready to believe anything a conman might say? If you said Trump supporters, you’re clearly not alone.

Ya think?

[LordMortis]

Gee, I wonder why he purchased Twitter?

All work and no play... He really looks like Jack Nicholson's Shining there.

[Holman]

All work and no play... He really looks like Jack Nicholson's Shining there.

It's a definite Kubrick Stare.

[Alefroth]

Heeeeeeeeere's Leon.

[Jolor]

Gee, I wonder why he purchased Twitter?

With whose money is my question. OPM, after all.

[Grifman]

[hepcat]

Perfectly said. I still cannot understand why one of my coworkers, a man with an advanced degree in nuclear engineer, covers his Facebook page with debunked photoshopped images of Kamala Harris with P Diddy (it's obviously P Diddy's face photoshopped over Montel Williams face....and badly, for christ's sake), stories claiming to support the puppy eating claims in Springfield, election fraud stories with zero evidence, and chemtrail conspiracy theories about the Biden administration controlling the weather to destroy republican strongholds across the nation. It's like reading the page of mentally challenged child at times.

[Isgrimnur]

Intelligence and Wisdom are two different stats.

[GreenGoo]

I once stumbled across the website of a clearly schizophrenic individual, who had created an elaborate set of delusions about the people (real people) who were involved in his care over the years. It was...crazy. Needless to say. He was clearly off his meds and wow, schizophrenia is not pretty.

It was about on par with what I see regularly on social media from thousands of people, except these people seem to be able to function in society somehow.

To be clear, I'm not saying that *everything* I see on social media is on par with crazy person, just that I see WAY MORE than I ever, ever expected to see that is similar.

Social media is a firehose of information, and some of it, too much of it, is not just wrong, but crazy.

[Blackhawk]

Intelligence and Wisdom are two different stats.

As is SAN.

[LawBeefaroni]

Gee, I wonder why he purchased Twitter?

With whose money is my question. OPM, after all.

These peoples' money.