Thread by @DucuGavril

🧵 Reflexive Control: The Mindtrap Weaponized Online

Reflexive Control isn’t a buzzword. It’s a mindtrap — engineered to hijack your decision-making.

Not just lies. Not just propaganda.

Reflexive Control turns your own logic against you.

Russia perfected it — and deployed it online.



#Disinfo #CognitiveWarfareijoc.org/index.php/ijoc…

Reflexive Control was born in the Cold War.

Soviet theorists figured out they didn’t need to force decisions —
They just had to shape the premises behind them.

Make the enemy believe the false thing you want them to believe, by letting them “reason it out” themselves.

In 2014, Russia’s Internet Research Agency (IRA) ran this play on Twitter during the Donbass conflict.

Accounts like @coldwar20_ru posed as news

Fake sites. Coordinated tweets

They distorted the war by flooding platforms with strategically shaped content

Not random — surgical

@coldwar20_ru The modern version ran on a 4D playbook:

Dismiss opposing views as fake or unclear
Distort reality with falsehoods + emotional bait
Distract with irrelevant but viral drama
Dismay the target — wear them down, demoralize

It’s not about truth. It’s about confusion and control.

@coldwar20_ru And here’s the trick: they don’t ask you to believe.

They push content that makes you feel like you discovered the “truth.”

They hijack your sense of reason.

You walk into the trap thinking it was your own idea.

That’s reflexive control. Not deception — manipulated reasoning.

@coldwar20_ru IRA’s sock puppet accounts didn’t just lie — they built credibility.

Used hashtags like #StopUkrainianArmy, links to fake news sites, @mentioned real journalists.

They grew massive followings fast.

Why? Because you trust what looks popular and familiar.

@coldwar20_ru @mentioned That’s the vulnerability.

People don’t fall for lies because they’re dumb — they fall because the lie feels native.

The account looks real. The take feels “balanced.”

The tweet was retweeted by 12,000 others.

It doesn’t feel like manipulation. Until it is.

@coldwar20_ru @mentioned Want to spot reflexive control in the wild? Watch for:

🔸 The same URL spammed across accounts
🔸 Emotional framing (outrage, betrayal, shame)
🔸 Fast follower growth from anonymous “news” handles

@coldwar20_ru @mentioned 🔸 Coordinated hashtag use that shifts meaning midstream

If it feels too conveniently viral, check again.

@coldwar20_ru @mentioned How to resist?

Don’t fight the content — question the framing.

Check where links go. Who runs the site?
Search who follows the account. Are they real?
If a take feels too obvious, ask who benefits from you believing it.
Don’t react fast. Reflexive control needs your impulse.

@coldwar20_ru @mentioned You can’t block your way out of disinfo. But you can out-think it.

Reflexive control only works if you don’t know it’s happening.

Now you do.

Stay aware. Stay critical. Stay human.

And whatever you do — don’t let them think for you.

#Disinfo #ReflexiveControl