Notices by Caroline Orr Bueno (rvawonk@newsie.social)

All of this is occurring just as Russian government and propaganda accounts have seen a boost in new followers and engagement on Twitter, thanks to changes made to the platform by Elon Musk — so any disinformation campaigns they launch will have greater reach.

https://weaponizedspaces.substack.com/p/kremlin-twitter-accounts-get-a-boost

Propaganda outlets RT & Sputnik, which together function as one of the major instruments of Russia’s disinformation machine, have been amplifying both sides of the border conflict — a tactic straight out of the disinfo playbook — and promoting the right-wing border convoy in dozens of articles. This is significant because points of major focus on RT & Sputnik don’t just reflect the news cycle — they actually tell us something about Russia’s foreign policy priorities.

Even more interestingly, I searched on Twitter for a #Russian language phrase meaning “Free Texas” — a phrase that is associated with a secessionist movement and was used extensively & almost exclusively by Internet Research Agency accounts — and found more tweets using it in 3 days last week than in the past 3 years combined.

In one particularly notable exchange, one of the accounts promoting the secessionist movement appealed to RT’s editor in chief to create a “resources” platform to “help the freedom-loving people of Texas.” In response, one account suggested sending “weapons” to Texas, to which the OP replied:

“Well, for now informational [weapons].”

Interestingly, RT’s editor in chief has previously referred to RT as an “information weapon.”

And sure, Trump fans may cosplay civil war a lot, but when the governor of Texas is openly defying the federal government, and the former president is calling on states to send their national guards to help Texas stand against the federal government — and 25 states have pledged to actually do so — that’s not cosplay anymore. This is a real threat.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/25-gop-govs-texas-border

NEW: #Russia has jumped into the #Texas border controversy and is now cheering on civil war in the US and promoting the right-wing border convoy. Even more interestingly, I found evidence that disinformation accounts associated with the notorious Internet Research Agency (Russia’s “troll factory”) may be being “reactivated” to promote a secessionist movement in Texas.

My latest:
https://weaponizedspaces.substack.com/p/russia-amplifies-calls-for-civil

One thing that I think a lot of people may be overlooking is that Abbott’s (armed) defiance of the federal government — now backed by Trump and 25 GOP governors — is exactly what right-wing extremists have been waiting for. And training for. I have been writing about this exact situation for 6 years (see below); extremists have been preparing for this day much longer. This is almost biblical for them.

https://americanjournalnews.com/trump-migrant-caravans-armed-militia-violent-extremists/

So, the former president of the United States is calling on states to take up arms to support Texas in its standoff against the federal government. That’s about as close to calling for civil war as you’re going to get without actually saying the words.

This is a situation that could spiral out of control in a heartbeat. I would not assume it’s just bluster. #politics #texas #trump #immigration

For example, conspiracy theorists exploit cognitive shortcuts that make us more likely to believe information when we see it repeatedly, from multiple sources, and from sources within our own social networks. This is why you’ll often see conspiracy theory narratives echoed in nearly verbatim fashion by clusters of accounts. Even when we are talking about utter bullshit, the effects of repetition, familiarity, frequency, and perceived similarity still make information seem more credible.

I wrote about false flag conspiracy theories — like those swirling after the school shooting yesterday —and how conspiracy theorists exploit mental shortcuts that our brains use to process information — essentially hijacking these processes to make people more susceptible to falsehoods.

I hope you’ll give it a read.
#socialmedia #disinformation #psychology
https://weaponizedspaces.substack.com/p/false-flag-conspiracy-theories-go

Conspiracy theorists prey on our cognitive vulnerabilities, but they rely on emotional processes to reel people in and keep them coming back. Conspiracy theories don’t have to be logical or rational or even internally consistent to go viral — they work by creating the *feeling* that something is or even *could be* true, not by convincing people that they actually *are* true.

Something we don’t talk about much, but which I think is important to understand, is that conspiracy theorists — though often carrying out their craft wittingly & deliberately — are also trapped by their own deceit. In order to maintain the alternate reality they’ve sold to their followers, they are bound to a life of spinning evermore lies to account for every piece of new information that comes out.

Sports Illustrated has apparently been publishing AI-generated articles by “authors” who don’t exist beyond their AI-generated photos. This is a much bigger problem than most people realize, and the implications are quite dire — consider, for example, that the same thing is happening in medical and scientific journals (it is). #AI #disinformation #media #socialmedia

https://futurism.com/sports-illustrated-ai-generated-writers

A lot of people ask me about how to identify disinformation and what to do about it — both of which are important questions — but I think the real challenge we’re facing now is: How do we identify truth?

There is no single answer, but I believe the best place to start is to look for the nuance and complexity; this is where truth lives. (Hence why propaganda and disinformation seek to degrade and destroy the very notion of nuance.)

Genetic testing company 23AndMe confirmed that it suffered a data breach in what appears to be a targeted attack on Jews & Chinese people. Hackers have put up for sale 1 million data points about Ashkenazi Jews, plus hundreds of thousands of Chinese users.

The breach allegedly includes celebrities like Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and Sergey Brin. #cybersecurity #databreach #23andme
https://www.wired.com/story/23andme-credential-stuffing-data-stolen/

This follows several years of warnings about the potential vulnerabilities and risks associated with direct to consumer genetic testing companies like #23andme. In 2019, for example, the Pentagon sounded the alarm over home DNA kits, citing concerns that "outside parties are exploiting the use of genetic materials for questionable purposes," including mass surveillance & unauthorized tracking.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/military/pentagon-tells-military-personnel-not-use-home-dna-kits-n1106761

Twice-impeached former president Trump has officially been booked into Georgia’s Fulton County Jail, under Booking Number 2313827. He used a bail bondsman to cover the cost of his $200,000 bond.

We’re desensitized at this point, but this is a huge moment in US history — don’t lose sight of its significance.

Before long, a talking point seeded by a 37-follower account was picked up and blasted across the headlines by right-wing media & fringe-“left” media, becoming the dominant narrative among mainstream & fringe media outlets alike.

(My personal assessment is that the initial account is part of an influence network, and the account’s activity serves as a sort of flag or traffic sign for others in the network. This is common in political “war rooms.”)

Several temporal trends also emerged as possible indicators of inauthentic/coordinated activity, including the spacing of the initial tweets & the time frames for subsequent tweets, with a disproportionate number of tweets posted during certain blocks of time (eg, 8-10pm)

The accounts also engaged in a lot of co-tweeting & co-retweeting — a pattern that is present in **74% of influence campaigns.**

After analyzing the sample of 200 tweets, I found a lot of indicators of coordination and possible inauthentic activity, including repetition of text, imagery, & video — with one particular video appearing in at least 10% of sampled tweets/QT’s —as well as recycled content from previous fires, and from previous disinformation campaigns surrounding “directed energy weapons.”

Information laundering and recycling is extremely common in disinformation campaigns.