Category: Trolls

cyberattack Cyberwarfare Election Russia Trolls

U.S. knocked Russian troll operation offline on the day of the 2018 midterm election

sudshr47 February 26, 2019

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Russian trolls were awfully quiet during the 2018 Midterms. Now we know that’s thanks in part to a preemptive cyber attack by the United States Military.

According to a report by The Washington Post, U.S. Cyber Command launched its “first offensive cyber campaign against Russia” on the day of the 2018 midterm elections. The cyber attack, backed by intelligence from the National Security Agency, reportedly took the Kremlin-linked Russian troll farm, Internet Research Agency, offline for the day.

Officials say the purpose of the election day operation was to block any possible disinformation campaigns from Russia regarding the Midterm results. Read more…

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Culture Troll Week Trolls Web Culture

8 of the greatest internet trolls of all time

sudshr47 October 22, 2018

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It’s Troll Week on Mashable. Join us as we explore the good, the bad, and the ugly of internet trolling.

The internet is full of trolls — but there’s a special breed of troll that has garnered a reputation for being the best in the game.

Whether it’s on YouTube, Twitter, or in the dreaded comment sections, these masters know how to play the game. In honor of these great heroes, take a look at eight of the best trolls, who are out there doing the internet a great service by just being themselves.

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Brands Culture Social Media Troll Week Trolls

13 of the absolute best and worst brand trolls in recent history

sudshr47 October 22, 2018

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It’s Troll Week on Mashable. Join us as we explore the good, the bad, and the ugly of internet trolling.

Anyone who’s used the internet knows that brands have a complex relationship with trolling.

From restaurant chains and airlines to dictionary social media accounts and more, brands can only resist the urge to troll for so long. When they finally give in, the trolling attempt might end up a surprising success — or a face palm-worthy failure.

A troll has the power to increase respect for the brand and build a positive, lighthearted reputation. But when brand trolls cross the line from online pranking to harassment, or simply miss the humor mark to an embarrassing degree, the backlash can be fierce. Trolls can make or break a brand.  Read more…

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Culture instagram Social Media Trolls Web Culture

The artist behind the ‘Awards for Good Boys’ Instagram isn’t afraid to piss off her trolls

sudshr47 September 27, 2018

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The most online among us have heard the adage. “Don’t feed the trolls,” people say. When someone attacks you online, don’t respond. Don’t engageThat’s what they want.

This is not Shelby Lorman’s approach. The writer and artist, who runs the delightful Instagram account Awards for Good Boys and has a book forthcoming from Penguin Random House, frequently reposts and riffs on DMs from people — usually white men — who feel compelled to weigh in on her work.

Lorman, 24, started the Awards for Good Boys account in 2017. Since then, she’s been posting regular cartoons skewering the “good boy”: the ostensibly “progressive” dude whose shitty treatment of actual people doesn’t dovetail with his performative feminist politics. Read more…

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Bots Donald Trump Donald Trump Jr. Trolls Twitter

Trump and Trump Jr. jump on the false Twitter ‘shadow ban’ conspiracy theory

sudshr47 July 26, 2018

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Nothing brings a father and son together like a conspiracy theory, amirite?

Donald Trump and his lil’ son Jr. have jumped on the false narrative that Twitter is “shadow banning” conservatives. Let’s emphasize, right here, that this is a false narrative that Twitter has explained, and — most importantly — is consistent with the company’s stated efforts to root out trolling behavior. What the de-listing of certain conservative accounts means is that these accounts were behaving like trolls, according to Twitter’s automated behavioral monitoring. Not that Twitter was down-ranking and de-listing people on the basis of their ideology. UGH.  Read more…

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Jack Dorsey Russia Russian Bots Trolls Twitter

Twitter’s new troll filtering might actually prevent more abuse than any ban

sudshr47 May 15, 2018

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Twitter has put its trolls on notice.

On Tuesday, Twitter released promising preliminary results from a test of its new proactive troll filtering tactic. It wanted to see if filtering (but not deleting) content from accounts that exhibited “trolling behavior” could make Twitter more of a platform for conversation and sharing, less an adversarial cesspool. 

Today we are introducing new behavior-based signals into how Tweets are organized and presented in areas like conversations and search

This is to improve the health of the conversation and improve everyone’s Twitter experience.

— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) May 15, 2018 Read more…

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