In today's #vatnik soup I'll discuss different content types used for disinformation and propaganda. Narratives can be made much more powerful when the stories are supported by several types of media. A simple example of this is a news story that is complemented with images.
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Some medias are extremely simple to produce, whereas others require extensive skill set ranging from video editing to highly sophisticated AI algorithms.
I'll introduce them briefly, starting with the simplest one.
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1) Short-form text: This could be a FB/IG post or a tweet without any additional context. People often use excerpts from speeches that are taken out of context or just tell outright lies.
Fake tweets can also be factored with various online generators.
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After Elon introduced the blue check mark there were (and still are) various fake and parody accounts posting silly and not-so-silly tweets.
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2) Audio:Audio editing is a pretty straightforward procedure and can be done with free editing apps such Audacity.I consider audio being the weakest medium for disinformation, as people often lack the attention span to listen to long conversations without visual information.
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3) Fake news articles: These articles have been a staple of disinfo scene since the early 2000s. Blogs such as InfoWars,Gateway Pundit,Natural News & Grayzone are so called "super spreaders" of disinfo, and they are often the starting points for successful disinfo campaings.
6/13
Disinfo spreaders often claim columns and/or opinions as news and spread them as such. After their publishing, fake news are then spread by troll farms and useful idiots which makes the whole process seem organic:
4) Photos:Photos can work on their own or they can be used to complement short-form text or fake news articles. Photo editing can be extremely simple, like for example flipping the image to appear different, or extremely complex, for example when detailed information like...
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... swastikas or nazi flags are edited to the image. Debunking of fake images has been ineffective,as these fakes are still making rounds years after they were debunked.
Another common tactic is to simply change the context of the image: ...
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... if it has Russian nazis, just claim that they are actually Ukrainian. Military photos from Ukraine or Syria from 2014-2016 are often re-shared with a different context.
5) Videos: Fake videos are extremely powerful disinfo tool out there - based on a study by Sundar et al. (2021) almost 60% of participants considered the fake video they saw to be real and 80% would've shared it to their peers on social media.
At the beginning of the conflict, the information coming from the battlefields was scarce, thus several attempts at producing fake videos were made. In March and April, several fake videos from video games appeared online. The video below (with added audio) is one of those.
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Twitter removed the last part:
In the near future, most videos will be produced with deepfake technologies. In deepfakes, actors appearing in videos can be replaced with others. One example of this was the fake video where Zelenskyy urged his countrymen to surrender.
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In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll discuss two events, Rescue the Republic and Rage Against the War Machine, that are being held during the last weekend of September 2024 in Washington DC. Both of these events promote pro-Kremlin viewpoints and platform many prominent vatniks.
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Rage Against the War Machine is being organized for the 3rd time, although the 2nd installment, “Defeat the Deep State”, was cancelled, probably due to low interest. The event was organized by the Libertarian Party, a US political party that was recently hijacked by vatniks.
2/11
Both events are co-organized by craniosacral therapist/chair of the Libertarian National Committee, Angela McArdle, who was leading the Libertarian Party takeover in 2022 and turning it into an extension of Trump’s MAGA Republicans:
In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll introduce an American social media personality, Tim Pool (@Timcast). He’s best-known for being funded by the Kremlin, his right-wing media empire, his connections to several American conspiracy theorists, and for his cool beanie.
1/23
Tim Pool rose to fame during the 2011 Occupy Wall Street protests, which he livestreamed together with a former realtor, Henry Ferry. He was one of the pioneers of doing livestreams where he also interacted with the audience and even let them direct him on the ground.
2/23
Pool’s footage was aired on NBC and other mainstream networks, and Time dubbed him as “the eyes of the movement”. In 2011, Pool described himself as “an activist 100%”, stating that he doesn’t consider himself a journalist. A year later things had changed…
In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll introduce an American politician, Jill Stein (@DrJillStein). She’s best-known for her visits to Moscow, bids for the US presidency, blaming of NATO for the war in Ukraine, and for her inability to condemn Vladimir Putin as a war criminal.
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Stein’s background is in medicine, and she graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1979. During the 90s Stein turned to activism and subsequently received various environmental awards for her work. Stein began her political career by running for governor of Massachusetts...
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...in 2002, but only got 3,5% of the total vote. Her following campaigns were also massive failures, and the only election in which she managed to secure a seat was the local legislative body in Lexington. But that didn’t stop Jill, as in 2012 she decided to run for...
In today’s #vatniksoup I’ll introduce a Russian filmmaker, Anastasia Trofimova. She’s best-known for her latest controversial documentary “Russians at War”, and for working as a producer for Russian state-funded media outlet RT.
1/19
Soft power has been part of the Kremlin’s hybrid warfare for a long time. It refers to the “ability to get what you want through attraction rather than through coercion” and which can “be cultivated through relations with allies, economic assistance, and cultural exchanges.”
2/19
Russia has been using soft power to sow division and distrust in the West for decades. Documentaries like Ukraine on Fire offer a revisionist and pro-Kremlin view on what happened in Kyiv and in Ukraine in 2014. It was directed by the Russian master…
In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll discuss why I think it’s important for Ukraine & for Europe that Donald Trump does not become the next president of the US. I’ll share my insights on how Trump has been undermining democracy and supporting authoritarian leaders around the world.
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First of all, I think Trump supports Russia more than Ukraine. Trump has a long history of doing business with the Russians, and he’s even held private meetings with Putin and other high-ranking Russian officials while sharing highly classified information with them.
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In addition, Trump withheld a 400 million aid to Ukraine because Zelenskyy wouldn’t help him dig dirt on the Biden family. He also “watered down” the toughest penalties the U.S. had imposed on Russian entities after Putin annexed Crimea in 2014.
As there's clearly not much to say about the debate other than Trump was deranged and he'd clearly abandon Ukraine and appease Russia, I'm just gonna post the best memes and posts about the whole thing.