New life of old propaganda
Ten years ago almost nobody knew who these Internet trolls and how much they can be used to affect the consciousness of the average person. However, the Russian government always spends a lot of time and money on spreading propaganda, brought this kind of network blackmail to a whole new level. It is on the territory of the Russian Federation for the first time guessed to collect «trolls» into one group, which is professionally used social tactics of provocation to influence public opinion.
In 2013, the world learned about the existence of the so-called «Troll factory«. Behind this moniker hides the company Agency Internet research (FIA) associated with close to Vladimir Putin the businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin. Up to a certain point, no one suspected the extent of its activities. However in 2014 the portal BuzzFeed published an article in which he described how a «Troll factory» impact on society. After another 2 years, this threat reached its peak, transforming it into organized information terror.
Virtual war
Darren outside linville and Patrick Warren gathered 2973371 publications related to «trolls», with the help of advanced SOFTWARE. Photo: statista
In our days the existence of Internet trolls knows almost every inhabitant of the United States. The intervention in the presidential elections of 2016 have demonstrated that ppci is a huge threat to the national security of the United States of America. The team of the special Prosecutor Robert Mueller, who are investigating «Russian Affairs» found evidence linking the Academy to the cyber attacks on us government and several months ago was charged with her 13 employees. However, until recently no one really knew about the strategy and methods used by modern Internet terrorists.
In order to change this situation, 2 professors from Clemson University (South Carolina) has collected nearly 3 million tweets related to the Agency’s Internet research. They classified them according to certain groups that gave the opportunity to understand what emphasize «trolls». Darren outside linville and Patrick Warren gathered 2973371 publications related to «trolls», using advanced software, which allows you to track activity on social networks. They hope that this database will help in the fight against the spread of misinformation and lies on the Internet.
The analysis demonstrates which areas developed by the staff of the Academy, which now exceeds 400 people. The experts also failed to allocate temporary peaks of activity of Internet trolls. The overall picture is as follows.
The impact on American society
One of the highest peaks of activity began date 6.10.16. Following this «blip» was recorded in the summer of 2017. Photo: FTE
As expected, one of the busiest periods for the Academy began October and November 2016. At this point, the election campaign in the United States reached the finish line, and the Russian «trolls» regularly attacked «Twitter». One of the highest peaks of activity began date 6.10.16. Why this day? Because on October 7 the website WikiLeaks has published damaging information concerning Hillary Clinton. Following this «blip» was recorded in the summer of 2017, when the Agency switched its attention to the problem of immigrants in the United States. During this period the staff of the Academy played the role of so-called «right-wing trolls«, mimicking the activity of the supporters of trump and speaking on their behalf. The goal was clear — to increase the degree of aggression in American society for greater internal political problems.
First, scientists have identified all non-English tweets in a separate group. They were more than 837 thousand Further employees of Clemson University distributed the posts in English on several types, depending on their content or other characteristics.
Troll Russian and its variants
The peak activity of the «left-wing trolls» who associate themselves with the Democrats roughly equal to the rate of pseudoscience trump. Photo: FTE
In General, the collected database of tweets demonstrates that «trolls» are most often resort to the «right» method, but also mimic the activity of the supporters of other political views. For example, the peak activity of the «left-wing trolls» who associate themselves with the Democratic party, approximately equal to the same value of pseudosciences trump. However, it is worth noting: the number of anti-liberal tweets a lot more (719 thousand) than those who supposedly shares the position of the Democrats (427 thousand)
In addition, the accounts associated with the Academy, regularly post information relevant to any American news (599 thousand). Experts believe that thus the Russians are trying to exert «soft influence» on U.S. citizens and to explore their political attitudes. Quite a different situation with tweets-horror stories (11 thousand). It was a fake news, which are designed to spread panic in society and to undermine the credibility of the media. One of the striking examples is the story of a Turkey infected with Salmonella. This news came on the eve of thanksgiving and quickly spread among American users.
In addition, the Internet trolls are actively looking for hashtag games. It is kind of fun on the social network Twitter in an entertaining format that sometimes leads you to unexpected information. Despite the seemingly innocuous format, the Russian «trolls» intelligently woven into this game conflict themes. The number of such tweets is quite large — 241 thousand
Experts in cyber security have noted that Russia is using «factory Troll» as Internet terrorists. They undermine the credibility of the media, to aggravate the situation in society and share it. In addition, the Agency Internet research may be only one of many organizations working in the field of network propaganda. This means that the United States should not only build a strong and effective cyber defence, but also to learn to identify these organizations before they can cause significant damage to national security.
