webodec3ARCHIVEPreview
Open in TheBrain

reddit 2 bak

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TWO

see also 4chan

escalator fake news

619 bak primary

capt this 1219

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mma tag

https://www.mediamatters.org/networks-and-outlets/reddit

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an 525

In today’s fractured online landscape, it is harder than ever to identify harmful actors such as trolls and misinformation spreaders.

Often, efforts to spot malicious accounts focus on analysing what they say. However, our latest research suggests we should be paying more attention to what they do – and how they do it.

We have developed a way to identify potentially harmful online actors based solely on their behavioural patterns – the way they interact with others – rather than the content they share. We presented our results at the recent ACM Web Conference, and were awarded Best Paper.

Beyond looking at what people say

Traditional approaches to spotting problematic online behaviour typically rely on two methods. One is to examine content (what people are saying). The other is to analyse network connections (who follows whom).

These methods have limitations.

Users can circumvent content analysis. They may code their language carefully, or share misleading information without using obvious trigger words.

Network analysis falls short on platforms such as Reddit. Here, connections between users aren’t explicit. Communities are organised around topics rather than social relationships.

We wanted to find a way to identify harmful actors that couldn’t be easily gamed. We realised we could, focusing on behaviour – how people interact, rather than what they say.

Teaching AI to understand human behaviour online

Our approach uses a technique called inverse reinforcement learning. This is a method typically used to understand human decision-making in fields such as autonomous driving or game theory.

We adapted this technology to analyse how users behave on social media platforms

:{Behavioural analysis could help the fight against the growing problem of online misinformation.

The system works by observing a user’s actions, such as creating new threads, posting comments and replying to others. From those actions it infers the underlying strategy or “policy” that drives their behaviour.

In our Reddit case study, we analysed 5.9 million interactions over six years. We identified five distinct behavioural personas, including one particularly notable group – “disagreers”.

Meet the ‘disagreers’

Perhaps our most striking result was finding an entire class of Reddit users whose primary purpose seems to be to disagree with others. These users specifically seek out opportunities to post contradictory comments, especially in response to disagreement, and then move on without waiting for replies.

The “disagreers” were most common in politically-focused subreddits (forums focused on particular topics) such as r/news, r/worldnews, and r/politics. Interestingly, they were much less common in the now-banned pro-Trump forum r/The_Donald despite its political focus.

This pattern reveals how behavioural analysis can uncover dynamics that content analysis might miss. In r/The_Donald, users tended to agree with each other while directing hostility toward outside targets. This dynamic may explain why traditional content moderation has struggled to address problems in such communities.

Soccer fans and gamers

Our research also revealed unexpected connections. Users discussing completely different topics sometimes displayed remarkably similar behavioural patterns.

We found striking similarities between users discussing soccer (on r/soccer) and e-sports (on r/leagueoflegends).

This similarity emerges from the fundamental nature of both communities. Soccer and e-sports fans engage in parallel ways: they passionately support specific teams, follow matches with intense interest, participate in heated discussions about strategies and player performances, celebrate victories, and dissect defeats.

Despite their differences, fans of soccer and the online multiplayer battle game League of Legends behave in very similar ways online.Vasyl Shulga/Shutterstock

Both communities foster strong tribal identities. Users defend their favoured teams while critiquing rivals.

Whether debating Premier League tactics or League of Legends champions, the underlying interaction patterns – the timing, sequence and emotional tone of responses – remain consistent across these topically distinct communities.

This challenges conventional wisdom about online polarisation. While echo chambers are often blamed for increasing division, our research suggests behavioural patterns can transcend topical boundaries. Users may be divided more by how they interact than what they discuss.

Beyond troll detection

The implications of this research extend well beyond academic interest. Platform moderators could use behavioural patterns to identify potentially problematic users before they’ve posted large volumes of harmful content.

Unlike content moderation, behavioural analysis does not depend on understanding language. It is hard to evade, since changing one’s behavioural patterns requires more effort than adjusting language.

The approach could also help design more effective strategies to counter misinformation. Rather than focusing solely on the content, we can design systems that encourage more constructive engagement patterns.

For social media users, this research offers a reminder that how we engage online – not just what we say – shapes our digital identity and influences others.

As online spaces continue to grapple with manipulation, harassment and polarisation, approaches that consider behavioural patterns alongside content analysis may offer more effective solutions for fostering healthier online communities.

Marian-Andrei Rizoiu, Associate Professor in Behavioral Data Science, University of Technology Sydney; Lanqin Yuan, PhD Candidate, Behavioural Data Science, University of Technology Sydney, and Philipp Schneider, Doctoral Student, *EPFL – École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Right-wing media and social media users spread conspiracy theories about the Trump rally shooting

WRITTEN BY ALEX KAPLAN & PAYTON ARMSTRONG

RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM JASON CAMPBELL & NOAH DOWE

PUBLISHED 07/16/24

Following the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania on July 13, right-wing media figures and social media users have spread baseless conspiracy theories and claims about the shooting.

They have amplified a 4chan hoax that the Secret Service gave a stand-down order during the shooting; made baseless allegations that Alex Soros was connected to the shooting; falsely claimed a protester at a 2016 Trump rally was the shooter; suggested the shooting could be attributed to the intelligence community, the “deep state,” foreign actors, or an “RNC/Israeli hit job”; and connected the assassination attempt to biblical prophecy and “the hand of God.”

Social media users earned tens of thousands of shares and likes promoting the 4chan post. Multiple users, including QAnon figure Nicholas Veniamin, shared the 4chan posts or its claims, raking up tens of thousands of shares and “likes” on X and Instagram. According to CrowdTangle, posts on Instagram sharing the 4chan hoax received more than 80,000 interactions. Twitter/X, [7/14/24, 7/14/24, 7/14/24, 7/15/24; Instagram, 7/14/24; CrowdTangle, accessed 7/16/24; Media Matters, 3/4/22]

A post amplifying the 4chan hoax was one of the top posts on Reddit’s conspiracy subreddit. On the prominent subreddit “r/conspiracy,” a user posted an image of the 4chan post — though they added, “BIG grain of salt recommended.” The post was one of the top posts in terms of “upvotes” in a 24-hour period between July 14 and July 15. Reddit, [7/14/24, 7/15/24; Media Matters, 9/18/23]

QAnon figure Woke Societies after the shooting: “Don’t forgot Alex Soros posted this in January of this year. Demons.” Telegram, [7/13/24; Media Matters, 4/18/22]

QAnon figure Pepe Lives Matter: “Remember when Alex Soros tweeted a bullet shot with the number 47 in this ominous tweet that people thought was about Donald Trump and now he was just shot.” Telegram, [7/13/24, 1/7/21]

QAnon figure Ben Moore, known online as “Sun Tzu,” responded to a user claiming Alex Soros “hinted at what was coming in a X post” by asking if George and Alex Soros should “be designated as enemy combatants at this point.” Twitter/X, [7/15/24; Media Matters, 4/24/24]

Ann Vandersteel, who has promoted QAnon, posted an image of Alex Soros’ tweet with the text “Remember this?” Twitter/X, [7/13/24; Media Matters, 6/7/24]

A user on the online forum GreatAwakening, which is dedicated to the QAnon conspiracy theory, shared a post saying “Y’all remember when Alex Soros posted $47 and a bullet hole?” GreatAwakening, [7/14/24; Media Matters, 6/30/20]

Longtime Trump ally Roger Stone claimed that “a number of people have contacted me to say that the shooter is not the man they’ve identified.” During an appearance on conspiracy theory network Infowars, Stone said that “a number of people have contacted me to say that the shooter is not the man they’ve identified, but rather” someone else — the same person mentioned by QAnon John — “who appears to more closely resemble the picture we've been shown that is allegedly the corpse of the shooter.” [Infowars, The Alex Jones Show, 7/15/24]

Far-right figures baselessly suggested the shooting could be attributed to the “intelligence agencies,” the “deep state,” foreign actors, or “an RNC/Israeli hit job”

Alex Jones claimed that the Trump shooting was “clearly” done by the “deep state.” In the X Space with Fuentes, Jones claimed of the attempted shooting, “Clearly this was deep state.” He said it was evidence of “the deep state trying to kill him,” adding, “This was no accident, in my view.” Twitter/X, [7/13/24]

White nationalist Stew Peters baselessly claimed it was “an RNC/Israeli hit job.” According to Peters, “Everyone is blaming Biden and the Dems when this was clearly an RNC/Israeli hit job.” Twitter/X, [7/13/24; Media Matters, 3/13/23]

Right-wing personality Candace Owens said that if she were a conspiracy theorist, she might think the FBI was behind the Trump shooting. While discussing on her YouTube show the FBI’s efforts to access the alleged shooter’s phone (which it has since done), Owens said, “If I were a conspiracy theorist, and I’m not — I’m not a conspiracy theorist — some people might be thinking, though, those conspiracy theorists might be thinking, like, maybe it’s because the FBI did it. Maybe the FBI doesn’t want to get into the phone that connects the kid to the deep state.” YouTube, *Candace Owens*, [7/15/24; The New York Times, 7/15/24]

QAnon figure Clandestine claimed, “Whether this was a CIA-coordinated plot, or just a lone shooter, the Deep State are responsible regardless.” Jacob Creech, known online as “Clandestine,” added, “Either they planned the hit, or their years of violent rhetoric and endless MSM propaganda, created the vitriol that led to the attack.” Telegram, [7/14/24; Anti-Defamation League, 4/5/22]

Self-described prophet Amanda Grace said “prayer matters” because the assassination attempt was “meant to kill him and by the hand of God it grazed him” and claimed the “Lord warned” her that it would happen. Grace added: “Saul did this to David. This is that same spirit rising up. Saul attempted to kill David on multiple occasions and never was able to succeed.” She also suggested that God had warned her multiple times that Trump would be hurt, claiming that “the Lord warned [on] June 8” and “he warned it again two days ago.” YouTube, *Ark of Grace Ministries*,[; Media Matters, 5/30/24] VID]

While discussing the assassination attempt on FlashPoint, commentator and self-described prophet Lance Wallnau mentioned a prophetic “decree” and attributed Trump’s survival to “the impulse of God or an angel that enabled him to not be hit.”Wallnau said that “the brush with mortality is a moment also for President Trump to realize that God himself is preserving him. And let’s agree together in this decree that he will have an ear to hear in every key situation what the spirit of God is actually saying. And he’ll wisely and shrewdly navigate, turning to the left or to the right as the wisdom of God dictates, and that he will stay one step ahead of death.” Twitter/X, [7/13/24; Rolling Stone, 9/29/22]

Far-right figures Dom Lucre and Jack Posobiec shared a video of supposed prophet Brandon Biggs predicting three months ago that Trump would be injured. Lucre wrote that “the prophet Brandon Bible’s prophecy about Donald Trump’s assassination attempt from 3 months ago has resurfaced” and said, “This has been biblical since day one.” Posobiec, who has a penchant for spreading conspiracy theories, amplified the video to his 2.5 million followers. Twitter/X, [7/14/24, 7/14/24; The Washington Post, 8/15/17; Forbes, 7/27/23]

Christian nationalist pastor Sean Feucht shared the video of Biggs and wrote, “Prophecy from March 14, 2024 about Trump being shot in the ear in an assassination attempt!” Twitter/X, [7/14/24; Media Matters, 9/14/23]

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// substack?

https://www.reddit.com/user/HenryCorp/

The conspiracy subreddit is full of COVID-19 and anti-vaccine health misinformation that Reddit claims to prohibit | Media Matters for America

1/25/21 an

A new video and report published by the New York University School of Law's *Just Security* reveals stunningly damning evidence of how President Donald Trump's carefully-crafted January 6 speech to rally-goers incited the Capitol insurrection barely hours later.

The video (excerpt below) includes clips of user-created recordings, most of which were uploaded to Parler, a social media platform that has attracted white supremacists and other members of the far right, showing how, in real time, Trump's words were received and how attendees – who had been invited and urged to attend by Trump and his team and allies for weeks – responded to and interpreted his remarks.

These video clips show "how the crowd reacted in real time to some of the most potent lines in Trump's speech at the Ellipse," write Just Security's Ryan Goodman and Justin Hendrix. "The videos, along with other information in the public record, provide strong evidence of a causal link between Trump's messages to his supporters and their dangerous, illegal conduct. The collection of videos, viewed chronologically, also shows the ways in which Trump placed the life of Vice President Mike Pence, among others, in grave danger."

Remember, Trump had tweeted about the January 6 rally weeks earlier, telling supporters it was going to be "wild."

He also had to have known how his attacks on the results of a free and fair election were working, because his social media team reportedly monitored not only Facebook and Twitter, but far right social media platforms like Parler, Gab, numerous groups on Reddit, along with the QAnon groups.

At his Senate impeachment trial Trump reportedly will try to make the argument he was merely invoking his First Amendment rights on January 6, but he clearly had to have known the effect his words would have.

Just before his father addressed what would soon become an insurrectionist and domestic terrorist mob Donald Trump. Jr. recorded video of the President in a tent by the stage watching with glee the already ramped-up crowd, which he would explode into insurrection.

Former federal prosecutor Paul Butler tells Just Security that the "video contains strong evidence that Trump did incite the insurrection, regardless of whether that was his intent. The rioter's words 'we were invited here' were exactly right, and the refrain 'fight for Trump' was directly responsive to Trump's demand. In criminal law, we would say this video proves the act but perhaps not the mental state – that Trump intended to cause the insurrection or knew it would happen as a result of his words."

Here's a two-minute excerpt of the 10-minute video:

New video footage: shows the crowd’s immediate reactions to Trump’s most potent remarks at January 6 speech. Verdi… https://t.co/lqWV8DgpUh

— Ryan Goodman (@Ryan Goodman)1611583756.0

FROM YOUR SITE ARTICLES

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NEW 1219

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/ Media Matters

A pro-Trump subreddit is full of calls for violence in response to proposed Virginia gun safety laws

Reddit bars content that “encourages, glorifies, incites, or calls for violence or physical harm”

WRITTEN BY ALEX KAPLAN

PUBLISHED 12/19/19 9:32 AM EST

Users on Reddit’s “r/The_Donald,” a prominent subreddit for supporters of President Donald Trump, have repeatedly issued calls for violence in response to proposed gun safety laws in Virginia, despite Reddit’s policy barring content that “encourages, glorifies, incites, or calls for violence or physical harm.”

The subreddit has already been quarantined by Reddit for past violations of that policy, but users have recently posted messages warning that “we’ll have no constitutional option but to give them the bullets,” claiming that “if it’s time to hide your guns, it’s time to use them,” and urging people to “exercise their second amendment on their government today.” Users have also posted that “not only is [violence] inevitable but it is necessary” and that this “ends with patriots shooting at an oppressive governmentand driving them out.” One user expressed a willingness to go “straight for the governor's mansion” as part of “a road trip to Virginia that might cost me my life.”

Reddit prohibits content that “encourages,” “incites,” or “calls for violence,” and the site previously quarantined “r/The_Donald” for violating the policy

Reddit: “Do not post content that encourages, glorifies, incites, or calls for violence or physical harm.” From the site’s “account and community restrictions” section:

Do not post content that encourages, glorifies, incites, or calls for violence or physical harm against an individual or a group of people; likewise, do not post content that glorifies or encourages the abuse of animals. We understand there are sometimes reasons to post violent content (e.g., educational, newsworthy, artistic, satire, documentary, etc.) so if you’re going to post something violent in nature that does not violate these terms, ensure you provide context to the viewer so the reason for posting is clear.

If your content is borderline, please use a NSFW tag. Even mild violence can be difficult for someone to explain to others if they open it unexpectedly. [Reddit, accessed 12/18/19]

Reddit previously quarantined “r/The_Donald” for violating this policy. In June, Media Matters reported on multiple “r/The_Donald” users violating this policy by issuing calls to violence against Oregonlaw enforcement. Soon after, Reddit quarantined the subreddit, meaning it would no longer appear on the main Reddit feed. In a message shared by a moderator for “r/The_Donald” that explained the decision to quarantine the subreddit, a Reddit administrator wrote that “we are troubled that violent content more often goes unreported, and worse, is upvoted.” [Media Matters, 6/24/19; The Verge, 6/26/19; Reddit, accessed 12/18/19]

Reddit has previously banned multiple subreddits in violation of this policy. Reddit “shut down several Nazi and white supremacist subreddits” in 2017 because of its policy regarding inciting violence, according to The Verge. In 2018, the site banned the largest subreddit dedicated to theQAnon conspiracy theory, citing “repeated violations of the terms” of its content policy, NBC News reported, noting that the forum was “host to a stream of violent threats.” And on June 20, the platform banned the subreddit “r/frenworld,” which “featured racist and anti-Semitic Pepe the Frog-style cartoons,” with a spokesperson saying it “violated rules against encouraging and glorifying violence,” according to The Daily Beast reporter Will Sommer. [The Verge, 10/25/17; NBC News, 9/12/18; Twitter, 6/20/19]

Users of “r/The_Donald” have posted in support of violently opposing proposed gun safety laws and their potential enforcement

Virginia’s governor has proposed gun safety bills and said there will be “consequences” for law enforcement officials who refuse to enforce the bills if they become law. Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has proposed a series of gun safety bills for the next legislative session. In response, multiple counties in the state have declared themselves “Second Amendment sanctuaries,” adopting largely symbolic resolutions that say they will not enforce what they deem to be unconstitutional gun laws. Rep. Donald McEachin (D-VA) suggested that Northam use the commonwealth’s National Guard to enforce the bills if they become law, and Northam has warned of “consequences” if localities refuse to enforce new gun laws, adding that he would “cross that bridge if and when we get to it.” The Twitter account for the Virginia National Guard has tweeted that it had “not received any requests from the Governor, or anyone on his staff, about serving in a law enforcement role related to any proposed legislation” and encouraged residents to “be patient while we allow our elected officials to work through the legislative process.” [CNN, 11/6/19; WSLS, 12/12/19; Newsweek, 12/13/19; Twitter, 12/13/19]

Users on “r/The_Donald” have posted calls to violence against state government officials. In response to the discussion about the Virginia National Guard and the proposed gun safety laws, multiple users on the subreddit “r/The_Donald” have issued calls for violence to prevent the potential enforcement of the proposed laws.

A user wrote that, “If I have to take a road trip to Virginia that might cost me my life, I'm not fighting the guard.” Instead they claimed they would be “joining which ever band is going straight for the governor's mansion” because “it's the only way to strike fear into these tyrants in other states who are thinking this sounds like a great idea.”

The Donald subreddit Virginia1

[Reddit, accessed 12/17/19]

Another user wrote that “as long as we're gonna have the gang together we should head west and teach Californian politicians a lesson too.” In response to a comment about possible “civil conflict,” the same user wrote that violence was “not only … inevitable but it is necessary.”

The Donald subreddit Virginia2

[Reddit, accessed 12/17/19]

One user argued that “it may be time this has to play out” because “the Virginia legislature or governor cannot remove the second amendment.”

The Donald subreddit Virginia3

[Reddit, accessed 12/17/19]

A user claimed that Virginia’s governor is “waging war on us”and that “the world is about to find out how powerful the 2nd amendment really is.”

The Donald subreddit Virginia4

[Reddit, accessed 12/17/19]

A user argued that it was “time to ammo up” in response.

The Donald subreddit Virginia5

[Reddit, accessed 12/17/19]

Another user argued that “when they cannot help but go for the guns, we'll have no constitutional option but to give them the bullets.”

The Donald subreddit Virginia6

[Reddit, accessed 12/17/19]

A user encouraged “everyone [to] grab your Brown Besses,” a type of firearm used during the American Revolution.

The Donald subreddit Virginia7

[Reddit, accessed 12/17/19]

In response to a recommendation that users “zero those sights” on their weapons, another user questioned which ammunition would be best used against law enforcement.

The Donald subreddit Virginia17

[Reddit, accessed 12/17/19]

One user wrote that they would “have to finally drop coin on an AR15 and ammo if it's coming to this.”

The Donald subreddit Virginia10

[Reddit, accessed 12/17/19]

Another user claimed that “if it’s time to hide your guns, it’s time to use them.”

The Donald subreddit Virginia11

[Reddit, accessed 12/17/19]

A user suggested that it was “time for people in Virginia to move or to exercise their second amendment on their government today.”

The Donald subreddit Virginia12

[Reddit, accessed 12/17/19]

A user responded to a post about police enforcing proposed gun safety bills by simply writing “cocks shotgun.”

The Donald subreddit Virginia13

[Reddit, accessed 12/17/19]

A user wrote that this was “how it begins,” and that it “ends with patriots shooting at an oppressive government and driving them out.”

The Donald subreddit Virginia14

[Reddit, accessed 12/17/19]

A user claimed to know “several Mississippians down here that would be willing to help you Virginia patriots out if thinks kick off.”

The Donald subreddit Virginia15

[Reddit, accessed 12/17/19]

In response to a comment urging Trump (“45”) to “step in,” a user wrote, “.45 acp maybe,” referring to a popular type of ammunition.

The Donald subreddit Virginia16

[Reddit, accessed 12/17/19]

A user wrote in response to the proposed bills that if violence occurs, “that will be the price you'll have to pay for liberty,” adding former President Thomas Jefferson’s quote that “the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”

The Donald subreddit Virginia18

[Reddit, accessed 12/17/19]

Another user also cited Jefferson’s quote in response to Northam’s proposed bills.

The Donald subreddit Virginia22

[Reddit, accessed 12/17/19]

One user argued, “If they start a war, we need to do what people typically do in a war.”

The Donald subreddit Virginia19

[Reddit, accessed 12/17/19]

A user wrote that they “hope” that “every militia in Virginia is getting prepped for war.”

The Donald subreddit Virginia21

[Reddit, accessed 12/17/19]

A user wrote that if “they want a war, the patriots in Virginia will give them one.”

The Donald subreddit Virginia20

[Reddit, accessed 12/17/19]

748 COMMENTS

Related

A pro-Trump subreddit is full of calls for violence in support of Oregon Republicans

06/24/19 2:45 PM EDT

Right-wing media push QAnon-linked hoax claiming a kid was jumped for wearing a MAGA hat

12/18/19 11:52 AM EST

A white nationalist created a hoax about gun confiscation that is leading to calls for violence on social media and message boards

12/18/19 10:17 AM EST

[nb some text lost b/c pix]

Media Matters for America

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ref

https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump/pro-trump-subreddit-full-calls-violence-support-oregon-republicans

no lnx twt

pro-Trump subreddit is full of calls for violence in support of Oregon Republicans

WRITTEN BY ALEX KAPLAN

PUBLISHED06/24/19

Users on “The_Donald,” a prominent subreddit for supporters of President Donald Trump, have repeatedly issued calls for violence in response to Oregon’s governor calling for law enforcement to bring back Republican state senators who fled the state so the state senate wouldn't have the quorum to pass climate change action.Despite Reddit’s policy barring content that “encourages, glorifies, incites, or calls for violence or physical harm,” users have posted messages claiming that violence is “the only way we're going to get any peace in our lives” and that it’s “good” to “threaten violence,” have urged others to “stock upon that ammo,” and have written that they would “help” with "shooting a cop trying to strip rights from Citizens.”

Melissa Joskow / Media Matters

Update (6/26/19): Reddit has now quarantined  “The_Donald” due to “threats of violence against police and public officials,” meaning the subreddit will now “generate no revenue,” “not appear in non-subscription-based feeds (eg Popular),” and won’t be “included in search or recommendations.”

Update (6/25/19): All comments cited in this piece except for one have been removed since publication and most have been replaced with the message: “Comment removed by moderator.”

Reddit prohibits content that “encourages,” “incites,” or “calls for violence,” and the site has previously banned subreddits for violating that policy

Reddit: “Do not post content that encourages, glorifies, incites, or calls for violence or physical harm.” Reddit’s “account and community restrictions” include a prohibition of “content that encourages, glorifies, incites, or calls for violence or physical harm against an individual or a group of people.” From the policy:

Do not post content that encourages, glorifies, incites, or calls for violence or physical harm against an individual or a group of people; likewise, do not post content that glorifies or encourages the abuse of animals. We understand there are sometimes reasons to post violent content (e.g., educational, newsworthy, artistic, satire, documentary, etc.) so if you’re going to post something violent in nature that does not violate these terms, ensure you provide context to the viewer so the reason for posting is clear.

If your content is borderline, please use a NSFW tag. Even mild violence can be difficult for someone to explain to others if they open it unexpectedly. [Reddit, accessed 6/24/19]

Reddit has previously banned multiple subreddits in violation of this policy. Reddit “shut down several Nazi and white supremacist subreddits” in 2017 after its policy came into effect, according to The Verge. In 2018, the site banned the largest subreddit dedicated to the Qanon conspiracy theory, citing “repeated violations of the terms” of its content policy, NBC News reported, noting that the forum was “host to a stream of violent threats.” And on June 20, the platform banned the subreddit “r/frenworld,” which “featured racist and anti-Semitic Pepe the Frog-style cartoons,” with a spokesperson saying it “violated rules against encouraging and glorifying violence,” according to The Daily Beast reporter Will Sommer. [The Verge, 10/25/17; NBC News, 9/12/18; Twitter, 6/20/19]

Users of the subreddit “The_Donald” have posted in support of violently defending Oregon GOP state senators against law enforcement

Militiagroups have threatened violence against efforts to bring back Oregon GOP state senators who refuse to pass legislation on climate action. According to The Daily Beast, multiple armed militia groups “are mobilizing to prevent Oregon state police from arresting Republican state senators who went into hiding on Thursday in order to prevent climate change legislation from passing.” After Democratic Gov. Kate Brown planned to dispatch “state troopers to bring them back,” one of the state senators warned “that he would resort to violence rather than return to the state.” The outlet quoted a “source inside the Oregon militia movement” saying that its members are “willing to put their own lives in front of these senators’ lives.” From the June 21 report:

All 11 of Oregon’s Republican state senators are currently on the lam, with some leaving for Idaho in an effort to deny the Democrat-controlled state senate a quorum to pass a cap-and-trade bill. In response, Oregon Governor Kate Brown (D), citing a provision in the state constitution that allows the state to “compel” absent lawmakers to attend legislative sessions, dispatched state troopers to bring them back.

One of the lawmakers on the lam, Republican Brian Boquist (R), warned that he would resort to violence rather than return to the state, implying in a local television interview that he would attack law enforcement officers sent to retrieve him.

“Send bachelors and come heavily armed,” Boquist said. “I’m not going to be a political prisoner in the state of Oregon. It’s just that simple.”

Militia groups in the Pacific Northwest—a hotbed of far-right extremist activism—claim they’ve mobilized to protect those state senators. [The Daily Beast, 6/21/19]

Users on the subreddit “The_Donald” have posted calls to violence and support for the armed militias. In response to reports about militias’ pledges to defend GOP legislators from being compelled by law enforcement to attend legislative sessions, multiple users on the subreddit “The_Donald” issued calls for violence to help the lawmakers, along with issuing support for the militias.

A user wrote, “None of this gets fixed without people picking up rifles,” to which another user responded, “If that's what it takes for us and our marginalized community to be heard I suppose it may become necessary sooner than we think.”

[Reddit, accessed 6/24/19]

A user wrote, “Rifles are the only way we're going to get any peace in our lives ever again,” adding, “It's either war and we get rid of these guys or a lifetime of listening to this shit over and over again start getting yourself ready.”

[Reddit, accessed 6/24/19]

A user wrote, “There is only one way to get rid of a dictatorship like this. You don't want to acknowledge it and they made it illegal to do so but you have a choice - bite the bullet or let the collapse fall onto your kids instead of you.”

[Reddit, accessed 6/24/19]

A user called for “burn[ing] Portland and Eugene to the ground.”

[Reddit, accessed 6/24/19]

Citing the Second Amendment, another user criticized the lack of armed action from others “against government tyrany,” adding, “Now there is proven government tyrany and you do nothing?”

[Reddit, accessed 6/24/19]

A user wrote, “Hopefully all State Police in Oregon refuse, hes serious. No problems shooting a cop trying to strip rights from Citizens. If he calls for help I'd come.”

[Reddit, accessed 6/24/19]

A user called for “more militia men in Oregon. Michigan, Idaho, Washington, Nevada, Utah, Colorado,” adding, “You know what to do. Flood Oregon and take over Portland. Let's make this happen.”

[Reddit, accessed 6/24/19]

A user wrote, “Everyone needs to start getting into shape, sharpening up your marksmanship and learning the ins and outs of all your fire arms. Stock upon that ammo too.”

[Reddit, accessed 6/24/19]

Another user wrote that it was “good” to “threaten violence … because nothing else is working.”

[Reddit, accessed 6/24/19]

A user wrote in response to the governor’s order, “Tree of Liberty seems thirsty,” a reference to former President Thomas Jefferson’s quote that “the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots & tyrants.”

[Reddit, accessed 6/24/19]

A user wrote that they were “at the point where I hope [violence] happens” as a “catalyst to purge their ideology from government.” Regarding the governor’s order, another user wrote: “The soap box has been forbidden to be used. The ballot box has been abused. The ammo box is what they then choose.”

[Reddit, accessed 6/24/19]

=

https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2019/06/26/reddit-quarantined-pro-trump-forum-thedonald-calls-violence-trump-s-team-has-relied-forum-content/224059

no lnx pix twit

Reddit quarantined pro-Trump forum “The_Donald” for calls to violence. Trump’s team has relied on that forum for content.

Blog ››› June 26, 2019 3:45 PM EDT ››› CRISTINA LóPEZ G.

Melissa Joskow / Media Matters

Today, Reddit put subreddit “The_Donald” -- its most prominent forum for supporters of President Donald Trump -- under quarantine due to “threats of violence against police and public officials,” as confirmed by a Reddit spokesperson. Trump has relied more than once on the subreddit for digital content to amplify from his own social media accounts.

Brandy Zadrozny

?

@BrandyZadrozny

Whoa Reddit quarantined The_Donald for "threats of violence against police and public officials."

Brandy Zadrozny

?

@BrandyZadrozny

Looks like they've answered @crislopezg's question https://twitter.com/crislopezg/status/1143229199685210112 …

cristina lópez g.

?

@crislopezg

Reddit has a very specific content policy against calls to violence. Will it apply it to the platform's most prominent pro-Trump subreddit? https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2019/06/24/A-pro-Trump-subreddit-is-full-of-calls-for-violence-in-support-of-Oregon-Republicans/224018 …

As Media Matters previously reported, the subreddit “The_Donald” was full of posts calling for or glorifying violence, in open violation of Reddit’s “account and community restrictions.” While Reddit has previously shut down other subreddits for violations of this policy, “The_Donald” was merely quarantined. As explained by the platform’s rules, a quarantine restricts a subreddit “from being accidentally viewed by those who do not wish to do so” because its contents are “extremely offensive or upsetting to the average redditor.” The platform cited a sensitivity to “political speech” in its explanation for why it was placing the pro-Trump forum under quarantine.

Ali Breland

?

@alibreland

Replying to @alibreland

Official statement from a Reddit spokesperson

10:51 AM - Jun 26, 2019

See Ali Breland's other Tweets

The forum has historically served Trump and his staffers as a useful mine for memes and other digital content. As reported by Politico, Trump’s social media director, Dan Scavino, “regularly monitors Reddit, with a particular focus on the pro-Trump” subreddit “The_Donald,” which likely explains, for example, a Trump tweet directed at Rosie O’Donnell containing a point that was made 20 minutes before on Reddit’s “The_Donald.” 

On different occasions, Trump tweeted out videos that originated on “The_Donald,” including one that depicted the president beating up CNN, and another one in which he amplified an unhinged get-out-the-vote video. While Trump and his staff have made no secret of their reliance on the prominent pro-Trump forum for the production of digital propaganda, their amplification of the forum’s content also implies validation of its most toxic posts, of which a limited sample includes:

Screenshots from Gab, the platform known as a “haven for white nationalists” and the site where the alleged Pittsburgh, PA, synagogue shooter often posted.

View image on TwitterView image on TwitterView image on TwitterView image on Twitter

Alex Kaplan

@AlKapDC

One of the top upvoted posts in the past 24 hours on The Donald subreddit -- which is regularly monitored by Trump's social media director -- is about a post from a far-right figure on white nationalist haven Gab who the alleged Pittsburgh synagogue shooter shared content from.

5:51 AM - May 17, 2019

See Alex Kaplan's other Tweets

Twitter Ads info and privacy

Posts pushing the debunked conspiracy theory that a Democratic National Committee staffer, Seth Rich, was murdered for his involvement in leaking stolen emails.

View image on TwitterView image on TwitterView image on TwitterView image on Twitter

Alex Kaplan

@AlKapDC

Even though the Mueller report directly debunked the Seth Rich conspiracy theory, The Donald subreddit -- material from which has repeatedly been used for Trump's Twitter account -- is still pushing it.

3

9:27 AM - Apr 20, 2019

A post pushing an absurd hoax targeting former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her aide Huma Abedin.

View image on TwitterView image on TwitterView image on TwitterView image on Twitter

Alex Kaplan

@AlKapDC

One of the top upvoted posts on The Donald subreddit in the past 24 hours pushed a hoax that a video exists of Hillary Clinton & Huma Abedin drinking children's blood in a Satanic ritual. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/hillary-clinton-snuff-film/ …

5:14 AM - Jun 18, 2019

See Alex Kaplan's other Tweets

Twitter Ads info and privacy

Network/Outlet

Reddit

Person

Dan Scavino, Donald Trump

Stories/Interests

Alt-right and pro-Trump trolls

no lnx many pix twt

escalator/ reddit?

Here's how a fringe smear targeting E. Jean Carroll reached Donald Trump Jr.

Blog ››› June 26, 2019 6:35 PM EDT ››› ALEX KAPLAN

Sarah Wasko / Media Matters

After author and advice columnist E. Jean Carroll reported that President Donald Trump sexually assaulted her in the 1990s, the president's son, Donald Trump Jr., pushed a conspiracy theory that the claim was "ripped-off a plot" from a 2012 episode of NBC procedural Law & Order. Before being amplified by Trump Jr., the conspiracy theory was spread by a Twitter account associated with the QAnon conspiracy theory and another account whose content has regularly been shared by “seemingly-automated accounts.” It has also been pushed by the Daily Mail's political editor.

On June 21, Carroll wrote in New York magazine’s The Cut that 23 years ago, Trump assaulted her in a department store dressing room. According to Carroll, Trump “lunge[d] at me, pushe[d] me against the wall, hitting my head quite badly, and [put] his mouth against my lips.” She wrote that he then pulled down her tights and assaulted her. Carroll told two close friends at the time, both of whom “confirmed the allegations to New York and to [The New York] Times.”

Even though her friends confirmed that Carroll told them about the incident at the time, social media accounts and message boards have claimed that Carroll “ripped-off a plot” from an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit that dealt with a similar sexual assault against an actor. However, the episode aired in 2012, well over a decade after the incident allegedly occurred.

Here’s how the smear spread from social media to message boards to some right-wing sites and to Donald Trump Jr.:

Twitter user @RickMcCargar:

Twitter user @tksusie:

Twitter user @thebradfordfile (real name John Bradford Williams) also tweeted about the Law & Order episode. The Outline reported last year that Williams’ account has “more than 100,000 followers, a penchant for spreading far-right propaganda, and a curious network of seemingly-automated accounts regularly amplifying the reach of its tweets.” One of Williams’ former coworkers told The Outline that Williams “farms a significant portion of his engagement from direct-message based group chats on Twitter”:

8chan’s "/pol/" amplified @thebradfordfile’s tweet:

Twitter account @Trump454545 posted a clip of the episode in a tweet calling for Carroll to be prosecuted. The account's profile contains a hashtag of the abbreviated slogan for the QAnon conspiracy theory -- “where we go one, we go all” or “WWG1WGA”:

Reddit forum “r/The_Donald” amplified the smearand @thebradfordfile and @Trump454545’s tweets:

Twitchy cited @thebradfordfile to push the claim:

Twitter user @thebradfordfile then dug up this clip from “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.” The detectives are interviewing a man who’s hired to play out women’s rape fantasies, and he mentions one in particular that took place … in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room.

No, for real.

A user on 4chan’s “/pol/” cited the same link that @thebradfordfile tweeted earlier.

YouTube conspiracy theorist and far-right troll Mark Dice tweeted another video of the episode (Donald Trump Jr. liked the tweet):

Model and reality television star Mindy Robinson later tweeted the same video as the account @Trump454545 did:

Multiple videos of the episode were posted on YouTube to push the smear:

The Gateway Pundit published a piece headlined “Fraud Gets Caught! Crackpot Trump Accuser’s Story Likely Stolen from Law and Order Episode of Rape Fantasy in Bergdorf Dressing Room (VIDEO).”The article cited both @thebradfordfile and @Trump454545 to push the claim:

Boston Herald columnist Adriana Cohen quoted tweeted Robinson's post of the video.

Donald Trump Jr. also quote tweeted Robinson’s post of the video to push the smear, writing, “As long as the media gives these nut jobs unfettered air time they will keep coming”:

Multiple other conservative figures also pushed Robinson’s tweet, including right-wing commentator David Wohl, the Daily Mail’s David Martosko, former speechwriter for President George W. Bush Ned Ryun, and RedState:

Additionally, when searching for Carroll’s name on Google (via incognito search), the phrase “e jean carroll law and order” now appears as an automatic search suggestion:

Posted In

Sexual Harassment & Sexual Assault

Network/Outlet

4chan, Reddit, Gateway Pundit, Google, Twitter

Person

Donald Trump Jr., David Wohl, David Martosko

Show/Publication

Twitchy.com, YouTube, RedState

Stories/Interests

Fake News

==

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/11/how-white-power-went-viral/507473/

atlantic

no lnx

Sitting on the neon-lit stage, Dave McClure couldn’t contain himself. The 500 Startups founder and investor used his appearance at the Web Summit conference on Wednesday to loudly criticize his own industry for President-elect Donald Trump’s victory:

Technology has a role in that we provide communication platforms for the rest of the fucking country. It’s a propaganda medium and if people aren’t aware of the shit they’re being told; if they’re being told a story of fear; if they’re being told a story of other; if they’re not understanding that people are trying to use them to get to fucking office then, yes, assholes like Trump are going to take office and it’s our duty and our responsibility as entrepreneurs, as citizens of the fucking world, to make sure that shit does not happen.

He’s not the first to place the blame (or credit, depending on one’s view) for Trump’s unexpected win on digital platforms like Facebook, which allowed fake-news sites to proliferate and spread pro-Trump hoaxes such as, “Pope Francis Shocks World, Endorses Donald Trump for President.”

Facebook, where nearly half of Americans get their news, has borne the brunt of the ire, both for creating echo-chambers of partisan news and for failing to promote high-quality information over false drivel. But online extremism researchers say America’s misinformation problem is bigger than Facebook. They are also pointing fingers at sites like 4chan, Twitter and Reddit, online free-for-alls that lack Facebook’s relatively strict stance on hate-speech and have allowed racist communities to flourish in recent years. These forums have grown angrier and more multitudinous since Trump announced his candidacy, and while it’s not yet clear how much they contributed to the triumph of Trump, they certainly lined up behind him.

“When we talk about online radicalization we always talk about Muslims. But the radicalization of white men online is at astronomical levels,” the journalist Siyanda Mohutsiwa, who said she has been following the so-called “alt-right” forums on Reddit for years, wrote in a Twitter thread earlier this week. “These online groups found young white men at their most vulnerable & convinced them liberals were colluding to destroy white Western manhood.”

Groups that oppose immigration and political correctness, such as neo-Nazis, white nationalists, and the “alt-right,” have bloomed online in recent years. (It’s worth noting that these groups consider themselves distinct, and most don’t use the term “racist;” at most, they prefer the term “racialist.”) A study published in September by George Washington University extremism researcher J.M. Berger found “major American white nationalist movements on Twitter added about 22,000 followers since 2012, an increase of about 600 percent.” Berger found that people who followed white nationalists on Twitter referenced Trump “more than almost any other topic.”

The Nazi and white nationalist accounts in Berger’s sample rarely tweeted about Mitt Romney in 2012, but this year, “three of the top 10 hashtags for both white nationalist and Nazi datasets were related to ... Trump: #trump, #trump2016, and #makeamericagreatagain,” Berger wrote. The most common hashtag was “whitegenocide;” Trump retweeted a user with WhiteGenocide in his username in January.

(Trump’s campaign said the tweet wasn’t related to his personal views. In response to past stories about their white-power supporters, the campaign has said, “We have rejected and rebuked any groups and individuals associated with a message of hate and will continue to do so.”)

It’s impossible to tell how many people were motivated by racism to vote for Trump, who used anti-immigrant rhetoric and, occasionally, white-nationalist memes, all while telling black Americans he would “be your greatest champion.” Other issues, like abortion, the economy, and dissatisfaction with Obamacare also turned out Trump voters. But some Trump supporters were energized by concerns that people of color are somehow overrunning the nation, spreading violence and sucking up precious resources. Eight of 10 people who favor the deportation of illegal immigrants voted for Trump, according to exit polls, and Trump also performed better among voters who said their top issue was immigration or terrorism.

Early on, Republicans who felt white Americans were under threat preferred Trump to his rivals. In a Pew survey in April, those who felt it was “bad for the country” that in 30 years the U.S. will consist mostly of people of color were more likely to feel warmly toward Trump, as were those who felt Islam is violent. Other issues—homosexuality, family values, or economic fairness—didn’t polarize Republicans similarly.

Several mainstream platforms, including Reddit, Twitter, and even Google, all became fertile ground for white-power groups to discuss these ideas, voice support for Trump, and often, recruit new followers, according to Heidi Beirich, the director of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project, which monitors online extremism.

Reddit, for example, has long been a racist haven. Keegan Hankes, a research analyst for the SPLC, documented in Gawker how the racist subreddit “GreatApes” was formed in 2013 and grew into a larger network called "the Chimpire," organized by a user calling themselves "Jewish_NeoCon2." Their mission statement, riddled with Nazi references and n-words, mentioned expanding their “sphere of influence.” At the time Hankes was writing in 2015, the Chimpire had grown to 46 subreddits, including two dedicated to discussing Trayvon Martin and the protests in Ferguson, Missouri. One of the subreddits, CoonTown, had 3,287 subscribers, ranking it within the top 2 percent of subReddits, Hankes wrote. CoonTown was later banned, but other “WhiteRights” subReddits persist.

Certain corners of Twitter have also become cesspools of white supremacy, Beirich said. In the Washington Post in September, Jonathon Morgan, a researcher of violent extremism, described how alt-right Twitter accounts appear to have become more virulent throughout the year. “The social media content of the alt-right in July was 25 percent more radicalized than it was in January,” he wrote. “And the rate of radicalization is increasing exponentially.” In January of this year, for example, the accounts Morgan monitored rarely mentioned Jewish people. By July, the word “Jewish” in these forums “implies a belief in large-scale conspiracy, racial antagonism and even explicit support for Hitler,” he wrote. The Anti-Defamation League also found an uptick in anti-Semitic tweets in the first half of this year.

For some, even a simple Google search can be a pathway to radicalization. Dylann Roof, who allegedly killed nine people in a black church in Charleston, South Carolina, last year, was indoctrinated almost entirely online, according to the SPLC. In his manifesto, Roof described typing “black on White crime” into Google, ending up on a racist website, “and I have never been the same since that day.” The third result in a Google search for “Martin Luther King,” for example, is a white supremacist site, “MartinLutherKing.org,” which paints the civil-rights leader as a fraud. (Regarding that site, Google has said, “Our search results are generated objectively and are independent of the beliefs and preferences of those who work at Google.”)

“Racist propagandists have motivation to put that stuff out,” Beirich told me. “The anti-Semites can flood an area, and there’s no contradictory evidence. There aren’t people out there trying to prove that Jews aren’t running the government.”

Beirich said white supremacists, far from talking amongst themselves online, do try to bring new followers into the fold. Academic literature suggests online white-supremacy groups grow rapidly after launching and use social issues of the day, such as illegal immigration, to build bridges with potential new recruits.

...

Morgan suspects racist forums on mainstream sites like Reddit might be attracting users who are not active white supremacists—at least not at first. “I think it’s a similar pattern to people who end up in jihadist extremism,” he told me. “It’s people who are ostracized and disengaged, threatened by the mainstream culture. To them, it feels good [reading these subreddits] ...  it validates the kinds of things you’re not supposed to stay in polite society.”

Unlike ISIS, which targets specific new fighters, Berger writes that white nationalists promote the idea that they are the enlightened ones. They have taken the so-called “red pill,” a Matrix reference to seeing things the way they “really are”—in this case, that widely accepted values, like tolerance and multiculturalism, are actually deeply flawed.

Beirich believes Trump’s presidency may serve as yet another recruitment tactic for these groups. Trump’s past comments about refugees and immigrants, “makes it less ostracizing to agree with racist sentiments. This is in the White House now,” she told me, adding hypothetically, “So why shouldn’t you? What’s wrong with hating Muslims?”

-=

==

book origin culture

We Are the Nerds

https://www.c-span.org/video/?452474-2/we-nerds

Journalist Christine Lagorio-Chafkin reported on the growth and culture of the website Reddit.

The internet has given us many things, some of them wonderful and some of them awful. The so-called alt-right—the racist, misogynist collective of angry white men—deserves a place in the digital garbage pile, alongside cyberbullying, revenge porn and “2 Girls 1 Cup.” (And to a far, far lesser degree,

choreographed wedding dance videos.) In short, the alt-right is a product of online troll culture, a direct outgrowth of the internet’s digital Wild West. For years it expanded—or more appropriately, festered—in the dark corners of sites like 4chan and Reddit, where it ultimately became the group that gained peak visibility with the horrible events of Charlottesville.

It’s important to remember that there are no card-carrying members of the alt-right. It’s not an official organization, and alignment is self-defined. What’s collectively described as the alt-right is a loose coalition of overwhelmingly white male representatives of various online communities, including anti-women “meninists,” gamers, white nationalists, neo-Nazis and their sympathizers, anti-government types, conspiracists, and dudes who’ve just decided that women and people of color are the reason they don’t have dates or C-suite jobs. The alt-right houses all of those groups, but they might not have come together so seamlessly under its big tent were it not for a unifying loathsome cause. Enter Donald J. Trump, King of the Internet Trolls and Patron Saint of Racists. Trump’s campaign—nearly two years of his gross and violent racist, xenophobic and anti-woman rhetoric and behavior—gave these groups a central figure around which to rally. The_Donald, the Reddit community that helped get the president elected, gave them a home base.

Perhaps the best way to describe The_Donaldis as the internet hivemind of Trump’s most fervent—and vicious—supporters. Launched in June 2015, it now has nearly 450,000 subscribers, making it one of the most popular subreddits on one of the most popular sites in the United States. The_Donald is like a virtual local watering hole where aggrieved young men can come together, put their differences aside and celebrate the Trump that unites them amidst a cesspool of shared internet ephemera, Holocaust jokes and racist memes. More than a year ago, Vice’s Motherboard summed up The_Donald as “a disconcerting melting pot of posts that run the gamut from InfoWars-style conspiracies, men's rights activists and GamerGate-style real and faux outrage, memes and shitposts (basically, jokes that are only meant to be understood by those in the community), and, yes, Donald Trump news.”

As with all fraternal communities, The_Donald users have their own speak. Tim Squirrell, an expert in digital culture, wrote a lengthy piece at Quartz on the unique identifying language markers used by the multiple groups in attendance at The_Donald. He identified the "4chan Shitposters,” a group that posts “the most extreme racist, sexist, and anti-Semitic slurs, but without necessarily fully buying into racist ideology.” Consider them trolls who hurl horrific abuse online and then claim innocence with the defense that they were only joking. They most frequently use words like “Pepe, God Emperor Trump and deus vult"(Latin for “God wills it,” in this case, meaning Trump’s ascendancy).

Another group Squirrell noted is “Anti-progressive Gamers,” who you might be familiar with because of their freakouts when fictional characters from fictional movies such as *Ghostbusters* are recast as women. They frequently toss around terms like “snowflake, pandering, tumblr, feminist [and] triggering.” The “Men’s Rights Activists” lean heavily on words like “cuck” (taken from “cuckold,” a demeaning term implying male weakness but deployed against any man who disagrees with them), “bitch” (any woman who won’t sleep with them, aka all of us), and “beta” (a heterosexual male who treats women like actual human beings and thus gets laid). There are the “Anti-Globalists,” who rant about “the establishment, elites” and of course, “George Soros.” And the “White Supremacists,” who use a mixed bag of racial slurs and the phrase “western culture,” a stand-in for “we’re white and we’re right.”

The_Donald brings all of these groups together into a powerful Trump-worshipping whole. Recognizing the rapid expansion of the group last year, conservative provocateurs like Ann Coulter and Milo Yiannopoulos participated in AMAs (“Ask Me Anything,” or Q&A sessions) hosted by thesubreddit. So did Trump himself, who during the campaign and as recently as July has retweeted inflammatory Reddit-generated content. According to Vice’s Motherboard, Reddit administrators took pains to make The_Donald and its often highly offensive output less visible to site visitors, and Gizmodo’s interviews with multiple other subreddit moderators led the outlet to conclude The_Donald is internally regarded as Reddit’s “most problematic community.” But with exponential growth on their side, members of The_Donald have chided site administrators and all other critics.

"First Reddit ignored our sub," The_Donald moderators wrote in their announcement of Trump’s AMA, per Motherboard. "Then Reddit laughed at our sub. Then Reddit fought our sub with Hillary's paid haters. And now we are winning with our God Emperor, the Nimble Navigator, Mr. Donald J. Trump!"

And to think—the American conversation about online radicalization focuses almost solely on Muslims. But as Tim Squirrell notes, The_Donald is a site “for disaffected white men from all walks of life to share a communal hatred...They start out in different corners of the internet with different interests and different lexicons...but the more time they spend in [The_Donald], the more pernicious views of the world they are likely to pick up by osmosis.” He continues:

They are forming a coherent group identity, represented in the language they have begun to speak, which coalesces around their common hatred of liberalism and their love of Donald Trump. We’re witnessing the radicalization of young white men through the medium of frog memes. In order to see it, all you need to do is look at the words coming out of their mouths. The alt-right isn’t yet united, but it soon will be.

We’ve seen the deadly results of the alt-right’s actions so far. If what Squirrell writes is true, it bodes terribly for the rest us, but especially to those who are their direct targets. The_Donald is the president’s base. And like the man they put in office, the danger they pose to this country is only growing.

===

escalator fake news

http://www.alternet.org/right-wing/susan-rice-and-pro-trump-propaganda-machine

...

The Alt-Right Assault on Susan Rice: A Perfect Case Study of the Pro-Trump Propaganda Machine

By Alex Kaplan [1] / Media Matters [2]

April 6, 2017

For most of the last decade, the flow of misinformation was often easy to track in media, with right-wing media often forcing mainstream outlets to follow the stories and tone they favored. Now, a couple of months into President Donald Trump’s administration, this pattern has changed and new players have entered the ecosystem. Groups that used to be contained to their own bubble have been able to insert themselves into the food chain and been able to spread not just misleading, but patently false information to right-wing outlets and sometimes even in turn to mainstream media. A new dubious allegation regarding Susan Rice, former national security adviser to President Barack Obama, illustrates how this new pattern can spread pro-Trump misinformation and propaganda from fringe sources into mainstream media outlets.

Recently, fake news and the white nationalist “alt-right” movement [3] have become two of the country’s biggest problems in terms of fighting misinformation. Both government officials [4] and websites like Facebook [5] and Google [6] are trying to lessen the harmful impact as websites that share fake news continue to mislead [7] news consumers. And the “alt-right” is growing in prominence thanks in part to President Donald Trump’s choice of Stephen Bannon, the former chairman of “alt-right” website [8] Breitbart News, as his chief strategist. Fringe “alt-right” forums, on sites like Reddit, 4chan, and 8chan, exercise influence by pushing conspiracy theories [9] and leading [10] harassment campaigns [11].

These different groups do not operate in a vacuum. Repeatedly, they have come together to spread and amplify their misinformation and claims. Often, a claim will start on a fringe outlet or forum, and other such sites will amplify the misinformation, then fake news purveyors will push it, and then the claim will jump into more traditional right-wing media before sometimes spreading into mainstream media. Trump aides and other people connected to Trump have even promoted some of those stories, crucially helping them break through at times.

And that brings us to Rice.

On April 2, Mike Cernovich, a self-described [12] member of the “alt-right,” claimed in a post on Medium [13] that the “White House Counsel’s office identified Rice as the person responsible for the unmasking” of Trump officials caught in surveillance of foreign officials “after examining Rice’s document log requests.” The claim then spread among fringe outlets such as The Gateway Pundit [14] -- which said the unmasking “was purely for political purposes” -- and Infowars [15], and spread via posts on 4chan [16] and Reddit[17].

img

As the claim started getting pickup on Twitter [18], Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president, promoted [12]Cernovich with a tweet linking to the main page of his Medium blog (the next day, Donald Trump. Jr praised Cernovich [19] for “breaking the #SusanRice story”).

...

e claim was then echoed by Bloomberg’s Eli Lake [20], who added a layer of credibility to the attempted smear, writing that Rice “requested the identities of U.S. persons in raw intelligence reports on dozens of occasions that connect to the Donald Trump transition and campaign.” Meanwhile, multiple fake news purveyors [21] hyped [22]the [23] allegations [24], dubiously claiming that Rice “could be headed to jail” for “absolute treason.”

[imgs]

Lake conceded in his piece, however, that Rice’s requests “were likely within the law.” Legal and national security experts echoed that conclusion [25], saying Rice’s actions weren’t “odd or wrong,” did not indicate “anything improper whatsoever,” and were “within the scope of the job of a national security advisor like Rice.” Lake's caveats did not prevent him from going on both Sean Hannity's radio [26] and Fox News show [27], where the right-wing host described the story as "worse than Watergate."

As the claim spread into the mainstream, some in right-wing media criticized mainstream outlets for not giving the story enough attention [28] or for not presenting it [29] the way they would. Although some [30] mainstream figures have echoed the consensus of experts, others [31] have also suggested [32] that Rice [33] could be guilty of some kind of wrongdoing. Fox News in particular insisted that something must be improper if not illegal about Rice's actions, and in their scramble to claim they may have had the story before Cernovich, likely outed themselves [34]as another outlet that the White House used as a puppet for the Rice leak.

Right-wing criticism of mainstream media’s coverage will likely ramp up, spurring some mainstream outlets to defend their coverage or possibly tweak some of their framing under pressure.

This is the new media ecosystem in the Trump era. No longer are these false claims all originating in traditional right-wing media before mainstream outlets give in to pressure to cover them [35]. Now they can start from these fringe pro-Trump propaganda outlets, with right-wing media picking them up. Meanwhile, members of the “alt-right” continue to gain more prominence [36] and acceptance [37] in traditional conservative and conservative media circles. Indeed, radio host Rush Limbaugh, while hyping [38] the Rice story, bragged that mainstream media outlets are “not the arbiters anymore”; whitewashed the original source of the story, Cernovich, as simply a “pro-Trump blogger,” and said CBS’ 60 Minutes “tried to destroy him”; and criticized mainstream outlets for dismissing the story because it was pushed by right-wing media.

This is not the first example of misinformation following such a trajectory. In March, after a federal judge in Hawaii placed a hold on Trump’s revised Muslim ban, fringe “alt-right” outlets such as Infowars and Gateway Pundit pushed a conspiracy theory [9] that appeared to have started on Reddit alleging that Obama conspired with the judge. The claim then spread among [9] fake news [39] purveyors [40] and was pushed by [9] Donald Trump Jr. before breaking through to more traditional conservative media figures and outlets like Hannity [41] and the Independent Journal Review [42]. Later that month, in order to back up Trump’s false claim that Obama wiretapped Trump Tower, Infowars dubiously claimed[43] it had National Security Agency documents that provided proof. The claim made its way around other “alt-right” outlets and fake news purveyors and wound up being pushed at the top of the Drudge Report [44].

This is the danger that the new media environment presents. The fringe is no longer being siloed; it has actively been raised into the mainstream by pro-Trump forces both known and unknown, and has been repeatedly validated by both mainstream reporters and especially an administration that has no hesitation about lying to the world. It’s crucial that mainstream media outlets understand [45] this new environment and the kind of claims and conspiracy theories it puts forth. It is one thing to share the mainstream with extremist cranks, propagandists, and liars. It's another thing to succumb and do their pro-Trump misinforming for them.

==

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splc

Although Spencer has positioned himself as the effective leader of the Alt-Right, other proponents include several well-known names on the far right, including Jared Taylor , editor of the *American Renaissance* racist journal; Greg Johnson of the publishing house Counter-Currents; Matthew Parrott and Matthew Heimbach of the Traditionalist Youth Network; and Mike Enoch, who runs The Right Stuff blog. But the general population of the Alt-Right is composed, by and large, of anonymous youths who were exposed to the movement’s ideas through online message boards like 4chan and 8chan’s /pol/ and Internet platforms like Reddit and Twitter.

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http://mediamatters.org/blog/2016/12/27/misinformer-year-ecosystem-fake-news-and-alt-right/214899

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It is not clear to what extent this vitriol on Facebook overlaps with the “alt-right” proper (to whatever extent there even is an “alt-right” proper). But Facebook crowd-sourced virulence is at least overtly reminiscent of what is seen from the “alt-right.”

A particular hub for the “alt-right” is Reddit’s “r/The_Donald” subreddit. As Bryan Menegus explained for Gizmodo:

Reddit’s The_Donald subreddit was founded a year ago as the premier online meeting place for Trump supporters. It has since sought to—in CEO and co-founder Steve Huffman’s words—“dominate the conversation” on the site. Its members spread coded hate speech, openly antagonize other Redditors, and break the site’s most basic rules with impunity while moderators feel the brunt of the abuse, and Reddit leadership fail to adequately address the problem.

This is abuse, and it is abuse for a particular political purpose. Whether it is under the guise of news or commentary, the fabricated stories bouncing around r/The_Donald, often cloaked in shockingly venomous rhetoric, do not adhere to and cannot be judged by traditional journalistic standards. This type of fake news needs to be understood in tandem with its context and purpose. Some of it is just for profit. But other pieces are intended to serve as weaponized propaganda meant to inspire harassment or even worse.

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http://www.alternet.org/media/how-misinformed-tweet-was-manufactured-major-right-wing-news

Buzzfeed News analysis found that the top 20 fake political news stories in circulation during the election got more clicks, views, shares and reactions on Facebook than the top 20 real news stories. The vast majority of those fake stories—all but three—were “overtly pro-Donald Trump or anti-Hillary Clinton,” meaning they pinged around the conservative webosphere, where they were accepted without question by millions and then passed to the next gullible consumer.

Paul Horner, among the most prolific and successful fake news writers, recently told the Washington Post that Trump voters and other “right-wing Republicans” were almost single-handedly responsible for the $10,000 he pulls in every month, because they “post everything, believe anything,” and continue to share fake news even when they find out it isn't true. That might explain why so many fake news stories seem specially tailored for the conservative news reader.

One of Horner’s most popular stories was a fabricated interview with a made-up person who said he’d been paid to protest Trump ahead of the election. During the campaign, multiple members of Trump’s team retweeted the story, even though many sources pointed out it wasn't true. The ludicrous idea that anti-Trump demonstrators are each paid thousands of dollars by billionaire George Soros—who plays a starring role in pretty much every right-wing conspiracy—has now become conservative gospel.

Eric Tucker, a marketer in Austin, Texas, was probably very familiar with this rumor when he recently sent an erroneous tweet that launched a viral right-wing story.The New York Times decided to examine how Tucker's tweet became a major topic of conservative discussion, following its online travels step by step. On the evening of November 9, just as protests against President-elect Trump were erupting all over the country, Tucker tweeted the photo and message below to his tiny group of 40followers. 

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According to the Times, Tucker heard about anti-Trump demonstrations in Austin hours after he saw the buses in the photo, and for reasons that aren’t entirely clear (except that if you look for boogeymen everywhere you will find them), assumed a connection between the two. The Times confirmed that Tucker’s photo actually features buses booked for employees of Tableau Software, which was having a conference in the city. (Tucker told the Times he did a search for nearby conferences but didn’t find anything.) Roughly four hours after the original tweet went out, it ended up :{on :(style="background-color:#ffffff;"):}::{Reddit:(style="background-color:#ffff66;"):}:. “BREAKING: They found the buses!” the header reads. “Dozens lined up just blocks away from the Austin protests.” The thread of comments that follow indicate subreddits full of Trump supporters who, riding high on an election victory, are ecstatic to have a new conspiracy they can hang on the left.

“Alex Jones is based in Austin,” one commenter declares. “Let him know, and his crew can check it out.”

That’s followed by a lot of wishing the worst on Soros, complaints about “cucks,” suggestions thatJames O’Keefe get involved, and a lot of assumptions rooted in racism and paranoia. “Busing in violent mobs? Please tell me how this isn't inciting treason,” one person demands. This inexplicably devolves into a conversation about Obamaphones.

By the morning of November 10, the story appeared on right-wing message board Free Republic, where a user linked back to the original tweet. Here’s the point at which things quickly build momentum, picking up the pace across right-wing echo chambers. According to the Times, that same day, “Facebook pages like Robertson Family Values, which is named for but not affiliated with the stars of ‘Duck Dynasty,’ and Donald Trump Commander in Chief 2020, linked to the Free Republic discussion.” A Times screengrab of aFree Republican Facebook post repeating the Reddit message shows 307,616 shares. The paper also cites 5,000 shares of each of the aforementioned blog posts.

By now, the story had trickled upward to local news outlets. When the Austin-based affiliate for Fox called Coach USA North America bus companyto get more information, they were told by spokesperson Sean Hughes that the company wasn’t involved in any protests. Hughes even sent the station a statement clarifying that buses were in town "for a conference” and that “at no point were Coach USA buses involved in the Austin protests." The television station’s website, now empty of most of the content that appeared there, still features photos of the buses taken by Tucker, with a caption that poses thisleading question: “Were tens of thousands of protesters across the U.S. paid to walk the streets, hold signs, and chant anti-Trump sayings?”

That evening, Gateway Pundit, a major conservative blog, posted a story with the headline, “Figures. Anti-Trump Protesters Were Bussed in to Austin #FakeProtests.” They used Tucker’s original pictures, and according to the Times, linked the nonexistent busloads of fake protesters to “Soros money.” Three hours later, President-elect Trump or someone on his team took to social media to tweet about the fake story to his 16 million followers.

“Just had a very open and successful presidential election,” the message reads. “Now professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting. Very unfair!”

As of this writing, the tweet has more than 71,000 retweets and 240,000 likes.

On November 11, a spokesperson for Tableau, the tech company that rented the buses for its conference attendees, sent a statement to the Austin American-Statesman. The newspaper, in turn, published an article debunking Tucker’s original tweet and all of the stories that followed. Included was an interview withEric Tucker, who praised Alex Jones and stated, “I think that it is necessary for us to risk sometimes being wrong to help develop moving the dialogue forward.”

Later in the day, according to the Times, Tucker sent a tweet that acknowledged the possibility his first suggestion may have been “flat wrong.” There was also a Snopes article declaring the rumor false. Instead of stopping the fake news dead in its tracks, the case essentially turned into proof that "a lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes," as the old saying goes. Also, the internet loves a lie that supports its political agenda. According to the Times, “Mr. Tucker’s initial tweet continued to generate thousands of shares on Facebook through Free Republic and pages like Right Wing News and Joe the Plumber.”

On the night of November 11, Tucker put up the tweet below, which shows his original message updated to carry a bright red “FALSE” across it. The corrected tweet, as of this writing, has a paltry 60 retweets and 66 likes. He told the Times that moving forward, "I can assure you I’m going to try my best to be balanced with the facts and be very clear about what is opinion and what is not." He also said that knowing what he knows now, he “might have still tweeted it but very differently. I think it goes without saying I would have tried to make a more objective statement.”

The same night, Tucker finally trashed the tweet that started it all. While that’s been scrubbed from social media, its impact isn’t going anywhere. Neither, coincidentally, is President-elect Donald Trump.

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