If you've been on twitter (or have watched/listened to U.S. sports shows) lately (where there has been intense political debate), you know there's something different going on in our country.
With Trump saying any athlete (often any African-American athlete) who kneels while the National Anthem plays, is a"son of a bitch", the political debate is reaching a higher decibel as it expands to include a broader audience. Because not everyone is interested in politics, but most everyone watches sports.
Thus, now every American citizen is being forced to take a side.
And while this often emotional debate among Americans continues, there are news reports that Russian hackers are also getting involved:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/27/technology/twitter-russia-election.html
"Twitter, With Accounts Linked to Russia, to Face Congress Over Role in Election"
"SAN FRANCISCO — After a weekend when Americans took to social media to debate President Trump’s admonishment of N.F.L. players who do not stand for the national anthem, a network of Twitter accounts suspected of links to Russia seized on both sides of the issue with hashtags such as #boycottnfl, #standforouranthem and #takeaknee.
As Twitter prepared to brief staff members of the Senate and House intelligence committees on Thursday for their investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election, researchers from a public policy group have been following hundreds of accounts to track the continuing Russian operations to influence social media discourse and foment division in the United States."
Rachel Maddow mentioned a similar point in her show last night (as far as Russian operations to influence social media discourse). However, if you really think about it & admit it, you know it's an effective strategy by the Russians: foment division in a hostile nation (the United States) to weaken it from within. & what better way to weaken a nation & make it less focused than to create divisions among its populace?
"...Mr. Putin also sought to darken the image of the United States, making it a less attractive model for other countries and reducing its international influence, said Mark R. Jacobson, a Georgetown professor and co-author ofa new report on Russian influence operations."
And no platform seems more effective (& accessible) for hackers to "weaponize" against a nation than Twitter.
Mainly, because Twitter makes it so easy for hackers to create multiple accounts. From the same NYTimes article (link above):
"Twitter has struggled for years to rein in the fake accounts overrunning its platform. Unlike Facebook, the service does not require its users to provide their real name (or at least a facsimile of one) and allows automated accounts — arguing that they are a useful tool for tasks such as customer service. Beyond those restrictions, there is also an online black market for services that can allow for the creation of large numbers of Twitter bots, which can be controlled by a single person while still being difficult to distinguish from real accounts."
And I believe it's likely to get worse. Because Trump constantly attacks social-media companies (like Facebook), while at the same time he fights charges of collusion & denies Russian interference in our elections. Therefore, it would follow that the Trump administration wouldn't have enough of an incentive to allow its intelligence agencies to mount an effective digital counterattack, or to even have a defensive position:
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/28/facebook-google-twitter-asked-to-testify-on-russian-meddling.html
"On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump attacked Facebook in a tweet and suggested the world's largest social network had colluded with other media outlets that opposed him. The president has been skeptical of the conclusions of U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia interfered in the election and has denied his campaign colluded with Moscow."
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