State-Sponsored Trolls
The calls are coming from inside the house.
The Washington Post is reporting on life after being content moderators. “I think of all the horrible stuff we’re exposed to, and then learn that there are tens of thousands of content moderators can barely hold solid food down. They have seen too much.” In the article, a former moderator says, “If I ever have children, I will not let them see anything on social media until they are 18.”
Different Hoax for Different Folks
Over and over we were told that Russian interference in our elections was just a hoax, but a "new indictment reinforces that it wasn’t. Russia began trying to influence American politics a decade ago, ultimately finding a sympathetic ally in Donald Trump. Now, instead of trying to make fake personalities who can elevate contentious issues to Russia’s benefit, there’s a stable of Trump-allied voices who already are." In a separate Washington Post article, we read about a new reminder that Russian interference was never a ‘hoax’. "It just succeeded in a way that Russia could never have predicted." (Funny how the people calling everyone “fascist, socialist communists” were actually spreading messages from the Russians.) There’s more, this time from the Associated Press, confirming that “Right-wing influencers were duped to work for a covert Russian influence operation.” And from the NYT, a specific case that helps to explain how these influence campaigns work in a story called Activists Charged With Pushing Russian Propaganda Go on Trial in Florida.
You’ll recall that just last month the Trump campaign was infiltrated by Iranian bad actors . It is assumed that the Iranians also took aim at the Biden, now Harris, campaign. Up until now, our intelligence agencies have thought that official China was on the sidelines while official Russia and Iran were working full-time to introduce chaos and division in our elections. It is beginning to appear as though China is also doing so, but trying to mount a plausible denial by remaining at arms-length from the actual perpetrators. Not the case with the Russians.
Until we catch up, society will continue to struggle with both the unintended, and often intended, consequences of social media. One cannot underestimate human nature when it comes to adapting to new technologies. Lead-based paint and asbestos insulation in construction are two excellent low-tech examples of how we innovate with dangerous products only to have to catch up and clean up once the implications are clear.
It happens with each technical revolution. Historically, the United States is a technology innovator. Our history is that we out-kick our coverage with each new iteration of technology, then we adjust. We play catch up by imposing regulations, whether it’s the automobile industry that was forced to install padded dashboards, seatbelts, and airbags, or the railroad industry that is currently fighting against the implementation of Positive Train Control to curtail operator errors that cause fatal accidents. By comparison, tech firms in the European Union are also innovative, but they are leashed by stricter regulations then our tech sector. The EU thinks an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. I’m sure that former content moderator agrees.
Finally, a little movement: after years of pressure over child safety, Instagram has announced new "teen account" settings, calling them its "most dramatic effort yet to protect young users from dangers on its platform," CNN's Clare Duffy writes. The changes will "automatically make millions of teen accounts private and restrict what kinds of content those users can view on the app."
It should be noted that neither China nor Russia is innovative in the least, but both are good copycats. We innovate, they imitate, usually to our demise. It isn’t just that they lack scruples, it’s that they purposely poke until they find shortcomings, lapses, and downright open back doors in our tech and it’s defenses.
Jake Tapper: “Today, the U.S. government is trying to peel back more layers of what officials say are massive and complex efforts underway to influence your vote in the upcoming election. One part of these alleged plots: replacing your average 2016 Russian social media bots with actual conservative Americans, right-wing influencers with a combined millions of followers, influencers promoted by Elon Musk, some visited by Republican politicians such as former president Trump.”
In the recent indictment, DOJ claims Russia funneled millions of dollars to a U.S. shell company, Tenet Media, that paid nine prominent right-wing media influencers. The trolls all claim they didn’t know they were getting paid by Russia. Everyone who believes that, stand on your head.
In all, 32 internet domains were seized. They were operated by front companies for the Russian government. It even has an official spy-craft name: “Doppelganger.”
As the Lt. on Hill Street Blues admonished his officers at the start of every watch, let’s be careful out there.
©2024 Jon Sinton
What amazes me, Jon, is that U.S. adversaries are conducting open cyber warfare with their mis/disinformation campaigns and the National Security Agency, funded by an estimated $10B/year ain't doing shit to stop it. Hell, international and U.S. money laundering rules prevent Binance from qualifying me to trade crypto because I live in Mexico but my ID is a U.S. passport, and MX banking authorities recently held up a USD$12K wire transfer to my local MX bank from my 35-yo daughter in L.A. for 3 days until she could produce her birth certificate. If they can do that but the NSA can't find and shut down domestic and foreign troll farms, I conclude it's grossly negligent and/or fighting the wrong war, keeping in my that the 2016's catastrophic cybertheft of the NSA's counter espionage tools let to the development of the ransomware that plagues the world today. Nothing but clowns!
Excellent! Thanks, Jon.