John Scott-Railton Profile picture
Jun 20, 2022 9 tweets 3 min read Read on X
Just saw a wild armed politician video?

Felt a strong need to Quote Tweet?

That's because YOU are the target audience.

You're helping this person enter the news cycle.

Stop it.

Here's how: Quote Tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

Better yet, focus elsewhere. Image
Your angry engagement is depressingly predictable.

Twitter doesn't know that a Quote Tweet means you disagree!

Politicians know this, and use it.

Your amplification signals to algorithms & traffic hungry editors that the person is relevant.

You are gifting them more exposure.
Our enemies are Rage Farming us to victory.

Here's what you can do to fight the urge, right now.

With @MollyJongFast & @mehdirhasan
Full:
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. Image
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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More from @jsrailton

Mar 19
NEW: French sailor reveals position of aircraft carrier with his fitness app.

Run tracking app @Strava shows Charles de Gaulle as it steams across the Med.

#stravaleaks strike..again!

Story by @lemonde. 1/ Image
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2/ The massive OPSEC threat posted by fitness apps isn't just well known. It keeps happening.

I first wrote about it in...2018!

Hostile forces can use #Fitleaking for intel gathering, planning attacks...even targeting missile strikes.

Receipts: web.archive.org/web/2022081919…Image
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3/ Poor Arthur. But this is an institutional signal that, ~8 years in, militaries are still allowing enough location-aware devices in that it's a big threat.

Incidentally, the @lemondefr team has now been on the #stravaleaks issue for 3 years! I

It just keeps happening.

By @AsiaBalluff @seb_bourdon @liselottemas @antoineschirer
lemonde.fr/international/…Image
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Read 7 tweets
Mar 11
UPDATE: @Plaid for AI happened faster than I warned.

We are in a historic transformation around AI agents.

Disruption will extend to the core of your privacy.

Companies know the appeal of agentic AI & are working to lock consumers into ecosystems designed to maximize data extraction.

It's not too late, but it might be soon.

But the thing about transformative moments is that new possibilities often open simultaneously with the risks.

We need to build, experiment with & use good private + open AI tools, local models that respect privacy by default & confidential inference that prevents companies from mining the data they process.

Do that & give us a fighting chance for future that respects our freedom, and our boundaries.

Sleep on the challenge of building openly & we relinquish the playing field to the same companies and dynamics that already degrade our autonomy...only faster & everywhere.Image
2/ What's the deal with @Plaid?

I find people are dimly aware about something involving connecting banking accounts.

I bet you don't know that Plaid helps themselves to mountains of your financial data in exchange for the convenience.Image
3/ Basically, by providing 'rails' @Plaid has managed to get an absolutely gods-eye-view on peoples financial behavior.

In real time.

That data is available to other companies. And governments.

You are the product.Image
Read 5 tweets
Mar 10
BREAKING: powerful iPhone hacking tools used by Chinese criminals originated from US defense giant L3 Harris.

The $LHX zero-click exploits went to Russian spies too.

Unbelievable harm to our collective security.

Scoop by @lorenzofb, here's why this matters 1/Image
Image
2/ Last week, the team @google blew open a massive hacking operation: #Coruna.

A Chinese hacking operation somehow had a huge catalogue of very, very good iPhone exploits stealing banking information from people all over the web.

Hard to overstate how bizarre this was...Image
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3/ Thing is, the powerful #Coruna exploits didn't originate with Chinese cybercriminals.

Some months before they were used by #Russian government hackers.

But before that? Well, as @Google Threat Intel described it, it was being used by a customer of a surveillance company...

Report cloud.google.com/blog/topics/th…Image
Image
Read 16 tweets
Feb 27
YIKES: @perplexity_ai is flexing that they have OS-level access to 100M+ Samsung S26s.

Zero mention of:

Privacy
Security
Encryption

What will Perplexity do with this growing stash of personal data from deep inside Samsung phones? What jurisdictions will it live in? Who will it get shared with?

Here's the thing: Android's current security & privacy model involves sandboxing 3rd party apps from each other. TikTok can't read your private notes, for example.

Sandboxing is good & it narrows the attack surface against your private stuff.

But this #Perplexity integration breaks that baseline sandbox model, making a kernel-adjacent data bridge for Perplexity into your personal stuff.

Will users understand the structural shift in privacy?

Meanwhile, the risk of prompt injection & other attacks against an agentic AI that has OS-level access to personal stuff is also real.

Lots of speed, no signs of caution.Image
2/ Multiple agents & flows each with their own distinct security & privacy issues and levels of OS-level access to private stuff.

I doubt users have the cognitive spare room to parse privacy & security downsides each time they want to ask a question.
3/ Unprecedented access means @perplexity_ai is taking unprecedented security measures.

And has thought hard about user consent & protecting their privacy...right?

Right? Image
Read 4 tweets
Feb 24
BREAKING: US just sanctioned a network of exploit brokers trafficking in stolen US hacking tools

First-ever use of #PIPA (Protecting American Intellectual Property Act) by @USTreasury.

Here's the wild backstory of how @opzero_en got US-taxpayer funded exploits. 1/ Image
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2/ Peter Williams was an exec at Trenchant, subsidiary of @L3HarrisTech / $LHX.

Trenchant makes hacking tools for 🇺🇸US & allies.

Williams sold them to @opzero_en & bought nice things.

Result? Powerful 🇺🇸 capabilities got into hostile hands.
Image
@L3HarrisTech @opzero_en 3/ Operation Zero is a zero-day broker. They pay bounties for exploits in tech (much of it 🇺🇸US-made).

Then resell to non-NATO governments & intel agencies.

They aren't secretive. They even advertise here on X. Image
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Read 11 tweets
Feb 18
BREAKING: It started with WhatsApp messages.

They said they were students & tried to build rapport with Angolan journalist Teixeira Cândido.

Then the links began arriving.

Someone was trying to hack him with #Predator spyware.

New bombshell investigation by @AmnestyTech 1/Image
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2/ Heard of Pegasus? #Predator is a somewhat sloppier cousin.

They don't always have the hottest zero-click exploits, but they market to the same dictators.

And once you are infected, the harm is just as real: your digital life is turned inside-out.Image
3/ Predator spyware, which is distributed by #Intellexa, has a massive abuse problem.

And this latest excellent investigation by @AmnestyTech just drives home how much chaos the company has caused...
Read 11 tweets

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