Moscow has found better ways to conceal #influence ops, by using harder-to-trace tech, to amplify arguments for #isolationism before #UnitedStates elections, acc/to disinfo experts & #intelligence.
Russian ops are laying the groundwork for what could be a stronger push to support candidates who oppose aiding #Ukraine, or who call for pulling the #UnitedStates back from #NATO & other alliances, US ofcls & independent researchers say.
Investigators say that firms working in the “#Doppelgänger” network —& #Russia’s #intelligence agencies duplicating the tactics— are using the techniques to replicate & distort legitimate #news sites in order to undermine #aid to Ukraine.
These techniques are subtle & far more skillful than what #Russia attempted in 2016, when it made up FB posts or tweets in the names of nonexistent Americans, & used them to fuel protests over #immigration or other hot-button issues.
The result is that much of the original speech is First Amendment-protected — say a member of #Congress [#HouseRepublicans] declaring that resources being sent to #Ukraine should instead be used to patrol the southern border of the #UnitedStates. But the amplification is engineered in #Russia or by #RussianInfluencers.
Angebliche Doppelgänger: Wie viele Putins gibt es wirklich?
Das Gerücht gibt es schon seit Jahren: Russland Präsident Putin soll Doppelgänger seine öffentliche Auftritte wahrnehmen lassen. Zuletzt sollten "Super-Recognizer" verdächtige Bilder untersuchen. Auch sie konnten keine Beweise liefern. Von Wulf Rohwedder.
Elon will have to tell us how a brand new account, with 0 subscribers and 0 followers, can get 5,000 shares of a fabricated and hateful video impersonating the DW in two days without anyone reacting. #Doppelganger @EC_Commissioner_Breton@Ebothorel
Il faudra qu'Elon nous explique comment un compte tout neuf, 0 abo, 0 follo, peut obtenir en deux jours 5.000 partages d'une vidéo haineuse fabriquée usurpant l'identité de la DW sans que personne réagisse. #Doppelganger @EC_Commissioner_Breton@Ebothorel
Retoot ”@francediplo#Russie | Sur la base des investigations de @Viginum_Gouv, la France condamne fermement l’implication du réseau russe Recent Reliable News (#RRN/#Doppelgänger) dans l’amplification artificielle et la primo-diffusion sur les réseaux sociaux des photos des tags d’étoiles de David à Paris.”
Fascinating
“A photographer has been collecting pictures of human "lookalikes" for over 20 years. Spotting an opportunity, scientists recruited several of them to participate in a study. The volunteers provided DNA samples and answered questions about themselves. The researchers found that humans who look alike have similar genetic profiles and even display similar behaviors, such as smoking.” #doppelganger#behavior https://bigthink.com/health/look-alike-genetics-behavior/
Naomi Klein lays it plain on why the left is losing people to the right in her new book ’Doppelganger’:
… when entire categories of people are reduced to their race and gender, and labeled ”privileged”, there is little room to confront the myriad ways that working-class white men and women are abused under our predatory capitalist order, with left-wing movements losing many opportunities for alliances …
All of this is highly unstrategic, because whichever groups and individuals we kick to the curb, the Mirror World is there, waiting to catch them, praise their courage, and offer a sympathetic ear.
The #UAW are on #strike against the #BigThree#automakers. #Biden should be roaring his full-throated support for the strike. Doing so would be both just and shrewd. But instead, the #WhiteHouse is waffling...and if recent history is any indication, they might actually come out against the strike.
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If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
The faux-populism of the Republicans' #Trump wing has killed that strategy. As #NaomiKlein writes in her new book #Doppelganger, #SteveBannon's tactical genius is to zero in on the areas where Democrats have failed key blocks and offer faux-#populist promises to deliver for those voters: