Please spend a few minutes reading this story about how Russian trolls and bots are sowing seeds of discord in the U.S.
Data collected by the site over the past few months suggests that Russian social media accounts are now regularly seizing on divisive or tragic news to rile up segments of American society.
It’s nefarious, yet ingenious. Who needs tanks when you can just use tweets? Why develop nuclear weapons when all you need is a keyboard?
“Frankly, the United States is under attack,” Coats told the Senate intelligence committee. Adversaries “seek to sow division in the United States and weaken U.S. leadership.”
The intelligence community’s annual threat assessment, also out Tuesday, warns that Russia in particular will use social media “to try to exacerbate social and political fissures in the United States.” The report predicts those attacks are likely to target the upcoming 2018 midterm elections.
Now do me a favor. Start a Lenten “fast” and avoid counting on Twitter and Facebook for your news.
Because you’re being played, comrade.
I had to hit up the Google machine because I had forgotten who the vocalist was for that GoldPal tune.
For that discretion I’ll go listen to the Husker Du catalog.
I hope the Google machine also told you that Richard Thompson plays guitar on that track.
You bet it did.
Here, here, D2! I’m quickly weening myself off the social media teet for that reason and others, which I am drafting in my own blog post on the subject. I witnessed several high school friends going at each other on FB recently and realized how low-stress it is to avoid engaging in such matters. Healthy debate and conversation are one thing, but social media has been poisoned beyond the point of value for me. Guess we’ll have to meet up in person for another beer soon. tc
Good for you, TC. Discourse is dying, discord is growing, but we can opt out of (anti-)social media and reconnect with people in real life.