
Is a New Russian Meddling Tactic Hiding in Plain Sight? - crispyambulance
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/25/technology/usareally-russian-news-site-propaganda.html
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crispyambulance
I don't think it's "a meddling tactic" as much as a test platform to
experiment with finding hot-button issues. They're likely tabulating who's
linking to their stories and what's getting traction.

They're not "hiding" the fact that they're Russian either. It makes me wonder
about the analogous current-day misinformation campaigns that the US runs in
other countries. Do they look like this?

[https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/01/podcasts/the-
daily/usarea...](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/01/podcasts/the-
daily/usareally-russia-social-media-election.html)

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Waterluvian
I'm a bit worried that a lot of the evidence for cases of suspected meddling
boils down to, "because they're Russian."

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throwaway5752
Did you read the linked article through the second paragraph, where they start
talking about the evidence? What do you think about FireEye's statement? What
do you think about their behavior - also discussed in the article - about
posting on Reddit? It seems like you can safely ignore that they are Russian
and characterize USAReally's behavior in the same way. When you add in their
location and funding background, that just adds to the case.

edit: I added to my comment before you replied in
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18355858](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18355858),
I think it addresses your point.

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Waterluvian
I'm not stating anything about the overall merit of these suspicions. Just
that some units of evidence that boil down to "because they're Russian" really
ought to hold no weight.

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crispyambulance
Well, it's the "because they're Russian" observation that drew attention to
USAReally. I mean, at first glance USAReally just looks like trashy clickbait
fodder posing as a 3rd rate Fox News wannabee.

It didn't take much (or any) sleuthing to discover that they're Russian
government funded. At that point one has to start asking WTF questions.

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hackeraccount
If it's this easy to swing an election why doesn't everyone do it?

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creaghpatr
Make no mistake, if you weren’t already convinced of it, the end game of the
NYT narrative here is censorship. Doesn’t matter if it’s real people
expressing real views anymore (goal posts notably move from ‘fake’ entities
and troll farms) if it’s feasible you are within several degrees of Putin you
are culpable in defrauding the United States if US citizens are unwittingly
exposed to your message.

Of course, the NYT and others continue to oppose stronger libel laws even
amidst this national crisis.

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Latteland
Back in reality, I don't believe the NYT wants censorship of everyone else
except them. Why is that the end game? It's actually true that foreign
governments placed misleading advertisements to try to impact the US political
process, and they have actually tested different approaches. The NYT reporting
on likely similar practices is not a call to censor everyone but the NYT. Can
you explain how you came to this conclusion?

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debacle
All of this unsubstantiated meddling talk has atrophied my care muscles.

