Vera Bergengruen Profile picture
Sep 15, 2020 7 tweets 4 min read Read on X
Teenagers, some of them minors, are being paid to pump out posts like “Don’t trust Dr. Fauci” and voting disinformation at the direction of an affiliate of Turning Point USA - copying the spam-like like behavior of bots and trolls washingtonpost.com/politics/turni…
“In 2016, there were Macedonian teenagers interfering in the election by running a troll farm and writing salacious articles for money. In this election, the troll farm is in Phoenix.” washingtonpost.com/politics/turni…
This is increasingly the story of 2020: “the scale and scope of domestic disinformation is far greater than anything a foreign adversary could do to us.” washingtonpost.com/politics/turni…
As @LissandraVilla and I wrote in the latest TIME, the greatest threat in 2020 is homegrown as Americans take a page from the Kremlin’s 2016 playbook to weaponize misinformation on social media (especially about voting) to advance their political goals time.com/5887438/trump-…
“2016 was the ‘fake news’ election, but 2020 makes it look like nothing in comparison. This infrastructure...has now become concretized under Donald Trump down to the state level, the city level. It’s the democratization of propaganda.” time.com/5887438/trump-…
Important to note that just like in 2016, a lot of this misinformation targets Black and Latino communities.

This is “the next major barrier to the right to vote...we see it in the same trajectory as a poll tax or a literacy tax,” @andre_banks told me time.com/5887438/trump-…
Laura Loomer’s campaign/“Twitter army” used messaging “squarely targeting Black and Latino voters,” according to an analysis shared with TIME, partly by seeding false claims using the hashtags #JohnLewis, #JimCrowJoe and #BlackLivesMatter time.com/5887438/trump-…

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Vera Bergengruen

Vera Bergengruen Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @VeraMBergen

Aug 5
Frank Carillo, a 66-year-old from Virginia, has been arrested & charged with threatening online to kill Vice President Kamala Harris along with a series of other violent threats against her and others (including President Biden & FBI Director Wray) Image
Amazing: When the feds showed up to arrest him (after threatening to kill VP Kamala Harris, "personally pluck out her eyes" and light her on fire), Carillo seems surprised.

"This is ridiculous, for a comment. I guess I'm gonna need a lawyer." Image
This is part of a recent pattern—online violent rhetoric against public officials has become so normalized that people are shocked (shocked!) when the feds show up at their door for threatening to murder politicians Image
Read 4 tweets
Jun 27, 2023
New: How Prigozhin used Telegram to build an online platform that in just seven months allowed him to morph from an unofficial extension of the Kremlin to a prominent figure with his own online audience & direct channel to the Russian public time.com/6290378/yevgen…
Prigozhin built Wagner in the shadows for almost a decade and was rarely seen in public, denying his connection to the group and even suing news outlets for correctly linking him to Wagner. That all changed abruptly last September. time.com/6290378/yevgen…
Prigozhin used Telegram to circumvent the Kremlin’s state media apparatus, meeting Russians on the platform where they sought uncensored news from the war in Ukraine. https://t.co/7nWs5ojYyytime.com/6290378/yevgen…
Read 7 tweets
May 16, 2023
The CIA launched a new Telegram channel today to recruit Russians who might be willing to provide state info, complete with a cinematic video in the gray tones of a Cold War thriller.

Analysts say there's a glaring flaw: "they're not offering anything." time.com/6280190/cia-re…
The video “goes from grainy sad life in Russia to what–grainy, sad life on the CIA side? Most Russians are suspicious of America & CIA in particular. So associating this with the CIA is only likely to reinforce the belief they’re the ones doing the lying.” time.com/6280190/cia-re…
“Are you a military officer? Do you work in intelligence, diplomacy, science, high technology or deal with people who do?” reads a message in the new CIA video, which ends with both Russian characters deciding to contact the agency on their phones. time.com/6280190/cia-re…
Read 4 tweets
May 15, 2023
NEW: Right-wing doctors who made millions off conspiracies & fake Covid drugs are thriving, setting up new telemedicine schemes & buying $3M mansions.

Families who say they caused their loved ones deaths are still fighting for accountability.

My story on how they got away w/ it
In 2021, I investigated how America’s Frontline Doctors, which despite its name is actually a right-wing political org created to support the Trump admin's reopening push, was making $$ off bogus Covid cures & anti-vax conspiracies. It only got worse.
As the US officially closes the book on the pandemic, many families have remained silent about this aspect of their loved ones’ deaths. Some are embarrassed or reluctant to tarnish their relatives’ memories.

They're much more common than you may think. time.com/6278831/iverme… Image
Read 6 tweets
Apr 13, 2023
From traitor to hero in less than a day. ImageImageImageImage
FWIW, all the facts contradict the emerging whistleblower narrative.

- Teixeira didn’t actually do any whistleblowing - he didn’t expose docs to the public/the press
- He posted docs in group & told them not to share
- His friends in group vehemently deny he’s a whistleblower Image
Read 4 tweets
Apr 13, 2023
"Two U.S. officials confirmed that investigators want to talk to Airman Teixeira about the leak of the government documents to the private online group. One official said Airman Teixeira might have information relevant to the investigation." nytimes.com/2023/04/13/wor…
"Members of Thug Shaker Central who spoke to The Times...who came together over a shared love of guns, racist online memes and video games" is both an incredible and completely predictable line re: a classified intel leak in 2023 nytimes.com/2023/04/13/wor…
"When asked if Airman Teixeira was there and willing to speak, the man said: “He needs to get an attorney if things are flowing the way they are going right now. The Feds will be around soon, I’m sure.” nytimes.com/2023/04/13/wor…
Read 4 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(