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More and more countries are mounting disinformation campaigns online
[...] That's a long way of saying that I forgive you if you'd like to skip today's news and instead just read nothing but explainers and Twitter threads about impeachment. It's kind of the biggest story in the world right now, and it will all play out in new and exciting and probably terrifying ways across all our big social platforms, and if you want to read some speculation on how I'd point you to this savvy Kevin Roose piece on the subject (further excerpted below).
But say you've finished your impeachment reading for the day and are eager to luxuriate in a good old-fashioned tale of platform-based information warfare. In that case may I please recommend a new report from researchers at Oxford University on the usage of disinformation campaigns by governments around the world. And usage is ... well, I bet you can guess!
Here's Davey Alba and Adam Satariano in the New York Times:
The researchers compiled information from news organizations, civil society groups and governments to create one of the most comprehensive inventories of disinformation practices by governments around the world. They found that the number of countries with political disinformation campaigns more than doubled to 70 in the last two years, with evidence of at least one political party or government entity in each of those countries engaging in social media manipulation.
In addition, Facebook remains the No. 1 social network for disinformation, the report said. Organized propaganda campaigns were found on the platform in 56 countries.
You can read the report yourself here. Personally I found it useful to just read a straightforward guide to the varieties of state-sponsored information attacks — most of which have long been in use, of course, by more garden-variety trolls.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Wednesday October 02 2019, @03:00PM (10 children)
Dystopia is not inevitable, though we are headed that direction at the present time. It would be interesting to see what we evolve into in a million years. Too bad we can't observe from the "after life". Or can we?
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by JNCF on Wednesday October 02 2019, @03:09PM (3 children)
Do you have some simple physics of the afterlife to propose, like a misinterpretation of the no-hiding theorem?
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Wednesday October 02 2019, @03:19PM (2 children)
physics of the afterlife...?
What kind of trick question is that?
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by JNCF on Wednesday October 02 2019, @03:27PM (1 child)
In the context of discussing consciousness, somebody once told me that "reality boils down to simple physics" and "simple electrochemical energy drives it all." [soylentnews.org] Since that same somebody now seems to be speculating that there might be an afterlife, it seemed like an obvious question to ask.
(Score: 0, Offtopic) by fustakrakich on Wednesday October 02 2019, @03:46PM
Oh lighten up, will ya? You didn't notice the scare quotes? And what, is wanton speculation a bad thing?
Christ! Now I'm offtopic...
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday October 02 2019, @05:26PM (5 children)
Dystopia seems inevitable. I don't see anything that is going to stop it.
Do you actually believe the human species will still exist in a million years? Plenty of species go extinct. We seem to have selfish short term self destructive behavior which we cannot overcome that damages our environment, food, water and air. We have violent tribal behavior that ensures continued wars. I would point out that the crazy religious zealots are closely related to us genetically.
For thousands of years, these self destructive defects didn't seem to matter as long as there were more places to find new resources to consume and pollute. But I think we've about run out. Escaping this planet is not realistic as long as an very long continuous supply chain is needed from the home planet to support the escapees.
I hate to sound like a pessimist. But IMO, optimists see the BS as much more than half full.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Wednesday October 02 2019, @05:46PM (2 children)
I don't see anything that is going to stop it.
Then don't think about it. Put your affairs in order and keep moving. If you stop in this fog, you'll only get rear ended.
Far as I'm concerned, this is just a phase, but I'll never know
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday October 02 2019, @06:12PM (1 child)
I don't stop moving. I hope for the best. I just don't see it happening. Civilizations have risen and fallen in the past. There have been terrible times in the past. There is nothing that prevents us from falling into medieval times again. My opinion about it, whether I like it or not, has nothing to do with what will actually happen.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Thursday October 03 2019, @01:03PM
Are you saying A Canticle for Leibowitz is not fiction, but a prediction?
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 02 2019, @07:39PM
but isn't the worst dystopia one that endures endlessly? If its over in a mere million years, how bad could it get / be / have been?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by jmichaelhudsondotnet on Thursday October 03 2019, @07:00AM
Are you a freedom fighter or a stooge? (when it comes right down to it, at the end of the day, when all the cards are on the table etc etc) (don't answer, we are all stooges here of course because everyone knows it's wrongthink to be a freedom fighter)
If dystopia is not here yet, then something can be done and predictions of what is inevitable or not aren't useful.
I think it should be pretty clear the urgency with which the present american regimes are burning the house down and fomenting civil strife, potentially war. They know they can't hold onto power long and so they need catastrophe, for everything to be breaking.
For instance, do you see Trump, whose entire regime is zionism first cultists, now actually saying things offensive to jewish people and getting called antisemitic by the zionists who are now branding him a white supremecist?
That is the lengths they are having to go to, which indicates they are afraid of something, and they should be, because everyone in the world knows now that building 7 was a controlled demolition(thank you Alaskans!) and the only person who could have arranged that is the owner, who is himself a zionist first person
I should really get paid for explaining all of these things to everyone here. It really is so that the main purpose of american mass media is preventing people from seeing this, and the alt right is there to push everyone away from any centrist position into batshit nazi racism. That doesn't happen without careful coordination.
The shills in the american situation, illustrating the danger of what we are talking about in TFA, is that israeli propaganda is making americans crazy, and that is also where all of this civil war talk is coming from. If black and white and mexican people are fighting each other, guess who gets to keep on running the government through legal bribery?
AIPAC, which is what I think is at the root of the problems of the united states. And this is exactly what I am talking about in phases 11 and 12, if the United States does not realize this it will be the divided client states of israel within 10 years. And their body scanners will let the mossad carry bazookas in airports and all of the emergency calls will be screened in underground bases in haifa. The same for europe, who is experiencing exactly the same thing, the narrative should be why are we helping israel invade its neighbors and kill palestinians/muslims but instead the entire country is terrified of right wing racists and refugees who were cleared out of israel's next planned annexations.
Every other country, seeing how easy it is with this facegag data to make americans and europeans light their own countries on fire and give their asses away, and arbitrarily bomb whatever, are naturally following suit, using tools sold to them by israel.
Until about 15 years ago I was pretty friendly toward israel, now they are the biggest threat to freedom, reason and the idea of human rights the world has ever seen and every single statement to the contrary will be attended by a personal counter-comment and potential internet and meatspace harassment. The 'never again' while they wipe out the palestinians through bureaucratic measures and encouraging other countries to take refugees while being completely racist in their own country is hands down the wildest moral absurdity I have ever intellectually encounterd.
This makes me really angry, so that is why I am singling them out, demonizing them and denying their legitimacy, the country of israel is ruining the world as we speak and at the moment the dystopia we are at risk of is one of their design.
9/11, Trump, what more do you need to know. People are actually following me in public because I say these obvious things. I would really like to see Americans and Europeans stand up to this crap before it really is too late, being pro jewish and not antisemetic does not mean allowing all zionist spies and paramilitary forces to operate in your country freely.