A deep, deep dive into the symbiotic relationship between right-wing influencers, Russian state media, and the shared disinformation ecosystem in which they live.
Aug 19, 2023·edited Aug 19, 2023Liked by Caroline Orr Bueno
This is excellent work! Fascinating, and accessible insight into methods used in influence campaigns.
I don't follow Twitter, or many other social media driven by algorithms, but sadly the rage triggers and influencers are also poisoning many once-trusted news sources.
Brilliant research, and article‼️‼️👍🏽😊 as soon as I saw that #hawaiinotukraine bullshit, it reeked of right wing, GOP cult persuasion, BS--- I can smell GOP called bullshit a mile away‼️😂😂😂
Excellent article and analysis, thank you. The kernel of truth is that the President’s own words, actions, and inactions make it very easy for these types of narratives to propagate. He is not trusted by nearly half the American electorate and viewed as an illegitimate President. As we get closer to the next round of Presidential elections, and radical changes in foreign policies (4 year cycle), these attacks will greatly intensify, amplify on both sides of the political online information space. I hope to see some good analysis on how the left is similarly manipulated by threat actors online
Thanks, once again, for doing such much needed investigative research...a source of information to counter the misinformation and disinformation out there! Keep up your good work!
Excellent work! If you are hearing a discord that Maui is angry at Biden. Please know that several community members (across many segments of society and race) have asked to have it pointed out - completely false. But they are not on internet right now, because they are trying to survive. (And no signal to post their complaints on the hour/0).
The people of Maui can credibly say they have been exploited for centuries. And had people try to sow discord there. They don’t need it at this moment, just because it’s the presidential campaign. This explains.
And why Maui? Because it has been Democratic since dawn as a state. However Trump won the Lahaina voting precinct (along w/ 1 on windward Oahu and another) all where hotel workers are concentrated in Hawaii last election. It is a ‘possible swing state’ for discourse. Also The Proud Boys leader lived there.
So to summarise, in Hawaii, there is a fire that demolished infrastructure. Something tweeted something that was picked by right-wings who the author opposes. At the same time she admits that more could be done about the situation in Hawaii, but it won't be done, basically justifying the above tweet. So now we have 3 problems inside the country. Hawaii needs help, right wings promote a tweet and help for Hawaii isn't efficient. But since the Russians picked this up as well, we can ignore those problems to fix our sights to the Russians.. That is what I say you light a fire to your next house because you hope it will burn brighter than your own.
You do go on. Did it not occur to you, but of course it did, that Biden and the sclerotic, corrupt US government have been ignoring, nay, persecuting a war, on the American people for many decades beginning with the offshoring of our manufacturing sector, looting the treasury to backstop corrupt banks while imposing austerity and starvation on the people? Have you looked at the collapsing longevity of the American people? Healthcare, education, housing and food costs have been skyrocketing while salaries, in real terms, have been dropping for decades.
Hawaii Not Ukraine is a perfectly rational response to this deprivation and corruption. $700 to the Hawaiians who lost everything is an insult while we pour over a hundred billion into Ukraine, trillions into the bottomless maw of the MIC and tens of trillions into the banking system.
Not to mention we aren't "helping" the Ukrainians -- we are actively destroying their nation in our proxy war against Russia. Hundreds of thousands of dead Ukrainians and a destroyed, rump state are the result. Not some vague "weakening" of Russia which isn't happening anyway and why was it our goal in the first place?
My ancestors came from the same region that is now Ukraine and all of my family that stayed there died at the hands of Stepan Bandera and his gang of murderous thugs during WWII. And now my own government funds, arms and trains the followers of Bandera while they once again do their monstrous and vile best to destroy their own people in a war they could NEVER win against Russia.
You proudly carry on the information war against the American people and on behalf of a globalist elite that cares nothing for the citizenry here in the US. And now you can have a sad because the US empire is collapsing and that can only mean the long-suffering American people might have a chance to regain control of our government. I pray for the day when people like you are too ashamed of what you have done to keep writing garbage like this.
I will end by asking the question your type always asks when you read something you don't like: who exactly is paying you to write this tendentious and insulting propaganda defending the US government and its warmongering and looting of the American taxpayer? Your name should be Caroline No Bueno.
I came across this via someone posting a story with a link to a conspiracy video about Thomas Binder.
Well done.
I suspect that social media and generative AI are confronting us with our weaknesses, specifically the weakness of how our 'intelligence' mostly works (speedy, efficiently, but 'approximately') and that when all is said and done we will have to confront that we may be relatively the most intelligent species, but in an absolute sense our intelligence has serious limitations. Even your professor in analytical philosophy may adopt conspiracy theories. Analytic intelligence is a weak defence against this kind of behaviour.
Social media hacks directly into how we 'quickly' assess 'truthfulness', in (a) it comes often and/or (b) it comes from 'close by'. Influencers for instance, feel like 'friends', the comment section feels like 'tribe members'. We are exceedingly vulnerable as a species now that our intelligence that evolved for groups of 150-200 (Dunbar's Number) is confronted with gossip and talk at the thousands-millions level. Generative AI with its 'perfect (though meaning-wise unreliable) language' also hacks into our 'quick assessment' intelligence. If it sounds well spoken, we take that as a measure for truthfulness. So, on top of the dangers of social media, we now get GenAI. All very much bypassing the defences against nonsense that we have.
Thank you so much for this informative expose. Living on Maui since 1980, when some of the crazy assertions started proliferating on social media I posted a couple of weeks ago on FB that maybe Russia is behind some of it. But shame the comments section has devolved into a slanging match, though good for you not deleting some comments because we can easily discern who the dodgy characters are!
If American people believe that phrase and desire it to be viral then it is authentic. You are determining what is authentic or not based on your own bias and authoritative credentials. Conveniently mixing in an undesired narrative with foreign influence. There is no line in information operations between foreign or domestic influence after recent policy and joint postures.
The anomaly leaves open influence for U.S political rivals, corporations, and other groups of power to push "unknown" content authenticity into the foreign influence category of national security information operations such as this.
This has a State Media propaganda feel with a hint of a particular political leaning. Being against U.S involvement with Ukraine doesnt mean Russia is behind it.
Im certain an adverasary plays a role to disrupt or boost any situation that arises but that doesnt mean people dont genuinely feel a certain way or desire for thier collective voice to be heard by the government and to reach fellow peers.
Comparing Russia's use of the Hawaii attack vs the Ukraine war and what the US did in Ukraine , in order to attack Russians in Ukraine is like saying Russia started the War . They didn't - how do I know this - I retired in Ukraine in 2012 and prior to that I worked there. I also know that both Russia and the US have direct energy weapons, Haarp, other " space type weapons, and climate / structural geologic weapons. Russia and China are the least of the worries, compared to what the USG is doing in the world.
I have done some reading about authoritarianism and Trump and his MAGA movement fit the description. There is a big difference between contesting elections with lawsuits and petitions for recounts and coming up with a scheme to submit electors who did not represent the actual outcomes in their states and pressuring the Vice President to exercise power he did not legitimately have.
As is so often the case, I am deeply impressed by the details you have dug up.
This is excellent work! Fascinating, and accessible insight into methods used in influence campaigns.
I don't follow Twitter, or many other social media driven by algorithms, but sadly the rage triggers and influencers are also poisoning many once-trusted news sources.
(I ran across your work on Mastodon)
Brilliant research, and article‼️‼️👍🏽😊 as soon as I saw that #hawaiinotukraine bullshit, it reeked of right wing, GOP cult persuasion, BS--- I can smell GOP called bullshit a mile away‼️😂😂😂
Excellent article and analysis, thank you. The kernel of truth is that the President’s own words, actions, and inactions make it very easy for these types of narratives to propagate. He is not trusted by nearly half the American electorate and viewed as an illegitimate President. As we get closer to the next round of Presidential elections, and radical changes in foreign policies (4 year cycle), these attacks will greatly intensify, amplify on both sides of the political online information space. I hope to see some good analysis on how the left is similarly manipulated by threat actors online
Thanks, once again, for doing such much needed investigative research...a source of information to counter the misinformation and disinformation out there! Keep up your good work!
Excellent work! If you are hearing a discord that Maui is angry at Biden. Please know that several community members (across many segments of society and race) have asked to have it pointed out - completely false. But they are not on internet right now, because they are trying to survive. (And no signal to post their complaints on the hour/0).
The people of Maui can credibly say they have been exploited for centuries. And had people try to sow discord there. They don’t need it at this moment, just because it’s the presidential campaign. This explains.
And why Maui? Because it has been Democratic since dawn as a state. However Trump won the Lahaina voting precinct (along w/ 1 on windward Oahu and another) all where hotel workers are concentrated in Hawaii last election. It is a ‘possible swing state’ for discourse. Also The Proud Boys leader lived there.
So to summarise, in Hawaii, there is a fire that demolished infrastructure. Something tweeted something that was picked by right-wings who the author opposes. At the same time she admits that more could be done about the situation in Hawaii, but it won't be done, basically justifying the above tweet. So now we have 3 problems inside the country. Hawaii needs help, right wings promote a tweet and help for Hawaii isn't efficient. But since the Russians picked this up as well, we can ignore those problems to fix our sights to the Russians.. That is what I say you light a fire to your next house because you hope it will burn brighter than your own.
You do go on. Did it not occur to you, but of course it did, that Biden and the sclerotic, corrupt US government have been ignoring, nay, persecuting a war, on the American people for many decades beginning with the offshoring of our manufacturing sector, looting the treasury to backstop corrupt banks while imposing austerity and starvation on the people? Have you looked at the collapsing longevity of the American people? Healthcare, education, housing and food costs have been skyrocketing while salaries, in real terms, have been dropping for decades.
Hawaii Not Ukraine is a perfectly rational response to this deprivation and corruption. $700 to the Hawaiians who lost everything is an insult while we pour over a hundred billion into Ukraine, trillions into the bottomless maw of the MIC and tens of trillions into the banking system.
Not to mention we aren't "helping" the Ukrainians -- we are actively destroying their nation in our proxy war against Russia. Hundreds of thousands of dead Ukrainians and a destroyed, rump state are the result. Not some vague "weakening" of Russia which isn't happening anyway and why was it our goal in the first place?
My ancestors came from the same region that is now Ukraine and all of my family that stayed there died at the hands of Stepan Bandera and his gang of murderous thugs during WWII. And now my own government funds, arms and trains the followers of Bandera while they once again do their monstrous and vile best to destroy their own people in a war they could NEVER win against Russia.
You proudly carry on the information war against the American people and on behalf of a globalist elite that cares nothing for the citizenry here in the US. And now you can have a sad because the US empire is collapsing and that can only mean the long-suffering American people might have a chance to regain control of our government. I pray for the day when people like you are too ashamed of what you have done to keep writing garbage like this.
I will end by asking the question your type always asks when you read something you don't like: who exactly is paying you to write this tendentious and insulting propaganda defending the US government and its warmongering and looting of the American taxpayer? Your name should be Caroline No Bueno.
Wait. Are you saying the Russian government tries to manipulate public opinion about the Ukraine war
via social media? I'm shocked! Our country would never engage in such underhanded behavior.
I came across this via someone posting a story with a link to a conspiracy video about Thomas Binder.
Well done.
I suspect that social media and generative AI are confronting us with our weaknesses, specifically the weakness of how our 'intelligence' mostly works (speedy, efficiently, but 'approximately') and that when all is said and done we will have to confront that we may be relatively the most intelligent species, but in an absolute sense our intelligence has serious limitations. Even your professor in analytical philosophy may adopt conspiracy theories. Analytic intelligence is a weak defence against this kind of behaviour.
Social media hacks directly into how we 'quickly' assess 'truthfulness', in (a) it comes often and/or (b) it comes from 'close by'. Influencers for instance, feel like 'friends', the comment section feels like 'tribe members'. We are exceedingly vulnerable as a species now that our intelligence that evolved for groups of 150-200 (Dunbar's Number) is confronted with gossip and talk at the thousands-millions level. Generative AI with its 'perfect (though meaning-wise unreliable) language' also hacks into our 'quick assessment' intelligence. If it sounds well spoken, we take that as a measure for truthfulness. So, on top of the dangers of social media, we now get GenAI. All very much bypassing the defences against nonsense that we have.
Thank you so much for this informative expose. Living on Maui since 1980, when some of the crazy assertions started proliferating on social media I posted a couple of weeks ago on FB that maybe Russia is behind some of it. But shame the comments section has devolved into a slanging match, though good for you not deleting some comments because we can easily discern who the dodgy characters are!
If American people believe that phrase and desire it to be viral then it is authentic. You are determining what is authentic or not based on your own bias and authoritative credentials. Conveniently mixing in an undesired narrative with foreign influence. There is no line in information operations between foreign or domestic influence after recent policy and joint postures.
The anomaly leaves open influence for U.S political rivals, corporations, and other groups of power to push "unknown" content authenticity into the foreign influence category of national security information operations such as this.
This has a State Media propaganda feel with a hint of a particular political leaning. Being against U.S involvement with Ukraine doesnt mean Russia is behind it.
Im certain an adverasary plays a role to disrupt or boost any situation that arises but that doesnt mean people dont genuinely feel a certain way or desire for thier collective voice to be heard by the government and to reach fellow peers.
Foreign influence is an excuse.
Just FYI - the retweets keying off of “Kennedy” are probably tied to the libertarian/ right-wing TV personality Kennedy, who was a former MTV VJ.
Comparing Russia's use of the Hawaii attack vs the Ukraine war and what the US did in Ukraine , in order to attack Russians in Ukraine is like saying Russia started the War . They didn't - how do I know this - I retired in Ukraine in 2012 and prior to that I worked there. I also know that both Russia and the US have direct energy weapons, Haarp, other " space type weapons, and climate / structural geologic weapons. Russia and China are the least of the worries, compared to what the USG is doing in the world.
I have done some reading about authoritarianism and Trump and his MAGA movement fit the description. There is a big difference between contesting elections with lawsuits and petitions for recounts and coming up with a scheme to submit electors who did not represent the actual outcomes in their states and pressuring the Vice President to exercise power he did not legitimately have.
Thank you for the Alex Jones-Glen Beck conspiratorial nonsense