Russians are meddling in the Democratic primary. Is anyone paying attention?

[tinrobot]

Last week, Facebook revealed details of a new Russian influence operation targeting the 2020 U.S. election. Sticking to the playbook they used in the 2016 presidential election, Russian operatives infiltrated both sides of contentious political debates, seeking to widen the fissures in American society. The operation focused on Instagram and reached roughly 147,000 U.S.-based Instagram users. The efforts concentrated on the swing state of Florida.

Yet unlike 2016, when most Russian activity occurred during the general election, this operation took place amid a heated Democratic primary. This marks a troubling development. Despite all the study of state-sponsored disinformation over the past three years, we still have little knowledge of how a foreign influence operation might affect a crowded and contentious intra-party contest. There is a real danger that Russian interference — and the suspicion of Russian interference — will hang over the primary like a storm cloud, poisoning debate and infuriating progressive activists. It will also offer political ammunition to President Trump, who will use all the instruments of government to exploit it.

This new Russian activity seems destined to reopen old wounds. According to a report from the the data analysis firm Graphika, Russian operatives created fake African American news outlets to tarnish former vice president Joe Biden while boosting the candidacy of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). This is an eerie reflection of Kremlin mischief-making in 2016, when its operatives adopted the same techniques in order to encourage the defection of Sanders primary voters from Hillary Clinton, then the Democratic nominee.

More here:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/10/29/russians-are-meddling-democratic-primary-is-anyone-paying-attention/

[democratisphere]

1. NEVER trust any russians.

NEVER.

[George II]

2. In this day and age, if my mother was Russian I wouldn't trust her. Thankfully she was Canadian....

...and a great American.

[BlueWI]

3. Discussing candidate preferences respectfully

without spamming the board with identical posts or flaming candidates one dislikes - do that, and the bots will starve.

Funny how doing those simple things seem to be more than some of us can do. This article is one more reason to self-regulate and have a sober, fair, and courteous discussion. That should be in the TOS.

[redqueen]

7. Yep. I find myself reminding people daily

to keep in mind that if someone is overly argumentative, they may just be trying to disrupt.

Whether it's trolls or bots or whatever, just stop engaging if discussions turn toxic.

[myohmy2]

4. wow...

"...Russian operatives created fake African American news outlets to tarnish former vice president Joe Biden while boosting the candidacy of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). "
……………………………

"As Sanders rose to Gabbard’s defense (“It is outrageous for anyone to suggest that Tulsi is a foreign asset”), an online chorus accused him of being a Russian asset as well."
…………………………..

...the republicans and their corporate buddies may be using putin and his game to their advantage...

...I don't want to minimize Russian involvement, but this could easily turn into a witch hunt reminiscent of the Red Scare and Commie hunts of the 1950's...

...if we're not careful...

[mopinko]

5. ya know, bernie better grab this shit by the horns.

the one way he could get me to vote for him would be to find a way to do something, like fucking anything, to blow this kind of shit out of the water.
my main beef w him this time was the way he let the russians troll for him, knowing good and god damned well inside the campaign what was happening.
fine, they didnt catch it last time. but damn it, he should have been ready from the get go this time, and he wasnt.
he better catch up fast.

[lostnfound]

6. I canvassed for him last time but I agree with you 100%

He has slipped far down my list precisely because I don’t see much effort to contain the Russian threat. Quite the opposite. So I wonder, who would he pick as a VP candidate?

I also consider Elizabeth Warren to be a more flexible thinker.

[mopinko]

8. he has a unique platform.

and i havent heard a peep from him about his pov on the whole scandal.
he could shift the battle field, but he figures it's working out ok for him, i guess.

and yeah, his mental rigidity is why i lost my taste for him. same speech for any occasion, no matter how weighty.

[maximusveritas]

9. I don't thinks it's that they prefer Sanders, it's just that his voters are easier to incite/defect

as they tend to be on the fringes of the party to begin with and suspicious of the "establishment" and whatnot.
They will probably make claims that the DNC is cheating on behalf of Biden or Warren.