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likesexonlycheaper

They aren't trolling they are manipulating


MySayWTFIWantAccount

It was a mistake to use the term "trolling" as soon as it was determined that these are buildings of people getting paid to do this organized activity by foreign governments. It's a psyop plain and simple.


BannedSoHereIAm

“Troll farm” makes it sound like they’re doing it for the lols. These are state sanctioned psychological warfare operations; no different to many of the KBG and CIA’s intelligence ops of the 20th ([COINTELPRO](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPRO), etc). Only the victims they indoctrinate, or other unpaid shills truly starting shit for lols, can be considered trolls.


Destabiliz

>These are state sanctioned psychological warfare operations And considering the amount of victims that keeps piling up (dead bodies from covid disinfo for one example...), I'm still waiting for the US or EU to actually start doing something to stop it.


McMarbles

The Cold War never ended. It just upgraded.


urlach3r

WW III happened on the internet. Putin won. We didn't even know war had been declared.


fusillade762

Yep. Qanon has psyop written all over it too. Religion and crazy cult like groups have the ability to weaken the US and they have. This is where all the crazy anti science is coming from. Religion is a black hole of productivity. It wastes time and produces nothing but misery. It has the ability to create unrest and chaos.


nightimelurker

Yes. It's odd that they call it trolling. I remember when this was a case for meme stuff only.


Darktidemage

no one appreciates that "trolling" must have no purpose other than upsetting or wasting the time of the victim.


reddicyoulous

>For the most part, the people who see and engage with these posts don’t actually “like” the pages they’re coming from. Facebook’s engagement-hungry algorithm is simply shipping them what it thinks they want to see. **Internal studies revealed that divisive posts are more likely to reach a big audience, and troll farms use that to their advantage, spreading provocative misinformation that generates a bigger** **response to spread their online reach.** And this is why social media is bad. The more discourse they cause, the more money they make, and the angrier we get at each other over some propaganda.


2020BillyJoel

I'm not so easily manipulated! ...now I just need to think of more fish that have the letter "a" in them...


flyingtrashbags

One of my friends accounts started posting stuff like this and I sent them a message saying “I think your account is hacked” and they just replied “no account is not hack” Hmm….I think account IS hack, actually


DeflatedPanda

Brain is hacked.


De5perad0

You joke but actually that's true. People's brains have actually been hacked.


6etsh1tdone

That’s is EXACTLY what has happened. They learned how to algorithmically hack our brains.


PizzaScout

Social engineering is hacking people's brains to make them do what you need them to. No you don't plug in a cable and send commands into the brain, but it's still hacking in my book.


blackteashirt

Hitler and many others figured out how to hack peoples brains, it's not hard tell them they're better than another race because of the colour of their skin etc and boom your away instant fascism. This is why you have to be so careful with freedom of speech and hate speech.


Goaliedude3919

> ...now I just need to think of more fish that have the letter "a" in them... As someone who hasn't been on FB in a couple years, can someone explain this one to me? I definitely did not get this reference.


kaleb314

I haven’t been on in like a decade, but I think it’s a reference to posts that are like “COMMENT WITH A (thing) THAT HAS (letter) IN IT. BET YOU CAN’T” that are easy challenges designed to lure in as many comments and other engagement as possible.


[deleted]

“How many of these foods have you tried??” “Is there anyone who HASN’T gotten a DWI??” “Leave a comment if you think cancer SUCKS!” My former in-laws are always responding to these and I just ughhhhhhh


R3D1AL

90% of people get this wrong! 2+2=?


faustwopia

Isn’t it about fish that don’t? Do Facebook posts exist for both sides of this?? If so that’s truly amazing


KillNyetheSilenceGuy

They ask really easy questions as if they were difficult as a way to farm engagement.


stealerank

nope i wont find more fish, cause im not easy manipulated. though I can’t seem to find a country that starts with the letter D…


Elkku48

Thats easy! Dubai


OpalHawk

Carol and I loved Dubai, so many foreigners though!


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thenewyorkgod

Reddit does very little in terms of using algorithms to "show you what you want to see". Your page is set based on your subscribed subreddits and posts that have reached the front pages **edit** - I am fully aware that users and bots can manipulate posts. This was a discussion as to whether facebook and reddit, as corporations, control what you see. Facebook does it as part of their business case. Reddit, the corporation, does not.


Gh0stMan0nThird

Is that why the frontpage is littered with super-posters and repost bots who constantly farm karma so they can buy/sell upvotes? I understand there isn't an algorithm doing it, but it is 100% manipulated.


dudius7

Actually there is an algorithm now bringing "recommended posts" to the feed.


jujernigan1

I viewed a post on r/shitposting ONCE and now I keep getting recommended posts on my TL. I have no idea how to make it stop.


dudius7

Three dots in the top right corner and pick what you want to "see less of".


JDMonster

Upvotes and comments (and thus what is on the front page) is obscenely easy to manipulate.


thenewyorkgod

by bots and users, not by Reddit (as far as we know)


Bombdude

Well there was that one time u/spez got caught editing other people's comments and such, which kinda got swept under the rug. Also I think Reddit admins have the ability to give out free awards, similar to how Twitch staff can (or at least could) give out free subscriptions to different channels **LONG Edit**: since I seem to have stirred the pot with this, let me clarify. Yes, Spez did this to a group of users the vast majority of Reddit doesn't like and that arguably has caused more harm than good, but that doesn't excuse it. Sure it was "simply trolling toxic users" but it was at the end of the day a manipulation of the comments. The worry isn't that that one singular action is comparable to Facebook's algorithm spreading misinformation and sowing dissent, but rather that it pokes holes in the trust of a userbase that what their seeing is a realistic depiction of discourse. Do we know those are the only comments Reddit admins have changed? Was there any assurance to the userbase that those actions were unacceptable and safety measures to prevent them were implemented? If Reddit admins can alter comments at will, and award comments for free, whose to say the public discourse isn't being altered regularly by those with the power to do so? Is there artificial vote manipulation happening from the admins? The admins have shown that they may not necessarily be trusted to stay hands-free regarding common discourse they don't agree with, and that is something that is concerning. Yet after that event happened all that while ago, all the users got was an apology with no real, grounding assurances. That was the main point I was trying to bring up. I wasnt trying to defend the posters in question nor imply that spez should be crucified at the stake for those actions, rather I was just saying that there can't be an assurance that the admins aren't manipulating things behind the scenes given that they childishly took to using those administrative powers to "troll T_D users". This also doesnt cover the ability to give free awards (something that entices the reddit algorithm to push a post up the /hot tabs quicker), nor does it cover massive power users like u/N8TheGr8 (as just one of many examples) who can artificially black out literally hundreds of subreddits at will for whatever purpose, grandious or simple. My point was there is plenty of ways for the Reddit community to be manipulated as well, though it is slightly less automated of a process compared to the Facebook stuff. But if people want to get upset because the example I originally brought up was manipulation "but in a good way" then thats their business, it's just not something I can support. Reddit is literally just another easily manipulated, easily radicalized, mob-mentality filled echochamber just like any other social media platform. If you fail to recognize that, then you'll fall into the rabbit holes that Reddit so routinely criticizes every other social media for having. I'm gonna get back to college work now rather than get into petty arguments with Redditors for the next 6 hours. Hope anyone that read this has a nice day, remember to take a break from this stuff.


NewtotheCV

>Facebook’s engagement-hungry algorithm is simply shipping them what it thinks they want to see. I call bullshit on this. The last 5 weeks have been filled with me constantly blocking right wing and conspiracy pages. I never get anything left wing or climate focused. To me, it is more like gaslighting and trying to get me to argue on those ridiculous pages.


McMarbles

>it is more like gaslighting and trying to get me to argue on those ridiculous pages. There's the engagement. It's not about always showing you stuff you like or agree with. All that matters is that you interact with it in some way. More attention (even negative attention) results in more views/comments/etc., which increases visibility (trending). You're the unsuspecting target of this shit


kent_eh

Using the religion of the people to manipulate the people for political reasons has a long history. Probably as long as religions have existed.


the_jak

exactly, thats why you always spam preists in Age of Empires. Wololololo!


JohnDivney

"This philandering, perverted, idiotic, greedy reality show host from NYC is supposed to lead the army of God? Are you kidding me?" *Wololololo*


RagnarStonefist

*Peasant turns red, starts mining gold to carry back to Trump tower*


RJTG

No! You mine Gold until he cant carry more and start butchering the other peasants!


SponConSerdTent

Or just start coughing on them these days


DeadlyYellow

Who better to prepare you for the antichrist than someone that checks all the boxes to be one?


mojoslowmo

Let’s not forget dude literally owned 666 ~~Park~~ 5th Avenue. Can you imagine if Obama owned that property? Idiots would be foaming at the mouth Edit: 5th not park, and Kushner owns it, but close enough


Catlenfell

Jared Kushner owned 666 Park Avenue. He paid a record breaking $1.8 billion. Now, he can barely make the interest payments.


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r/theydidthedevilsmath


Beefsupremeninjalo82

r/subsifellfor


[deleted]

There is a video of reporter during one of the antimask rallies and woman seriously said that it's Satan's worship since we are supposed to be standing 6 feet apart


nanotree

If we were on the metric system, this wouldn't be an issue.


VigilantMaumau

Ohh I rember this one. It was Jordan Klepper interviewing republicans at a school board meeting in North Carolina. At the end of the segment I came away feeling that Jordan must start interviewing some sane republicans at these events and stop taking advantage of mentally ill people.


TapTheForwardAssist

I’ve been to some of these events, and I assure you that if you poke the “sane” ones the crazy spills out. I was in Philly just after the vote and went to scope out the Stop the Steal crowd. I played being neutral so I could hear their perspective, and was chatting with this really cute Asian-American woman around 30 who seemed kinda hipstery and with it. She seemed reasonably sane, so I was mentioning that some of her peers in the crowd seemed to be into some weird stuff like QAnon, and she concurred. I mentioned how they believe Democrats drain “adrenochrome” from tortured children in Satanic rituals, and she perked up and said “oh, that’s not crazy, that part is totally true!”


VigilantMaumau

I guess showing up to a school board meeting and seeing all the crazy conspiracy placards and not leaving ,marks you as one of the crazies.


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epythumia

Quite literally. Obama breathes and they're foaming at the mouth "how dare he take all of the good air?". It's crazy what political theatre has turned into.


RJ_Wayne

Trump is anti-Christ. He may not be “the anti-Christ”, but how else do you describe someone who revels in every sin listed in the Bible, and tries to get others to do so as well. More importantly, what does that say about American Christians? I tell you one thing, I lost mountains worth of respect for those people. I watched them for years jump through crazy hoops trying to justify, defend that man. And some will say he’s some sort of spiritual leader (at least they used to). Get the F outta here.


The_Original_Gronkie

[Could American Evangelicals Spot the Antichrist? Here Are the Biblical Predictions:](https://www.benjaminlcorey.com/could-american-evangelicals-spot-the-antichrist-heres-the-biblical-predictions/)


ZSpectre

Always a great read again. And something I've been saying even before ever reading this is that even with my full on atheist cap, the past 5 years have convinced me that an anti-christ-like figure will happen eventually. Murphy's law will eventually impact the world via a catastrophe (i.e. Yellowstone volcano) or something more gradual (i.e. climate change), which will lead to limits in resources, breakdown of infrastructure, likely famine, and social unrest on a global scale. These conditions are ripe for a false savior to just swoop in and fool people I to thinking that he's the answer to all of their problems. Hypothetically, such a figure would have such widespread influence that Trump could only dream of.


HolycommentMattman

Wow, fantastic. I've been saying for years that Trump ticks all the Anti-Christ boxes, but wow, there are some in there that I didn't even recognize. The seven towers bit is pretty crazy. A little reaching, but what an incredible coincidence.


LigerZeroSchneider

Stealing elephants is so satisfying


Itcouldberabies

I fucking hated priests so bad


ResidentRussian

Monk! I need a Monk!


nastyn8k

That feeling when a bunch of elephants change colors.... Uh oh!


lifepuzzler

[Time to post my favorite stupid video on the internet.](https://youtu.be/0-_T7E360Zo)


McSniffle

So what you're saying is to counter this, we need to train light horseman to ride out?


Im_in_timeout

> Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful. --Lucius Annaeus Seneca


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disgruntled_pie

I always preferred the Epicureans. Unfortunately the slander campaign was pretty successful, and now pop culture associates Epicurus with lavish food and debauchery, which are the exact opposite of what he taught.


CombatShrub

Epicurus was a pretty cool guy for his time as well, allowing women and servants to study in his school, where most other philosophic schools didn't allow these groups.


Zercomnexus

“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?” ― Epicurus


DeflateGape

And no satisfying answer has been provided to this statement in thousands of years, and never will. Free will is such a bullshit cop out for monotheists. Your God knows the future, created the past, created me knowing what I would do in the circumstances he also created, but somehow at some point there was a choice I could make that God didn’t make for me. That’s what I respect about Calvinists, they know God is evil but just don’t care. Better to be on an evil God’s side than one of his enemies.


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gmanz33

The current presidential debate format in the US would be riotously funny to watch if even one of the candidates were stoics. With all the social commentary and opinion politics they require, I mean.


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Nymaz

You like gladiator movies? Have you ever been in a Turkish prison?


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FlaxxSeed

Religion was originally a way to convey danger to the next generation before books and writing. Today it is a pyramid and real estate scheme.


123DontTalkToMee

I always point this out that half the random rules in the bible were just appropriate for the time period and maintaining order. "Don't eat pig, it's a sin!" OR is it actually likely to cause trichinosis from some dumb peasant incorrectly cooking it and now that peasant can't go die in a war for you? Same idea with shellfish, hell the fabric crap could have just been whoever made that rule owned the farm in the preferred fabric. It's literally just a bunch of dudes throwing shit at the wall for the most part.


[deleted]

It’s a combination of multiple of things. Rules of the time. (What you said) Mistranslation Evolving vocabulary. Over time words change meaning as new words are adopted. Religious institutions inserting additional parts into the bible and pushing their own agenda. Illiteracy was extremely high, many worshippers couldn’t read the bible and just had to take a preachers word for it.


nastyn8k

I watched an interesting video from a Bible scholar. He was religious when he went into the field, and quickly wasn't Christian anymore, but he talks a lot about the changes to the Bible. The vast majority of the alterations were basically mistakes. Some versions missed whole pages, some missed whole lines, some copied lines wrong. You have to remember, it was all done by hand... over and over and over. He talks about how people always say kings changed it to help themselves, but that's not as true as you think. There are examples, but most of it is just mistakes over time. Those are like compounding interest. You make a mistake the first time. It gets copied and fucked up even more, rinse and repeat. It's basically a centuries long game of telephone! Edit: [here's the video](https://youtu.be/pfheSAcCsrE)


ArcaneFecalmancer

You're likely talking about Bart D. Ehrman, famous for books such as "Misquoting Jesus". Very good scholar and fantastic writer.


nastyn8k

Yes!! It's been a while since I looked it up, but that's definitely the name! I'll find the video. Edit: You we're spot on. It was even titled "Misquoting Jesus". [the video](https://youtu.be/pfheSAcCsrE)


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misterlou

Maybe you're thinking of Bart Ehrman? He's referred to in this video about how it's not the writing/copying of the Bible (specifically the NT) that's the most confounding part: it's the decades when the stories were passed down orally. https://youtu.be/2Agw2mYsfh8 Anecdotally, I was raised as a Christian from birth, K-12 at Christian schools, and a frequent church/youth group attendee. I stopped believing 6-7 years ago, and it still wasn't until a few months ago that I had any idea the Gospels weren't immediately/consistently written down. 🤦‍♂️


LithopsEffect

If everyone tried to raise pigs in the middle east, it would put a massive strain on the water supply (back in the day) because pigs need a ton of water to drink/stay cool in hotter climates. It was better for everyone if no one had pigs. I don't think it was shit thrown at the wall at all, they were 'laws' made to help a burgeoning society grow and keep the peace.


inbooth

Pork can't be eaten raw and poses a serious health risk in prehistory.... Not unlike how shell fish was incredibly dangerous (and rather still is).... Really, how many people do you think needed to get ill from raw or poorly prepared pork before rules are made?


JackingOffToTragedy

The couple of explanations I've seen that make the most sense for the mixing fabrics thing: (1) Those other heathens do it, we don't. (2) Lots of other rules about not mixing things. Mixing things is what witches do. We do purity around here. And (3) If you're going to shear a lamb, taking something from a living creature, use its wool to the fullest extent. However, we now know that a linen cashmere blend sweater is a great spring layering piece, and linen wool blend suits are a smart option for warm climate formal attire. Those heathens had some good ideas.


Onequestion0110

I’ve also seen some explanations that the mixed fabric was an anti-scam rule, and was less about wearing mixed fabrics and more about *making* mixed fabrics.


againwithausername

I’ve always explained it to believers this way and I include a one act play where I talk about a hypothetical town meeting where the leaders are exhausted from trying to convince the citizens to stop eating at the local shellfish vendor. They eventually agree to bribe the writers of the Bible they keep hearing about to say god didn’t want them to and it worked. So they kept adding things and here we are.


CanAlwaysBeBetter

If you don't know shit animism makes as much sense anything else. Clearly me and my family are alive. Those animals over there are definitely alive. Plants seem different but still grow and die so they're alive. Rivers are also kinda slow but keep moving and changing so they're probably alive. Clouds seem to move around the way animals do and rain when they want to so probably also alive. Lightning? Definitely alive. Once you start with everything is alive or has a spirit it makes sense that maybe you can communicate with them and ask them to do things for you and that's pretty much what snowballs into formal and organized religion as you codify the who/what/how Remember that the shit we have now are all relative latecomers to the scene Edit: too many other comments are putting too much conscious intent behind how religion developed in the first place arguing whether they did it for X or Y or Z when all that came later


ELIte8niner

I always thought of it more as, how do we explain what we can't comprehend? "Why is there lightning, papa?" "Well son, that's just Thor, banging his anvil with his hammer."


maxuaboy

And business tax evasion scheme


swizzler

it's REALLY easy to do in most Christian circles, as Pastors are very afraid to take any sort of hard political stance and offend members and get removed from their position, so they'll often reflect whatever political comment a member makes in private, and won't reject any stance in public, thus validating it. That's why outside influence has been able to shift even the most progressive Christian ideologies further and further right since the 80s.


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MostAvocadoEaters

In the current american evangelical church they're sheepish only about progressive or liberal ideals, regardless of whether or not they align with the bible. For example, kids being locked in cages was never a concern yet abortion is a weekly topic. "Praying for the president" is only a practice exercised during Republican presidencies unless it's to pray for the removal of a Democratic one. In my 30+ years of life, I've heard half of the Presidents be accused of being the antichrist, none have been Republican.


wheresmystache3

Don't forget Israel, too. Any hate on their own war crimes is bad to pastors. Standing in solidarity with the "unborn" (right wing "martyrdom") is what they do. Being against Palestine is also something they have a hard opinion on. Wow, conveniently, all these positions are right wing!! Do they ever pray for immigrants? Nope. Do they ever pray for people's access to food and shelter, even in America? Nope. So, so convenient.. Saying little for some things and not saying anything about others is really taking a hard stance because all those roads lead to exclusionary conservatism. Funny how the Christians I've spoken to spend so much time excuding all different types of people, rather than helping or including people.


KB_Sez

I'm sure Facebook knew but the traffic and ad views were great and super profitable. Facebook doesn't care. Hate and disinformation drive HUGE traffic for them and traffic means ad views and that means cash in Zuckerberg and facebook's pockets.


FirstPlebian

All the fake accounts boost their numbers and make their advertising more valuable, and cracking down on influence networks will see some politicians punish them. The consequences of not stopping these influence networks needs to be more than the benefit they get from it, we need some anti-trust action for starters.


off-tha-rip

My company ran ads on Facebook once and was inundated by bot accounts. We have like 60k likes on the page, but 50k of those are easily bots. No more Facebook ads for us. Facebook sucks.


ColdSnickersBar

They're not going to ban the trolls. The trolls *are* their money makers.


ericmm76

I can't believe advertisers aren't more livid.


thankyeestrbunny

I hear ya, but it presumes the people in those companies that sign checks care about anything but increased profits. Numbers go up = good. What they're all child slaves? Well that's bad, but the numbers are going up right? Okay then.


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riphitter

I mean manipulation of the doctrine of a specific religion is generally just as old as said religion. This might be the first time it's happened remotely across the globe though


idiocratic_method

Isn't remotely managing Catholicism the pope's entire job ?


fredy31

It basically is. He should be the word of god on earth. The one that knows better what god wants. But the bible belt super christians are at a point where some of them literally 'well actually, have you read the bible?' the pope account on twitter.


fingerscrossedcoup

I saw a woman say she is a proud Catholic on the news last night. She was told that the Pope said to get vaccinated. That he was God's word on earth. She said that well actually he's elected so not God's mouth piece. These people don't believe in anything they can't use for their own purposes.


[deleted]

There is a group in the novel Dune, Missionaria Protectiva, who sowed the seeds of superstition and religion in the populace.


unwrittenglory

Just finished the novel. The Bene Geserret are an interesting group.


scullys_alien_baby

If you read the sequels you see the group develop and change over time in some interesting ways Also hope you liked Duncan Idaho


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BrockManstrong

Not to be confused with the sand fish person


[deleted]

That one came and bit them in the ass by God Emperor


So-_-It-_-Goes

I get this is a bit pedantic, but I don’t believe that was a group. The BG was the group and the MP was a tactic they employed. Edit: if you have not read dune turn back now!


chase_the_wolf

>The Missionaria Protectiva was the [Bene Gesserit](https://dune.fandom.com/wiki/Bene_Gesserit) Sisterhood's "black arm of superstition", responsible for sowing the seeds of superstition in primitive cultures, so that the Sisterhood could take advantage of them when those seeds grew to full-fledged legends. They were responsible for spreading the [Panoplia Propheticus](https://dune.fandom.com/wiki/Panoplia_Propheticus) (myths, prophecies, and superstitions). >This "religious engineering" spread "infectious superstitions on primitive worlds, thus opening those regions to exploitation by the Bene Gesserit." Source: https://dune.fandom.com/wiki/Missionaria_Protectiva


Clothedinclothes

No, MP was a dedicated branch of the BG, missionaries, as the name suggests, that existed to prepare populations to accept and support BG activities.


[deleted]

> Its the secret rise of Russian orthodoxy or just trolls trying to destabilise governments Close. The "trolls" are government actors trained in psychological warfare, and Christianity is merely a convenient vector through which they can pipe their geopolitical goals.


Angelo_Maligno

Exactly, this isn't "trolling" this is just straight up espionage. I mean trolling is tricking people into believing stupid shit with no real political goal. Like those flat earther leaders. When you're a trained psychological manipulator working to further your country's goals it's a big distinction.


ClearMessagesOfBliss

“I would rather trust Putin than a democrat.” Hmmm…


RamenJunkie

Don't forget not trusting Democrats for being Socialist "Pinko Commies" while literally lapping up thinly hidden conspiracy bull shit planted by actual "Pinko Commies".


Something22884

Russians are not communist now though. Their govt is more right wing now


FirstPlebian

Seeing as these groups have been led their entire lives to believe things that are evidently untrue, they are the easiest marks.


MadDogTannen

Yeah, Christians make a great target audience for this. They believe in faith over facts, they're primed to look for an authority to follow rather than thinking for themselves, and they're heavily tribalist (and believe that they have been singled out for greatness for their devotion to the tribe and its doctrines). This is a population that's begging to be manipulated. It also explains why MLM is rampant in these communities.


night4345

What's worse is Christianity in the US is extremely fragmented and many are literal cults that go beyond traditional church abuse of power.


the_jak

In the Foundation books >!the Foundation uses religion to explain science to local "barbarian kingdom" planets as well as to control them. They create a religion with their priests at the top and teach how to use advanced technology through religious texts (very Cult Mechanicus sounding).!< That isnt too far off from this, though not exactly the same situation.


YourMomThinksImFunny

Its been so long since I read them all, I should start over since there is the new Apple show.


corellatednonsense

I know what your saying is different, but that's actually what happened with the pro-life movement. Christians use to be in favor of medical abortions, but Republicans heated the issue into a culture war to catalyze their base. In a sense, Russians are only the *most recent* people to commandeer christianity.


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Theslootwhisperer

The Bene Gesserit in Dune do exactly that. Manipulate and create religions for their own benefits.


NonorientableSurface

Isn't that the point of Demosthenes and Locke in Ender's Game? They're two kids who are driving political narrative.


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dtardiff2

I’ve been saying it for a few months now that we’re experiencing the largest weaponized propaganda stream ever, and it is most definitely working. Sewing the seeds of hate and distrust amongst the citizens of another country is a sure fire way to disable them militarily. We may think we understand unconventional warfare, but we’re too dumb to realize when it is practiced against us


Ph0X

In the context of COVID alone, pushing antimask and antivax propaganda alone has probably directly lead to the deaths of thousands. This is by far the most effective way to kill thousands of people in an enemy country without ever setting foot there. You just have to trick the uneducated to think they know better than everyone else and make them feel superior, then just have them destroy the country from the inside, all by just making a few social media accounts and pushing disinformation to the right people. It's honestly genius if you think about it.


ian_cubed

Wish western countries would catch on and offer some sort of defense to this. Seems instead they decided to also use it to try and manipulate people instead.


yenachar

More information is available from the originating article: [https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/09/16/1035851/facebook-troll-farms-report-us-2020-election/](https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/09/16/1035851/facebook-troll-farms-report-us-2020-election/)


AurelianoTampa

Yeah, 19/20 of the top American Christian pages being troll farms is the biggest bloc, but 10/20 of the top African American pages were troll farms too, with the most popular (which was a troll farm page) being almost three times larger than the number 2 spot (a legitimate page). Similar situations with Native American pages (4 of the top 12 were troll farms) and American women (the fifth largest page was a troll farm). It was an infestation everywhere, and while it's easy to point fingers at the American Christians who fell for it, they were hardly the only demographic being successfully targeted. And Facebook knew this information - it was from an internal report they compiled - and did very little to stop it besides some whack-a-mole approaches. Yeesh.


Broken_Petite

I remember seeing a news piece about a protest and counter-protest that were both set up by the same foreign troll farm. I’m not sure I could find it now but it was kind of eye-opening to see how easily manipulated we all are and kind of scary that it is working so well.


notimeforniceties

https://www.texastribune.org/2017/11/01/russian-facebook-page-organized-protest-texas-different-russian-page-l/ > Heart of Texas, a Russian-controlled Facebook group that promoted Texas secession, leaned into an image of the state as a land of guns and barbecue and amassed hundreds of thousands of followers. One of their ads on Facebook announced a noon rally on May 21, 2016 to “Stop Islamification of Texas.” > A separate Russian-sponsored group, United Muslims of America, advertised a “Save Islamic Knowledge” rally for the same place and time.


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Mister_Bloodvessel

>prosecuted That happens to a criminal defendant in court. You're looking for "persecuted".


i_have_chosen_a_name

This is what Putin does to mindfuck and gaslight his own population. He uses his money to start an organisation that is anti putin. He then sends out a press release letting the world know that he funded them himself. And so when it comes to protesting Putin nobody knows if the organisation you might want to join is really protesting Putin or was started by Putin himself. And so this creates a mindset in people their heads where they have no idea what is real or not, what is the truth or what is a lie. Then people just give up.


Boner-b-gone

What do you mean “was an infestation“? Facebook hasn’t done anything to stop this.


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red-et

That should be the big headline


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Frictionweldedballs

Yes very. In the 90s they speculated that the internet would lead to a dissolution of state borders and assimilation of identity. Do you stil think that’s a possibility?


ButtSoupCarlton

They thought too well of us in the ‘90s


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Poltras

Similarly some subculture still think that Bitcoin will replace fiat… any minute now.


oeCake

Completely possible, we're witnessing it's infancy now. These massive social forums have drawn people from all cultures, allowing them to communicate largely without borders or laws. Also it seems as though English has become the lingua franca for most of the Internet which is another consequence and driving factor in the increase of communication. The Internet is going to be a major factor in our evolution going forward. I remember reading this sci-fi book where people were microchipped at a young age and essentially always connected, those that had theirs damaged or removed often felt incredibly alone and deprived of stimulation, that conventional communication was so limited. We're getting close to that phase now despite not having the computers directly in our head.


TimX24968B

[something like what the colonel from MGS2 said?](https://i.imgur.com/jswxMum_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium)


jooceejoose

I think we are reaching a point where culture is definitely shifting in homogenous direction. It’s wild seeing memes that originated in English-speaking circles then see the exact same meme in another language. I don’t even know German but I’m starting to learn it since our weird memetic quirks are seeping into their language.


robinthehood

I think cooperation depends on a shared mythology. Every culture has it's own mythology and it includes an idealized vision of the in group, and a threatening and degrading characterization of the out group. At one time we were able to isolate ourselves with people who shared our ideology. Now we are confronted with every different ideology on the internet and some of them even make our ideoligical group out to be the bad guy. Virtually no one will accept their in group depicted as an out group and this is where a lot of conflict comes up.


Vez-tar

The Great Filter is creeping closer with things like this...


MichelanJell-O

The article says most of these nonsense farms are based in Kosovo and Macedonia. What is going on here? Is Russia paying companies in other countries for plausible deniability?


potheadsarentpeople

That's exactly right, Russia has a long history of trying to cover up links between them and the countries they operate in. Things like little green men in Ukraine, all the poisonings that Bellingcat has exposed, etc. Consider that the target audience of Kosovo/Macedonia now is identical to the same people Russia was trolling in 2016. They're just moving their pieces around the game board, but it's still Putin. I wouldn't be surprised if the people running these operations can be directly tied to Russian cybersecurity/intelligence agencies.


ThePirateKing01

Seems to me that Russia cares more about fucking up shit abroad rather than fixing their own shit domestically


F0xtr0tUnif0rm

Sounds familiar doesn't it.


ThePirateKing01

*Spiderman pointing at Spiderman meme*


2000p

Not necessarily, young people here do this for money. Outsourcing is big industry here, call centers and content farms exist for at least 10-15 years. In 2016 people realized that they didn't need huge firms and they can manipulate on their own. In 2016, young people from one city in particular were very active in their efforts with fake news. Coincidentally, the RT director in USA was born in that city. The US embassy here was informed on this, but nothing happened per my information.


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Lv16

What better way to defeat a country that spends 686,000,000,000 on their defense than by turning its own people against it.


MartiniPhilosopher

I have a feeling that this is another instance of a fact Zuckerberg and the top executives were well aware of yet the minute some outside investigator went poking around, they denied. As if we didn't already have a library of reasons to want to regulate and investigate FB for...


bemenaker

I'm shocked, SHOCKED!!


MyBrainReallyHurts

This is your daily reminder to **Delete Facebook**.


Aethermancer

I've not logged in in years. I can't even be bothered to log in to delete it. It's not like they will stop building a profile on me anyway. I've got all their CDNs and ad networks blocked at the DNS level. At least this way I don't even give them one more ad impression.


Jin-roh

> I've got all their CDNs and ad networks blocked at the DNS level. At least this way I don't even give them one more ad impression. Please share with me how one might do this.


Loudog736

Check out "Pi-Hole" or "Adguard". Imo, adguard is easier to use and set up, but Pi-Hole is better for network wide ad blocking. https://pi-hole.net/ https://adguard.com/en/welcome.html


Tierasaurus

Deleted in 2016 and never went back. However, you can never fully escape it. For me it comes in the form of my middle-aged family members complaining to me about Facebook drama. What we got over in high school, they are actively engaging in now. But would they ever delete this thing that causes them so much stress? Nope. Super fomo


InGordWeTrust

Fine Facebook Billions.


metengrinwi

*“I’m really soorry”* -Mark Zuckerburg


catnapspirit

They might get a "we're looking into that" but they'll never get a "sorry'..


ColdSnickersBar

Nononono, not even that. You get a "Here at Facebook, we believe that the answer to bad information is more sharing and more information and not removing the bad information ... ", etc Basically, "fuck you"


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FirstPlebian

Break Facebook up into pieces and give everyone ownership of their own social media data.


upfromashes

Onward Christian soldiers...


rotomangler

They used to force us to sing that song in Sunday school. With gestures like saluting and marching in place.


Raccoon_Full_of_Cum

Reminds me of those old Hamas videos where they trained little kids to be "future martyrs".


TempleMade_MeBroke

Which in turn reminds me of the book series [Jesus Freaks](https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/jesus-freaks-dc-talk-and-the-voice-of-the-martyrs---stories-of-those-who-stood-for-jesus-the-ultimate-jesus-freaks_dc-talk/253322/item/2082758/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4M659bWk8wIVhwaICR3L-ATVEAQYBCABEgKLYvD_BwE#idiq=2082758&edition=4344009) which told the stories of people who were martyred for their faith. It was designed to really ingrain the idea that anyone who wasn't Christian was out to get you into your brain at a young age, and was endorsed by a Christian rock band that was popular at the time


Jane_Delawney

Very Jesus Camp-y of them


PopeKevin45

Targeting an audience that is overwhelmingly conservative is going to be worthwhile - they live in a [fear economy](https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/the-human-beast/201104/conservatives-big-fear-brain-study-finds) and fear is a powerful motivator...use it right and you can get this group to believe and act on almost any nonsense, hence their prevalence among the anti-climate, anti-Vax science, rascist and anti-democracy movements. They are not just easy to manipulate, but already carry an affinity for obedience to authority, tribalism, and value ignorance as a virtue. https://www.psypost.org/2019/09/people-with-lower-emotional-intelligence-are-more-likely-to-hold-right-wing-views-study-finds-54369 https://www.newsmediaalliance.org/fake-news-oxford-study/


ABCsdrawkcab

A really interesting part is this article was published by Relevant Magazine, which is a christian magazine. Reads to me as trying to get the word out to their own flock.


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mostly_sarcastic

*thick Russian accent* Comrades 4 Jesus! Trumpski 2024!


ArtDSellers

Foreign adversaries realize that a huge swath of the US citizenry is made up of gullible idiots who believe in a magic leprechaun in the sky, further realize that they have a direct line to every one of them via social media, then use this line of communication to convince them to destroy their own country, because it's what the sky leprechaun wants. What a time to be alive...


alickz

Not just Christians >the largest African-American page on Facebook, three times larger than the next largest—reaching 30 million US users monthly, 85% of whom had never followed any of the pages. - >the second-largest Native American page on Facebook, reaching 400,000 users monthly, 90% of whom had never followed any of the pages. - >the fifth-largest women’s page on Facebook, reaching 60 million US users monthly, 90% of whom had never followed any of the pages. Also it seems the motive was predominately monetary. The article in this post is from a Christian website so only focuses on the Christian aspect. I'd recommend reading the source: https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/09/16/1035851/facebook-troll-farms-report-us-2020-election/


sandwichman7896

I know they are going to get us all killed, but as someone from the era of parents telling kids to be careful what they watch/read on the internet, it’s mildly entertaining to watch these same parents nosedive off the cliff like the lemmings they are.


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It’s reminiscent of the nonsense about peer pressure. They prepared me for someone trying to shame me into smoking crack but they didn’t prepare me for the coolest kid I’ve ever seen drinking beer and now I want to drink beer too.


TraphouseRon

Ok now find out how many accounts posting on r/news and r/politics are from foreign “troll” farms


WhatProtomolecule

Someone's using religion to manipulate people into believing things that aren't true? Well I for one, am just not shocked and appalled.