Like donuts, rage farming content is *designed for dunking.*
To get the perfect dunk, big accounts share the content w/their followers.
Thus, they also get rewarded w/engagement for perpetuating the cycle.
The only winning move is not to play.
Did you Quote Tweet a political ad?
You just donated free advertising.
Would you contribute a particular politician?
No? Then don't QT.
Well, we did it. We got rage farmed into amplifying a disgraced toxic politician into a busy news cycle.
Next step? He'll claim censorship & that he's under attack by democrats.
Then fundraise.
This is an entirely predictable playbook.
Step 1: Everyone watch this bad thing he did!
Step 2: We must drop everything & condemn him.
Step 3: Here's more bad things he did!
Step 4: Wait, why does his stuff drown out things we care about?
Meanwhile, all Twitter's algorithm hears is "SHOW US MORE OF HIM!"
"So, should we ignore it when politicians say extreme things?"
No. We're in dark place & need to fight it.
But we must be smart, especially on Twitter.
That means learning how algorithms 'hear' us.
And making sure we aren't baited into inadvertently platforming our opponents.
Whomever cooked up his rage farming knew exactly what they were doing.
Predictably, he followed up by amplifying critical coverage in the WaPo that... included his video.
Of course, people angrily Quote Tweet that, too.
And so he's done it. And we've helped at every step.
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#Paragon's carefully constructed image of being a clean mercenary spyware company that wasn't susceptible to abuses has been replaced by a more familiar tale of...
Abuses...
And #Italy is now saddled with an unfolding crisis around spyware abuse.
VPN advertising is the most common source of security misinformation that I encounter.
By far.
So many people misplace their trust in dubious consumer VPN products.
The industry is a scourge.
VPNs don't do most of the things that podcasters imply they do.
Security:
Coffee shop attacks on unencrypted logins are a thing of a decade ago.
VPNs won't stop even the dumbest spyware & phishing.
Privacy:
Advertisers still know it's you when you turn on a VPN... they use many other identifying signals from your device, like your browser & advertising IDs. Those don't change when you turn on a VPN.
Trust:
A lot of VPN companies are shady.... and the industry is consolidating fast around some questionable players with concerning histories.
When you turn on a VPN you entrust all of your data to those companies.
BREAKING: NSO Group liable for #Pegasus hacking of @WhatsApp users.
Big win for spyware victims.
Big loss for NSO.
Bad time to be a spyware company.
Landmark case. Huge implications. 1/ 🧵
2/ In 2019, 1,400 @WhatsApp users were targeted with #Pegasus.
WhatsApp did the right thing & sued NSO Group.
NSO has spent 5 years trying to claim that they are above the law.
And engaged in all sorts of maneuvering.
With this order, the music stopped and NSO is now without a chair.
3/ Today, the court decided that enough was enough with NSO's gambits & efforts to hide source code.
Judge Hamilton granted @WhatsApp's motion for summary judgement against the #Pegasus spyware maker.
The judge finds NSO's hacking violated the federal Computer Fraud & Abuse Act (#CFAA), California state anti-fraud law #CDFA, and was a breach of contract.
What happens next? The trial proceeds only on the issue of resolving damages stemming from NSO's hacking.