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Did Reddit year-end recaps expose Russian interference in Alberta?

https://www.stalbertgazette.com/local-news/did-reddit-year-end-recaps-expose-russian-interference-in-alberta-8223476

Read the full story and comment on stalbertgazette.com

Did Reddit year-end recaps expose Russian interference in Alberta?::Online anti-LGBTQ+ harassment and engaging with small communities are documented foreign interference tactics, but they have so far not been observed in Canada.

25 comments

sbv

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When Reddit’s year end recaps were released — which give statistics on activity for individual subreddits such as top posts and comments — they indicated Russia was the third most common country of origin for users visiting many of these [small subreddits for Albertan towns], causing moderators to rethink what was behind the trolling activity they had contended with a few months before.

I don't think there's any question about the interference campaign existing. At this point the question is about influence. How effective are these trolls?

And what was the second country, and why isn't that a problem?

DaddleDew

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It also suggests that Reddit has been sitting on this data showing signs of foreign interference and just didn't care to do anything about it.

Even_Adder

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That's how much they care about moderation.

bbkpr

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Considering they don't pay moderators, I don't think they do.

HungryJerboa

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Obligatory fuck /u/Spez.

This type of behavior needs to be regulated. Foreign interference isn't acceptable, and if Canada passes the online harms act then the ensuing regulator needs to handle situations like this or at least hand out massive fines for greed and indifference.

KingThrillgore

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Well of course they don't care unless you can make money off it!

As opposed to, I dunno, overseeing community moderation to keep making money off it's golden go--oh, they didn't make any money at all? Spent it all on executive salaries? Wow. How is Reddit still alive?

Zagorath

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I'm guessing it would be America, which is less of a problem because statistically most Redditors are American, and the two countries are diplomatically and socially very close, so a large number of Americans visiting a sub about small Canadian towns is less surprising than large amounts of Russians.

It'd be like if /r/queenstown had Australia as its second-biggest country of origin. Aus and NZ are so closely related (not just geographically, but socioculturally) that you'd expect that to be true, especially given Australia's comparatively large overall population compared to other potential candidates (per capita, you might not be surprised if a country like Tonga or Fiji were even higher, but in absolute terms that would be very surprising).

sbv

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I'm guessing it would be America, which is less of a problem because statistically most Redditors are American, and the two countries are diplomatically and socially very close, so a large number of Americans visiting a sub about small Canadian towns is less surprising than large amounts of Russians.

I guess the question comes down to posting. Is it better for an American to weigh in on issues facing Red Deer, or a Russian? If they're honest, I think either is fine. If they're cosplaying as an Albertan, both are problematic.

Somethingcheezie

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Both are foreign interference. Do you go to random threads of foreign small towns and weigh in. No. These people are politically or financially motivated.

Zagorath

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Do you go to random threads of foreign small towns and weigh in

Random foreign small towns? No. But I might have (when I was still using Reddit) gone to the community sub of a town where I have friends or family living, or where I'm going to visit soon/visited recently. And that sort of thing is far more likely to happen between Canada and America than it is between Canada and Russia.

Badeendje

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AFAIK during the seeding stage trolls try and get engagement. The moment they get people to engage, the game shifts to amplification. That way the people amplified are not the trolls themselves but actual people from the US, allowing them to keep distance from the future misinformation.

Betch

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I'd really like to know that too. US maybe?

sbv

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That's what I'm guessing.

But if there are a bunch of Americans coming to Albertan subs and astroturfing political opinions, I'm not sure that's actually better than Russia.

I don't give a shit if it's an American or Russian who wants to warp our discourse, our political conversations are still getting bent out of shape.

Betch

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Oh absolutely. In no way is it any better, it just adds to it.

It would be good to know what percentage of users/posts were from country #2 and Russia as well.

Shiggles

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It’s a lot more likely a US citizen was raised in/has family in a small Canadian town though.

maynarkh

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And speaks English

homesweethomeMrL

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Russian troll farms work. Period.

DaddleDew

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I noticed that those who were pushing anti BLM, and then anti-mask/anti-vaccine memes suddenly started pushing pro-Russia content the moment Russia invaded Ukraine. They've been around stirring the pot and creating polarizing content to cause disarray for years. And judging by the state of US politics, it has been working.

gravitas_deficiency

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It really boggles my mind that so many people are ready to just categorically dismiss them and their obvious effectiveness. And then there’s the ones who know otherwise, but are playing right into the propaganda intentionally for one reason or another.

fruitycoder

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Propaganda doesn't work on me, I'm too smart, too independent, to principled. Man, why do I have such a craving for <insert fastfood chain here> all of a sudden. /s

Honestly its amazing that people think that corporations are giving hand over fist for advertising that DOESN'T influence people. Or that states are just running massive operations because they thought it might worth it.

8ender

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I find it weirder still that there’s not more public discourse on it in media and politics. Like, this is the country (what’s left of it after the USSR) that for decades was Americas villain, and now they’re actively sowing discord in the country, and no one cares.

If this was the Cold War there’d be entire government agencies dedicated to stopping troll farms.

SoylentBlake

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It FLABBERGASTS me that people get on internet forums knowing anyone could be from anywhere and have ulterior motives and not run everything thru the very basic filter of "qui bono", which is latin for Who benefits? The double tap is "Follow the money."

If the opinions put across lead to a conclusion that politically oppositional countries would find beneficial...guess what...you're talking to someone on their payroll. Or worse, you're talking to useful idiot doing the job for free.

I've called out hundreds of shills over the past few years. Hundreds. The only rational way to look at opinions online is askance.

There's a new word for you, it's personally my favorite, so remember it, use it, love it, spread it, and apply it to the internet. And tell others to do so as well.

deafboy

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Politically opositional country benefits from any conflict. They will back both the clan and antifa, while watching and eating popcorn. Whatever your worldview is, there is an agent using it against you.

federatingIsTooHard

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ah, a dnc shill ;)

SoylentBlake

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Dude, I just ate. Don't make me ..🤢