The Times: Russian trolls are being manipulated by British teenagers

Russian trolls are trying to manipulate the opinion of British teenagers in social networks. About it сообщает edition of The Times, citing American researchers, writes Voice of America.

Фото: Depositphotos

The interlocutors of the newspaper said that the creators of fake accounts on Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Tumblr position themselves as fans of popular literature, movies, as well as supporters of the LGBT movement. They allegedly published misinformation regarding the poisoning in Salisbury of the former GRU Colonel Sergei Skripal and his daughter in early March in Salisbury.

The Times' sources call the actions of Internet trolls "political warfare on an industrial scale." The newspaper claims that the fake accounts were coordinated by the Internet Research Agency, known as a “troll factory.” She is associated with businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, whom the media call a friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

For example, one of the memes depicts actress Emma Watson, who allegedly says that “the fight for women’s rights very often becomes synonymous with hating men. I know for sure that this needs to be stopped.”

One teen told the publication that the Russian-sponsored memes looked believable and that “if I saw one of these on social media, I would probably post it in a group chat without even thinking about where it came from or what it was.” target".

An expert on Russian disinformation at Clemson University in South Carolina said: “What they are doing is political warfare on an industrial scale, and it is aimed at all Western democracies. It is well-funded and dangerous because it hides while remaining in plain sight.”

Last year, writes Daily MailFor example, they found a fake image that accused a Muslim woman of ignoring the victims of the terrorist attack in Westminster. This photo was posted from Russia.

Photo of a Muslim woman talking on the phone against the background of victims of the terrorist attack, became viral. The woman was accused of passing by. But later it turned out that she was trying to call for help and looks obviously worried.

Later found the bot who first published the photo. It turned out to be a Russian bot.

The Times notes that experts should analyze more than three million posts on social networks. The results of the study may be published as soon as possible.

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