Thread by @SlickRockWeb

Decided 2 display a snapshot of the discussions pro-Kremlin #hamilton68 v1.0 trolls had over the first 23 days of Sept in 2018-2021. We highlight the top 4 relevant words / hashtags used in decreasing shades of blue & 4 relevant words highlighted in red for comparison. #infoOps

Quick refresher on Hamilton68 & the accounts we reverse engineered from the original #Hamilton68 v1.0 dashboard first run by @SecureDemocracy in 2017. We have collected hundreds of troll / bot accounts since 2018 & categorized them in 8 subsets. #infoOps

https://twitter.com/SlickRockWeb/status/1010284464147230720

This wikipedia entry is a pretty good overview of the genesis of the Alliance for Securing Democracy (ASD) @SecureDemocracy first formed in July 2017. The ASD is housed at the German Marshall Fund @gmfus of the United States #infosec #infoOps
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliance_…

Here again is just the wordcloud of the discussions pro-Kremlin #hamilton68 subset of troll accounts were having on @Twitter in Sept 2018. On a side, most of the hundreds of bots (separate subcategories) have since been suspended. Note the decreased use in hashtags over the yrs

Again the wordcloud of discussions on @Twitter for pro-Kremlin #hamilton68 subset of trolls in Sept 2019. On average accts tweeted about 15-30 tweets per day. Note the event specific hashtags at the time but also that things like "nato", "police" and "Ukraine" were fairly steady.

The wordcloud of discussions on @Twitter for pro-Kremlin #hamilton68 subset of trolls in Sept 2020. Consistently sprinkled across these accounts were specific and Kremlin relevant hashtags like #mh17, #whitehelmets, #opcw, #wikileaks, #assange, novichok, Navalny, bellingcat ect..

Again the wordcloud of discussions on @Twitter for pro-Kremlin #hamilton68 subset of trolls in Sept 2021. In 2021 we noted a significant drop off in the discussions about Trump, far less original content & hashtag usage and a new focus on China, Biden, & Covid #infosec #infoOps

Also by 2021 a significant number of these pro-kremlin #hamilton68 trolls had been suspended, deleted and/or changed their user handles or had become completely inactive (no new activity for months). Mentions of Trump significantly less, use of hashtags significantly less .. 1/2

Generation of new content has also fallen dramatically since the 2020 elections & most of the activity is retweeting existing influencers like right-wing pundits, Qanon influencers, white nationalists, anti-vaxxers & other conspiracy theorists. Many accts have gone silent ... 2/2

This does not mean the dangers of pro-Kremlin #disinfo ops are waning or that they are giving up on this strategy of causing division & chaos in western democracies. On the contrary, they are evolving & shifting tactics. More boosting / promoting existing divisive influencers.

Here's a recent thread we did on ivermectin & like hydroxychloroquine from 2020, many pro-Kremlin #disinfo trolls continue 2 amplify and promote these types of conspiracy theorists that are dangerous & can damage health initiatives here in the US. #infoOps

https://twitter.com/SlickRockWeb/status/1441874025534328833

Another example is the strategy of hiring a 3rd party marketing agency like Fazze that in turn tried 2 hire / pay prominent social media influencers 2 spread #disinfo across the social media universe. The idea of course 2 add legitimacy 2 the false message

https://twitter.com/SlickRockWeb/status/1397613480535072770

Here is a little "red" meat on an interesting and fairly recently identified account that was suspended in September I believe. Not sure if the full story has been reported or not so keep an eye out.

Oh and I should note (should have marked the screenshot as false) that the prior screen of a tweet from owhy3 about a thread from Paul Craig Roberts is of course complete rubbish. We (the US) did not create the Covid virus & patent it in 2002. Too many falsehoods so little time.