• Please take a moment and update your account profile. If you have an updated account profile with basic information on why you are on Air Warriors it will help other people respond to your posts. How do you update your profile you ask?

    Go here:

    Edit Account Details and Profile

Europe under extreme duress

Gatordev

Well-Known Member
pilot
Site Admin
Contributor
Interesting discussion here about Russian Influence Operations using Twitter . . .

Pre-2016 election (and I think post-2014 invasion), a news organization (I believe it was NPR) interviewed an older Russian man who stated the Russian government had figured out how to deal with and manipulate the Americans. The Russian man was a retired GRU officer (or similar). Naturally, he was short on details, and all he said was the RU government had figured out how to inject strife into the American consciousness (my words). I can't remember if he specifically mentioned social media, but I certainly took it that way if he didn't.

I've always kept that interview, albeit short, in mind as we've progressed though time watching Russian shenanigans.
 

JTS11

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
Candy from a baby.

No doubt. They've been doing this shit for decades, but it's cheaper and easier these days with the nature of how people consume news/media.

They've amped up BLM on the left, and Proud Boys type orgs on the right.

IIRC, the fringe guy who was calling for northern California to secede from the state of CA was an American living in Russia.

There are tons of other examples of how they play dirty pool in the info space, but hopefully we're able to counter proportionately.
 

JTS11

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
Seeing how the far right is tacitly (at minimum) supporting Russia and Putin these days is scary, and IMO lends credence to the "horseshoe theory" of politics.
Yeah, it's weird. There's a small? minority on the far right that somehow believe Putin is a defender of white Christian values. I don't truly understand it, but I think there are certain political/media/religious leaders who are to blame.

The horseshoe theory is real though. Witness RFK Jr's embrace on the far right.
 

sevenhelmet

Low calorie attack from the Heartland
pilot
Yeah, it's weird. There's a small? minority on the far right that somehow believe Putin is a defender of white Christian values. I don't truly understand it, but I think there are certain political/media/religious leaders who are to blame.

The horseshoe theory is real though. Witness RFK Jr's embrace on the far right.

I think some of that is a sign of Russian and/or other outside influence on social media and forums frequented by right wingers. As likely intended, it's been picked up by a lot of folks who apparently have a blind spot in their critical thinking skills, or have no idea what indoctrination looks like. The same types that follow certain public personalities, No Matter What.

It's gotten bad. I used to bee-bop around on a couple of gun forums that I wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole now. Overt racism, pro-January 6th talk, and Russian apologists abound. It's disgusting. No idea what's going on with "Truth Social" and whatever the other FB/Twitter spinoffs are called- I simply refuse to go there.
 
Top