© AP / Jenny Kane
Data provided by the social media giants showed a web of linked accounts pushing pro-US and anti-Russia narratives.Twitter and Facebook have deleted a network of suspicious accounts said to be involved in "covert influence operations" online, including efforts to promote "pro-Western" sentiment and demonize US adversaries, according to company data analyzed by researchers at Stanford University.Partnering with social media analytics firm Graphika, the Stanford Internet Observatory issued a
report on Wednesday outlining the alleged influence ops, citing datasets provided by both Twitter and Meta, Facebook's parent company.
Between July and August, the platforms removed "two overlapping sets of accounts" for "manipulation," "spam" and "coordinated inauthentic behavior," the researchers said, noting that they had found a similar "interconnected web of accounts" on six other social media sites. The accounts used "deceptive tactics" to "promote pro-Western narratives," and many continued to operate for nearly five years."These campaigns consistently advanced narratives promoting the interests of the United States and its allies while opposing countries including Russia, China, and Iran," the report said, adding that the accounts have "heavily criticized" Moscow in particular. "
To promote this and other narratives, the accounts sometimes shared news articles from US government-funded media outlets, such as Voice of America and Radio Free Europe, and links to websites sponsored by the US military."Though neither Twitter or Meta could say who was operating the accounts, Twitter named the US and the UK as the "presumptive countries of origin," while Meta said the activity was traced back to the United States.
The report also highlighted a
potential link to the US military, as some of the most-followed accounts in the dataset publicly declared some connection to the Pentagon. While those accounts were not identified in the report, a military spokesman
told the
Wall Street Journal that officials would look into the issue.
The inauthentic social media handles often created fake personas using AI-generated profile pictures, and "leveraged" memes, short videos, hashtag campaigns and online petitions - in what the report deemed
"the most extensive case of covert pro-Western [influence operations] on social media" ever seen by independent researchers.However, the data also hinted at the limitations of such campaigns, as the "vast majority" of the hundreds of thousands of posts reviewed for the report
"received no more than a handful of likes or retweets." Moreover, fewer than one-fifth of the accounts in question, or 19%, had more than 1,000 followers before they were removed, suggesting they had little influence.
They have known all along, 'tis a mere distraction for the masses.. We will never get rid of the poopaganda as long as there is any substantial amount of power that needs to look after its own interests.. Everyone does that, always had and always will.
I'm more afraid of Russia and China setting up the worldwide digital Beast system, since Westerners couldn't do it properly if their lives depended on it, thus giving us much greater chance of it all failing one sunny day..
BRICS is not an alternative to world domination, it's just an expansion of it (very crucial too, since they still need to GLOBALIZE and it helps to join these huge populations into the technocratic Internet of Bodies grid.. hence why everyone will be forced to take the vaxx unless sovereign (over 1 billion $ personal wealth) by ANY means necessary.. Ever heard of self-spreading vaccines authorized e.g. in Germany for DECADES already? Chances are we have that poison in us too thanks to the idiots shedding it out of their skin after each booster dose ), also that's why everyone (including Russia) does not haste to end the Ukraine conflict.. They need to bring Europe and America on our knees and shame us like it's the good tradition of secret societies and cults.. and highschool lodges (masonic system at its best).