
FBI agent accidentally reveals own 8chan posts - nailer
https://ceinquiry.wordpress.com/2019/06/17/fbi-8chan/
======
oceanplexian
What's interesting is that this poster, supposedly an FBI agent, is pushing an
anti-Russia narrative in his other posts. Kind of ironic that the same
organization that claims Russia is manipulating social media is doing exactly
the same thing themselves.

~~~
luckylion
I've rarely heard an argument from anyone that manipulating people,
influencing election outcomes etc via social media is bad. It's bad because
the Russians are doing it to them - it's okay if they are doing it to others.
The same goes for military invasions under false pretenses, corrupting
politicians, large scale spying and whatever else you can think off. Very few
people have a moral problem with the actions, they have a "hey, this doesn't
benefit me" problem.

~~~
akhilcacharya
It’s fundamentally different for a hyperpower to do this versus a failed
superpower. There is no comparison and as an American it’s in our best
interest to utilize our cultural and military hegemony for the best of our
interests.

So yes, you’re right but I don’t see it as a bad thing at all.

~~~
stareatgoats
> _it’s in our best interest to utilize our cultural and military hegemony for
> the best of our interests_

It is one thing to (through analysis) arrive at the conclusion that people and
states don't live up to the ideals of the Golden Rule [0]. It is quite another
thing to openly support the idea that the rich and powerful _should_ use their
power to further their own interests at the expense of others. Suffice to say
that the latter puts you on a different trajectory than the collective body of
religious and political thinking since time immemorial, western and eastern
alike. Just sayin'.

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Rule](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Rule)

------
tbirdz
How can we differentiate between this agent making these postings as an
official part of their FBI duties, or making these posts for their own
reasons? I know that the screenshots imply that they made these posts while
performing their duties, but well I'm at work right now when I'm making this
HN comment, and that doesn't mean that my employer instructed me to make this
comment.

Is this sanctioned forum sliding, or just a bored government employee
shitposting when they're supposed to be working?

~~~
292355744930110
Why would screenshots of his personal browsing be used for the court case?

------
salawat
Once again, just leaving this here.

[https://cryptome.org/2012/07/gent-forum-
spies.htm](https://cryptome.org/2012/07/gent-forum-spies.htm)

It has been posted before, but a day can't seem to go by without new people
being taken by surprise that this type of thing happens.

Information is power, and there are many people in high places that realize
it. A modest investment in keeping an eye on your opponent, and ruffling
feathers on line is the new border skirmish or airspace invasion.

If you have an odd feeling in the back of your head that _someone_ or
_something_ is actively making it more difficult to discuss something without
disruption, distraction or usurpation of the public forum; odds are that is
exactly what is happening. If it isn't your platform, and it's big enough to
attract a large audience, then it becomes increasingly likely somebody else
has been bothered to implement some sort of filter.

Is it good, bad, or indifferent? That I leave to the reader's sensibilities.
However, in my opinion, there is a growing trend brought about by a tendency
for increased centralization where this type of "forum engineering" is
increasingly valuable to nation-state actors. Be careful out there folks, and
double check your information consumption. The Signal can't be stopped, but it
can be made hard to find through all the equivocation.

------
dooglius
...or the agent isn't the person who took the screenshot. Screencaps of
deleted threads are common on chans and it's more likely they got one of those
than the original.

~~~
s9w
If you dig into other discussions about this (the chans were all over this
last night) then there are other images that show entire discussions being
faked by single IDs. It doesn't guarantee the FBI was behind it themselves,
but the evidence is manufactured.

------
s9w
My own post on this was deleted in less than two minutes
([https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20200354](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20200354)).
Hopefully this will stay.

This is extremely important as this topic was cheered on very recently
([https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20186775](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20186775)).
As it turns out the "evidence" was bullshit.

~~~
qazpot
There is certainly a strain of leftist totalitarianism prevalent on HN, which
suppresses any news not in sync with their "we good, they bad" world view.

~~~
0815test
> a strain of leftist totalitarianism

A strain of leftist totalitarianism which - as it turns out - originally came
about as a result of Russian (well, Soviet, but still) political interference.
Isn't that deliciously ironic? Of course the memetic infection has been self-
propagating for a _very_ long time, also merging with other strains
originating from e.g. Maoist China at the peak of the Cultural Revolution.
It's a bit like a zombie invasion which has no _real_ underlying goals of its
own besides memetic success - but the Russian propaganda component was
definitely there originally!

~~~
mooseburger
No it's not, that started around 2010 with the Great Awokening. It's being
driven by the mainstream media:

[https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1133440945201061888.html](https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1133440945201061888.html)

~~~
taurath
Missing from this post - a source and also the total num of articles used as
source data. I’d bet that the number of articles in general have increased by
a lot.

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cwtpk
It's a tradition in irc to call someone a "fed". This just legitimates it, :P

~~~
faissaloo
We just call 'em glows

------
fallingfrog
“CIA Supervisor: Jesus Fucking Christ. What did we learn, Palmer?

Palmer: I don't know sir.

CIA Supervisor: I don't fucking know either. I guess we learned not to do it
again. I'm fucked if I know what we did.

Palmer: Yes sir, it's hard to say.”

-Cohen Brothers, Burn After Reading

------
ForHackernews
...or they got the screenshots from somebody else posting in the thread who
tipped them off.

If an FBI agent introduces a bag of coke as evidence, that doesn't mean it's
her cocaine.

~~~
yasp
If the agent didn't retrieve the screenshots himself when he easily could have
wouldn't that be easily dismissable evidence since the screen grabs could have
been falsified in some way?

~~~
benburleson
That's a great point. Someone else could have even modified the page content
before taking the screenshot, which would make the modifications undetectable.

It seems like the agent has to claim he took the screenshots himself;
otherwise, they are worthless as "evidence."

~~~
vageli
> That's a great point. Someone else could have even modified the page content
> before taking the screenshot, which would make the modifications
> undetectable.

> It seems like the agent has to claim he took the screenshots himself;
> otherwise, they are worthless as "evidence."

Exactly. Evidence requires a chain of custody otherwise it is worthless.

------
marsrover
Not exactly related but how often do you think some form of radicalization
happens due to these forums? I don’t visit so I am not sure but it seems like
these places are a breeding ground for violence.

~~~
akhilcacharya
I would personally pin the blame on the YouTube recommendation algorithm and
the Chans first due to their natural tendency for extremism, even if some of
it or even most of it is ironic.

The fact that the Tree of Life shooter posted to Gab before his attack is no
accident. He wanted to radicalize others.

~~~
Nasrudith
I take a view as a paraphrase Sid Meier's Alpha Centuari "Evil lurks onlibe as
it has lurked in the streets but it never was the streets which were evil."

Gab is significant because its niche was essentially "Twitter for bigots who
are too stupid to dog-whistle." It is the community that is the problem.

------
anon209e9c64
I've always suspected the chans were full of feds, the toxic speech functions
as obfuscation allowing for open discussion of sensitive subjects.

~~~
0815test
Didn't Qanon explicitly self-identify as a "fed"? So it's not exactly news
that feds too like to shitpost on the *chans - arguably, they can shitpost
better than anyone!

~~~
misterprime
I'm a sniper with 90 confirmed kills.

I wrote it. Is it true?

------
RickJWagner
I miss the days of a squeeky-clean FBI (at least the image.)

These days we seem to be getting the X-Files version of the bureau.

------
jammygit
On the topic of fake news and disinformation, what would one do to determine
whether this post is disinformation or fake news? Most of the sources cited
are to websites I’m unfamiliar with.

Is there an easy way to verify?

------
chayesfss
Wonder how many are posting in this thread

------
dzhiurgis
I feel some of the agencies mentioned will comment here as well...

Kinda feel someone already did...

------
qazpot
It seems like Russia is USA's boogeyman. Every time, the establishment want
people to believe some narrative they use Russia. Conservatives used Russia
and communism throughout the cold war. Surprisingly, so called leftists are
doing the same from 2016 onwards, blaming russian influence because their
choice of candidate did not win.

~~~
notfromhere
You don't need to be a leftist to think the Russian government played a role
in influencing the U.S. presidential election when it engaged in a hacking
campaign against a candidate.

~~~
DataWorker
Can you point to some examples of conservatives who think Russia got Trump
elected? If anything, it seems like our news media’s obsession with Trump had
a larger role in getting him elected. They gave him nearly 24/7 coverage, and
continue to give him that same focus even today.

~~~
notfromhere
Amash? There are lots, just because the party apparatus is all about the Trump
train, doesn't mean conservatism is solely defined by fealty to him.

------
trpc
Taxpayers money well spent

------
mikemoka
All those Putin memes you might find are not accidental either and came
earlier..Russia has a long history of this
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_web_brigades](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_web_brigades)

~~~
Valmar
Some classic Whataboutism right here. Smells like a desperate attempt at
deflection to me.

"FBI? But - but - Russia!"

~~~
hprotagonist
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/And_you_are_lynching_Negroes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/And_you_are_lynching_Negroes)

------
hallihax
It's been pretty obvious from day 1 that the whole xenophobic anti-Russian
scaremongering was being inauthentic and confected.

It's all just noise. There's no substance to any of it - just vague
circumstantial nonsense and wild, unsupported allegations.

~~~
Miner49er
Just because the US is doing this doesn't mean that Russia isn't doing the
same. There _is_ evidence they have done it before [1], plus, why wouldn't
they? It's a cheap way and easy way to spread propaganda.

[1] [https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/07/magazine/the-
agency.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/07/magazine/the-agency.html)

~~~
hallihax
I didn't make any comment at all about whether Russia does the same. I assume
that any major power is constantly propagandising its own people, and those of
other countries.

The issue is that this propaganda has become a mainstream news story which is:

1) Endlessly repeated on-air by trusted individuals

2) Almost universally accepted as a truth by politicians and pundits despite
there being zero concrete evidence of any Russian conspiracy

3) Rarely, if ever, challenged by politicians, pundits or guests on any
mainstream news channel.

~~~
Miner49er
Okay, I misunderstood, your message seemed to imply Russia doesn't try to
spread propaganda online.

You're right, it is blown way out of proportion. Russia is most likely doing
it, but yeah, I've never understood the focus on Russia when literally anyone
can, and basically everyone tries to influence US politics, many (like Israel,
or certain media outlets) do it openly.

~~~
hallihax
> Okay, I misunderstood, your message seemed to imply Russia doesn't try to
> spread propaganda online.

I don't really see how anything I said could be construed that way, but ok :P

Sure you're a not a fed yourself? :P /s

