A web of empowerment during the Arab Spring has been weaponized as a tool of the powerful to silence dissent in this winter of tryrannical ambition. Add Facebook, Instagram, SnapChat, WeChat, WhatsApp, and all of the rest to the headline. As Facebook dominates in terms of penetration and engagement, I should have put them in the headline, but that would have broken the alliteration. At any rate, cyber warfare permeates the internet as battles rage over minds, allegiance and retribution.
Trolling is one of the weapons in these battles. To be clear, beyond trolling, states, companies and groups engage in various hacking activities. Secrets and proprietary information are stolen, while agents of propaganda spread disinformation and misinformation through social media, state run news and affiliated sites.
In prepping for this story, I dipped my toe in a morass of racist and authoritarian images, questionable stories, and obvious turd balls of targeted rage. Pictures of military personnel accompany threadbare stories that the US military is ramping up troll armies. It’s also easy to find selective reports stating that admonishing Steele for going to the media is proof positive of the FBI supporting Democrats. You can find all kinds of pedophile and human trafficking reports, which might be good, if they weren’t spuriously and scurrilously painting opponents as thoroughly corrupt cabals of child-sacrificing deviants. For example, an Israeli soldier participating in human trafficking in Columbia is grounds to implicate the Israeli military. It’s great that a sex trafficking ring was hit. Unfortunately, it’s being used by anti-Semites tying it to the entire Israeli army. Look it up if you wish. I’m not linking here.
I also limited use of images. So many are tinged with troll memes or associated with misinformation. The title image is from Sputnik News. It seems appropriate here, though I hope that is not laden with troll bait. The one I found with the most evidence for connection to the Russia Trolls is this picture of people on computers. It seems like any picture with computers and military personnel, or sophisticated users with multiple screens is pushed as proof of secret cyberwarfare operations according to internet trolls and conspiracy theorists.
Though I wasn’t fooled by the boogie man stories above, none of this should be taken to imply that anybody is impervious to digital treachery. Each of us has weaknesses and blind spots. We need to be careful in believing what we read. more so than ever online. Plus, we need to work in groups and enable institutions that can devote more time and expertise than any individual in order to discern fact from fiction, and truth from misinformation, disinformation and biased propaganda. For this, we need some critical evaluation skills, as well as, trust and reliance on experts. Like anybody, they too will make mistakes in information processing. We need a reliable system for separating trusted members who make honest mistakes from agents of adversaries. Forgiveness and reconciliation can be good at times, and banishment is necessary at others. Daily Kos seems to do pretty good for keeping people honest and factual, though, again, nobody is perfect.
When it comes to cyber warfare, it would be an oversimplification to say everybody is doing it. At this point everybody should be aware of it. And, enough information is now available to state that there are leaders in cyber activities. We know that China has conducted cyber espionage, the United States has developed multiple computer attack vectors, and Russia is known for at least one 24/7 troll factory. The earliest reference I found to the Internet Research Agency troll farm dates to 2014. This is not to say that the listed activities are exclusive to the respective countries, or that countries known for certain activities do not also carry out other cyber warfare efforts. It simply means that we know that it is happening and that the actors are not all equal.
With those sidebars out of the way, the remainder of this diary will focus on a recent Bloomberg report on the rise of state sponsored trolling around the globe, and how this endangers activists and democracy, alike. As stated above, Russia is a leader in trolling. Now, they are assisting others in developing their own trolling campaigns. Others seem to be gearing up independent troll packs on their own. It’s global, and it’s not going away. The entire piece is well worth reading in it’s entirety. Here are a few excerpts.
They team up to harass, track and imprison journalists.
An anonymous Twitter account capped off the social media manhunt by tweeting a picture of (the journalist) Turfent in custody, handcuffed and haggard. Then (Turkish) soldiers doused the office of his employer, Dicle News Agency, with gasoline and set it ablaze. Turfent remains behind bars.
,,,states and their proxies are hatching new forms of digitally enabled suppression that were unthinkable before the age of the social media giants
People who call out corruption have their lives ruined by lying trolls.
Tina Urso went to bed on April 21 pleased with the small protest she helped organize in London around the visit of Malta’s prime minister. She wanted to call attention to the country’s unusual practice of selling passports to foreigners and the money laundering it has engendered. By the time she woke up, her Facebook feed was deluged with threats of violence and misogynist insults, including the false charge that she ran an escort service. Researchers concluded the attacks were coordinated through private Facebook groups administered by government employees and officials of Malta’s ruling Labour Party
And trolls garner the rewards of government or party from India to Venezuela and Ecuador.
In response to revolutions and social movements launched on Twitter and Facebook, national governments initially censored content, blocked access to social media and used surveillance technology to monitor their citizens. But it turned out to be far more effective to simply inundate the platforms with a torrent of disinformation and anonymized threats—what the researchers dubbed a strategy of “information abundance” made possible by the rapid spread of social media.
“People sometimes worry that Azerbaijan will shut down Facebook,” said Katy Pearce, a communications professor at the University of Washington who has studied the platform's use in that country. “Why would it? Facebook is the most effective tool of control the government has.”
That’s where I will leave it here. Go to the story to read much more on IT CELLS of trolls in India, troll centers in Ecuador, and Penabots in Mexico. Not only do they sow discord and distrust, they also spread malware for spying and tracking. They stir up emotions in volatile situations, with the result that death threats are common, and violence is actually carried out, whether through trolls, troops, or enflamed followers.
Governments and businesses are investing in any form of cyberwarfare that might be advantageous. They are foolish if they do not at least explore the latest technological threats. Trolling is one front in today’s cyber world war. Yes, it is global, and spreading. Fear, bullying, and distrust are on the rise.
The internet can be a tool for justice and democracy. Totalitarians and their minions have procured it for opposite purposes. Individuals and small groups cannot defeat this on their own. We, as individuals must be vigilant, but governments with people who appreciate democracy will be required to fully illuminate the problem, and to combat organized trolls through exposure and regulation. It will be tricky to balance freedom and privacy with trust and security. We must speak out when our own government falters, while acknowledging that the internet as it is needs to be reimagined for trust, access and free expression.