when I first came here, I had disinformation on the mind, in large part due to current events at the time; it was the height of the first wave of the covid pandemic, and The FLOYD Troubles were just beginning. people were agitated, not just naturally either, but due to agitprop
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RT @pee_zombie
we have a winner, folks! @sidbendu has figured it out: the Internet Research Agency is exactly the page I had in mind. some of you may remembe…
https://twitter.com/pee_zombie/status/1441925760277696518
for those unaware, agitprop is a translation or a russian term for agitation propaganda, the practice of disseminating incendiary information for the purposes of fomenting popular unrest, a common practice in the soviet era, practiced against both enemies and vassal states
the purpose was always to destabilize the local regime, disarming a potential enemy, and even potentially allowing the Soviet regime to swoop in and play hero. this was quite a common practice, cementing the terms infamy.
contemporary disinfo campaigns follow in these footsteps
many are vaguely aware of "Russian troll farms", that the Russian intelligence apparatus interferes with English language social media to foment unrest and generally agitate the populace, spreading false and misleading information.
fewer are aware of just how organized this is.
the Internet Research Agency, nominally a, well, Internet research agency, was set up by one of Putin's cronies & directed by the FSB (modern KGB) to infiltrate & disrupt online Western social networks thru the use of social media; commonly referred to as the Trolls from Olgino
they played a major role in many incidents, some common knowledge & many which are not. my intent was to roleplay one of their agents, as a commentary on the tenor of the memetic environment at the time. I outgrew it as a poster, but the IRA remains an important reference point
I hope yall enjoyed playing this lil game with me, allowing me to revisit these memories. I've greatly enjoyed learning and growing with this community, and hope you got something out of this as well.
remember to question everything, especially who it is you're talking to.
they'd identify hot-button topics & vulnerable social groups, plan agitprop campaigns, craft social media personas, & execute by posting thru this network of bot accounts content advancing their goals, whether that was to hamper pandemic response or to fan the ACAB flames