I read in the local paper this week that the Russians are up to their old tricks, sowing disinformation and discord through fake accounts on social media in the lead up to the 2020 general election. Don’t be fooled.
It’s important to be discerning. Have you ever seen The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle? Things are not always as they seem, and people are not always who they make themselves out to be.
Back in 2016, in addition to the shenanigans perpetrated by their bot army on Twitter, the Russians managed a Facebook group advocating for Texas to secede. The Russians arranged for members of the secessionist group to come together for a demonstration in Houston on the same day and in the same place where an Islamic group was also holding a demonstration. Both groups were coordinated by the Russians.
Again, don’t be fooled. If something seems weird on social media, it could be real. But it might be Boris and Natasha.
