|
I thought he was in jail how is he tweeting
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2023 18:47
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 23, 2024 13:09 |
|
|
tokin opposition posted:it would be so much less work to just be gay Yeah then Andrew Tate would simply call the both of you so you excuse yourselves and then meet up on whatever the gently caress it is these people think he'd ask you to do and then you do finger guns at each other and go eyyyyy and then you gently caress.
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2023 18:48
|
|
|
Hellblazer187 posted:I thought he was in jail how is he tweeting He's on house arrest now I think.
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2023 18:52
|
|
|
Hellblazer187 posted:I thought he was in jail how is he tweeting He got out but the actual trial hasn't happened yet AFAIK
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2023 18:53
|
|
|
Hellblazer187 posted:I thought he was in jail how is he tweeting While he was in jail/prison, the assumption is that he had a minion posting for him. But now, last I checked, he's on house arrest...meaning he can  all he wants.
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2023 18:53
|
|
|
The system works
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2023 18:54
|
|
|
I really do not understand the relationship these guys have with their idols. Like my dudes there are doms out there who would take better care of you than this weirdo and the relationship would probably be healthier.
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2023 18:56
|
|
|
OwlFancier posted:I really do not understand the relationship these guys have with their idols. Like my dudes there are doms out there who would take better care of you than this weirdo and the relationship would probably be healthier. they're literal children Or if not actually underaged, then mentally children. The entire thing reeks of a tween trying to act like an adult.
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2023 18:58
|
|
|
Hellblazer187 posted:I thought he was in jail how is he tweeting xing, thank you very much
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2023 18:58
|
|
|
"To prove what a hyper-masculine hetero alpha I am, I will reject hanging out with an attractive woman that likes me, in favour of sitting with a sweaty, shirtless, bearded man."
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2023 19:03
|
|
|
Obviously I'm not the audience but everything Tate ever posts is so vacuous and substance-less that it boggles my mind these people think a "meeting" with him would somehow provide them with something invaluable.
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2023 19:07
|
|
|
ishikabibble posted:they're literal children I wasn't that cringe as a child, I was a profoundly hosed up child and very bad in many ways socially, but I was never that hosed up. So I don't find that to be a satisfactory explanation even if I didn't think there were a lot of adults involved. There are grown rear end middle aged men who will pay thousands of dollars to some guy in a T shirt who works out too much to abuse them while they gently caress around in the woods pretending to be army men, and they will come back from it saying they feel more manly as a result. There is something deeply, profoundly wrong with a section of the population that transcends age.
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2023 19:07
|
|
|
PurpleXVI posted:"To prove what a hyper-masculine hetero alpha I am, I will reject hanging out with an attractive woman that likes me, in favour of sitting with a sweaty, shirtless, bearded man." Reminds me of when women started getting into D&D, TCGs, video games, comics, etc. 99% of male nerds screaming about "  invading our hobby", with the remaining 1% like "Actually, having mutual interests means maybe now we can get dates?  "Also:
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2023 19:08
|
|
|
Regy Rusty posted:Obviously I'm not the audience but everything Tate ever posts is so vacuous and substance-less that it boggles my mind these people think a "meeting" with him would somehow provide them with something invaluable. That's part of the scam/charm. He posts such meaningless drivel that his devotees can just nod and agree and interpret it either way they want. His posts are as deep as a kiddie pool but because they are so vague and use....words I guess....a devotee already prone to treat his words like the word of God will just claim that they know the true meaning unlike us losers who have hobbies and friends and poo poo.
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2023 19:34
|
|
|
Read After Burning posted:Reminds me of when women started getting into D&D, TCGs, video games, comics, etc. 99% of male nerds screaming about " This comic is bullshit, none of these Jons Arbuckle could ever get married
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2023 19:35
|
|
|
PurpleXVI posted:"To prove what a hyper-masculine hetero alpha I am, I will reject hanging out with an attractive woman that likes me, in favour of sitting with a sweaty, shirtless, bearded man." At least some of them think that if they impress him he'll invest in their hustle/grift, either with money or by raising their profile among his own followers. It's why they're always riding his jock while advertising their own stuff.
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2023 19:37
|
|
|
It's because he tells them what they want to hear, which is that women belong to men and they are entitled to women's sexual availability. Simple as.
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2023 19:39
|
|
|
Everyone knows the most heterosexual of manly men drop everything at a moment's notice, especially if that thing is a relationship with , so they can sit in dimly lit rooms and scowl at each other around a table full of meat dishes while they compete for the attention of the "head" dude
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2023 19:42
|
|
|
Read After Burning posted:While he was in jail/prison, the assumption is that he had a minion posting for him. But now, last I checked, he's on house arrest...meaning he can The person he had posting for him while he was in prison was the guy who was caught on live stream sniffing Tates chair after he left the room. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eenUoC5et08
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2023 19:47
|
|
|
Regy Rusty posted:Obviously I'm not the audience but everything Tate ever posts is so vacuous and substance-less that it boggles my mind these people think a "meeting" with him would somehow provide them with something invaluable.  we should call ANDREW TATE and set up a meeting
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2023 19:48
|
|
|
In this fantasy, women are replacable and beneath them. If he doesn't leave the date, he prioritizes her, and gives away that he isn't so central to her that she'll simply do anything he wants and put up with whatever he does. In the fantasy, it is also trivial for him to find other women, because he is so important and women want him so much. The inferiority and availabilty of women is central to this mindset, and this collective chest beating about how this is obviously how they would act and obviously right helps reinforce to them that it is the correct worldview. But yes, it's also goofy as hell.
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2023 19:48
|
|
|
Inceltown posted:The person he had posting for him while he was in prison was the guy who was caught on live stream sniffing Tates chair after he left the room. Oh, THAT particular minion! I brought him up in this thread for his original IoSM (having some beef with drill rappers), but yeah, he's since pivoted to a full-on Tate stan. He's also popped up in here before because he's suddenly turned super anti-porn and anti-masturbation, presumably also because of Tate. He used to be super into the "hot tub streams", but now is going full-on Russel Brand. ....gently caress, I hate Russel Brand.
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2023 19:50
|
|
|
mycatscrimes posted:It's because he tells them what they want to hear, which is that women belong to men and they are entitled to women's sexual availability. Simple as. Yeah its this. Tatertots are big losers who blame women for not havibg sex with them, and Tate tells them they're right in thinking women are whores who should be their slaves. It's a great society we have built.
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2023 19:54
|
|
|
At least Russel Brand has been funny from time to time and did drugs. These people don't even have that.
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2023 19:55
|
|
|
How do they jive with the fact that Tate straight up said if you are dating a woman who is trans and you find her gorgeous, go for it! Nothing wrong with that!
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2023 19:58
|
|
|
Biplane posted:Yeah its this. Tatertots are big losers who blame women for not havibg sex with them, and Tate tells them they're right in thinking women are whores who should be their slaves. It's a great society we have built. The confusing part is that this manifests with them associating almost exclusively with other sweaty fuckless dudes and spending all their time talking about how they would totally dump all their girlfriends to hang out with senpai, if they had girlfriends. It is an incredible level of delusion. Neither your daddy nor your imaginary wife will ever notice you.
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2023 20:00
|
|
|
PurpleXVI posted:https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?noseen=1&threadid=3887592&pagenumber=801&perpage=40#post533193022 Well, Stoopidmonkey is kinda the idiot, you can't just keep sending Goatse over and over, you've got to mix it up a bit. At least throw a Tubgirl or a Lemonparty in the mix.
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2023 20:04
|
|
|
Someone woke up the other day and said "You know what I should submit to an anonymous celebrity gossip page? A SERIAL KILLER!  " Meanwhile, the anonymous celebrity gossip page thinks a medium can solve this! This seems to be the same rumor that another "influencer", Ken Waks, has already come under fire for spreading. https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tiktok-ken-waks-backlash-serial-killer-case-true-crime-ethics-rcna83105 quote:Since early March, Ken Waks, a TikTok creator with 1 million followers, had been pursuing an investigation into a potential serial killer working in various cities in the U.S. The Chicago-based marketer has claimed that someone — or even a group of people — has been targeting men walking home from a bar or club at night and dumping them in rivers across the country. Read After Burning has a new favorite as of 20:48 on Jul 26, 2023 |
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2023 20:39
|
|
|
“Not much. What’s up with you?” GOT ’EM!
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2023 21:34
|
|
|
If you're gonna cancel a concert last-minute for "unforeseen circumstances", you may not want to be caught in public staggering around drunk shortly beforehand! Grain of salt, since I don't know when this photo was actually taken. But Depp apparently has a bit of a reputation for either not showing up to work at all, or showing up hella hosed up... https://twitter.com/cocainecross/status/1681365220290338816 Read After Burning has a new favorite as of 21:51 on Jul 26, 2023 |
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2023 21:35
|
|
|
No shame on hiring sex workers, but it's kinda sad that even in this dude's macho alpha fantasy the only way he can imagine someone wanting to be around him is if he literally throws piles of money at them
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2023 22:06
|
|
|
RareAcumen posted:
Poor guy cant even afford a shirt
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2023 22:21
|
|
|
That looks like weird al.
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2023 22:23
|
|
|
Read After Burning posted:If you're gonna cancel a concert last-minute for "unforeseen circumstances", you may not want to be caught in public staggering around drunk shortly beforehand! he can rot in hell imo
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2023 22:28
|
|
|
He must have been absolutely horizontal drunk to not be able to do his job as stage decoration because he's not doing much else. I'm not sure they even bother plugging his amp in.
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2023 22:48
|
|
|
Hey gang, I've lately been seeing some of you call that human trafficking "astroturfed" as well as Moms 4 Liberty. What does this term mean?
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2023 22:49
|
|
|
grassroots but fake
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2023 22:50
|
|
|
Read After Burning posted:If you're gonna cancel a concert last-minute for "unforeseen circumstances", you may not want to be caught in public staggering around drunk shortly beforehand! This will be the day they remember as the day they almost saw Johnny Depp
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2023 22:51
|
|
|
Johnny Derp
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2023 22:56
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 23, 2024 13:09 |
|
|
credburn posted:Hey gang, I've lately been seeing some of you call that human trafficking "astroturfed" as well as Moms 4 Liberty. What does this term mean? Astroturfing is the practice of hiding the sponsors of a message or organization (e.g., political, advertising, religious, or public relations) to make it appear as though it originates from, and is supported by, grassroots participants. It is a practice intended to give the statements or organizations credibility by withholding information about the source's financial backers. The term astroturfing is derived from AstroTurf, a brand of synthetic carpeting designed to resemble natural grass, as a play on the word "grassroots". The implication behind the use of the term is that instead of a "true" or "natural" grassroots effort behind the activity in question, there is a "fake" or "artificial" appearance of support. Definition Artificial grass produced by AstroTurf, which inspired the name "astroturfing" for creating a false impression of grassroots support In political science, it is defined as the process of seeking electoral victory or legislative relief for grievances by helping political actors find and mobilize a sympathetic public, and is designed to create the image of public consensus where there is none.[1][2] Astroturfing is the use of fake grassroots efforts that primarily focus on influencing public opinion and typically are funded by corporations and political entities to form opinions.[3] On the internet, astroturfers use software to hide their identity. Sometimes one individual operates through many personas to give the impression of widespread support for their client's agenda.[4][5] Some studies suggest astroturfing can alter public viewpoints and create enough doubt to inhibit action.[6][7] In the first systematic study of astroturfing in the United States, Oxford Professor Philip N. Howard argued that the internet was making it much easier for powerful lobbyists and political movements to activate small groups of aggrieved citizens to have an exaggerated importance in public policy debates.[2] Astroturfed accounts on social media do not always require humans to write their posts; one January 2021 study detailed a "set of human-looking bot accounts" used to post political content, which was able to operate automatically for fourteen days (and make 1,586 posts) before being detected and suspended by Twitter.[8] Twitter trends are often targeted by astroturfing as they are used as a proxy for popularity. A study conducted by researchers at EPFL reported that 20% of the global Twitter trends in 2019 were fake, created automatically using fake and compromised accounts which tweet in a coordinated way to mimic grassroots organizing of regular Twitter users.[9] Policies and enforcement Many countries have laws that prohibit more overt astroturfing practices.[10] In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) may send cease-and-desist orders or require a fine of $16,000 per day for those that violate its "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising".[10][11] The FTC's guides were updated in 2009 to address social media and word-of-mouth marketing.[12][13] According to an article in the Journal of Consumer Policy, the FTC's guides holds advertisers responsible for ensuring bloggers or product endorsers comply with the guides, and any product endorsers with a material connection are required to provide honest reviews.[10] In the European Union, the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive requires that paid-for editorial content in the media provide a clear disclosure that the content is a sponsored advertisement.[10] Additionally, it prohibits those with a material connection from misleading readers into thinking they are a regular consumer.[10] The United Kingdom has the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations,[14] which prohibits "Falsely representing oneself as a consumer." They allow for up to two years in prison and unlimited fines for breaches.[10] Additionally, the advertising industry in the UK has adopted many voluntary policies, such as the Code of Non-Broadcast Advertising, Sale, Promotion and Direct Marketing. A trade association, the Advertising Standards Authority, investigates complaints of breaches. The policy requires that marketing professionals not mislead their audience, including by omitting a disclosure of their material connection.[10] In Australia, astroturfing is regulated by Section 18 of the Australian Consumer Law, which broadly prohibits "misleading and deceptive conduct". According to the Journal of Consumer Policy, Australia's laws, which were introduced in 1975, are more vague. In most cases, they are enforced through lawsuits from competitors, rather than the regulatory body, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission.[10] There is also an International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN).[15] Legal regulations are primarily targeted towards testimonials, endorsements and statements as to the performance or quality of a product. Employees of an organization may be considered acting as customers if their actions are not guided by authority within the company.[15] In October 2018, after denying that they had paid for people to show up in support of a controversial power plant development project in New Orleans, Entergy was fined five million dollars for using astroturf firm The Hawthorn Group to provide actors to prevent real community members' voices from being counted at city council meetings and show false grassroots support.[16] Debate Effectiveness In the book Grassroots for Hire: Public Affairs Consultants in American Democracy, Edward Walker defines "astroturfing" as public participation that is perceived as heavily incented, as fraudulent (claims are attributed to those who did not make such statements), or as an elite campaign masquerading as a mass movement.[17] Although not all campaigns by professional grassroots lobbying consultants meet this definition, the book finds that the elite-sponsored grassroots campaigns often fail when they are not transparent about their sources of sponsorship and/or fail to develop partnerships with constituencies that have an independent interest in the issue. Walker highlights the case of Working Families for Wal-Mart, in which the campaign's lack of transparency led to its demise. A study published in the Journal of Business Ethics examined the effects of websites operated by front groups on students. It found that astroturfing was effective at creating uncertainty and lowering trust about claims, thereby changing perceptions that tend to favor the business interests behind the astroturfing effort.[3] The New York Times reported that "consumer" reviews are more effective, because "they purport to be testimonials of real people, even though some are bought and sold just like everything else on the commercial Internet."[18] Some organizations feel that their business is threatened by negative comments, so they may engage in astroturfing to drown them out.[19] Online comments from astroturfing employees can also sway the discussion through the influence of groupthink.[20] Justification Some astroturfing operatives defend their practice.[21] Regarding "movements that have organized aggressively to exaggerate their sway," author Ryan Sager said that this "isn't cheating. Doing everything in your power to get your people to show up is basic politics."[22] According to a Porter/Novelli executive, "There will be times when the position you advocate, no matter how well framed and supported, will not be accepted by the public simply because you are who you are."[23] Impact on society Data-mining expert Bing Liu (University of Illinois Chicago) estimated that one-third of all consumer reviews on the Internet are fake.[18] According to The New York Times, this has made it hard to tell the difference between "popular sentiment" and "manufactured public opinion".[24] According to an article in the Journal of Business Ethics, astroturfing threatens the legitimacy of genuine grassroots movements. The authors argued that astroturfing that is "purposefully designed to fulfill corporate agendas, manipulate public opinion and harm scientific research represents a serious lapse in ethical conduct."[3] A 2011 report found that often paid posters from competing companies are attacking each other in forums and overwhelming regular participants in the process.[25] George Monbiot said that persona-management software supporting astroturfing "could destroy the Internet as a forum for constructive debate".[26] An article in the Journal of Consumer Policy said that regulators and policy makers needed to be more aggressive about astroturfing. The author said that it undermines the public's ability to inform potential customers of sub-standard products or inappropriate business practices, but also noted that fake reviews were difficult to detect.[10] Techniques Use of one or more front groups is one astroturfing technique. These groups typically present themselves as serving the public interest, while actually working on behalf of a corporate or political sponsor.[27] Front groups may resist legislation and scientific consensus that is damaging to the sponsor's business by emphasizing minority viewpoints, instilling doubt and publishing counterclaims by corporate-sponsored experts.[3] Fake blogs can also be created that appear to be written by consumers, while actually being operated by a commercial or political interest.[28] Some political movements have provided incentives for members of the public to send a letter to the editor at their local paper, often using a copy and paste form letter that is published in dozens of newspapers verbatim.[29] Another technique is the use of sockpuppets, where a single person creates multiple identities online to give the appearance of grassroots support. Sockpuppets may post positive reviews about a product, attack participants that criticize the organization, or post negative reviews and comments about competitors, under fake identities.[19][30] Astroturfing businesses may pay staff based on the number of posts they make that are not flagged by moderators.[25] Persona management software may be used so that each paid poster can manage five to seventy convincing online personas without getting them confused.[26][31] Online astroturfing using sockpuppets is a form of Sybil attack against distributed systems. Pharmaceutical companies may sponsor patient support groups and simultaneously push them to help market their products.[32] Bloggers who receive free products, paid travel or other accommodations may also be considered astroturfing if those gifts are not disclosed to the reader.[33] Analysts could be considered astroturfing, since they often cover their own clients without disclosing their financial connection. To avoid astroturfing, many organizations and press have policies about gifts, accommodations and disclosures.[34] Detection This section contains information of unclear or questionable importance or relevance to the article's subject. Please help improve this section by clarifying or removing indiscriminate details. Non-important content should likely be moved to another article or removed. (May 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) Persona management software can age accounts and simulate the activity of attending a conference automatically to make it more convincing that they are genuine.[35] At HBGary, employees are given separate thumb drives that contain online accounts for individual identities and visual cues to remind the employee which identity they are using at the time.[35] Mass letters may be printed on personalized stationery using different typefaces, colors and words to make them appear personal.[36] According to an article in The New York Times, the Federal Trade Commission rarely enforces its astroturfing laws.[18] Operations are frequently detected if their profile images are recognized[37] or if they are identified through the usage patterns of their accounts.[25] Filippo Menczer's group at Indiana University developed software in 2010 that detects astroturfing on Twitter by recognizing behavioral patterns.[38][39][40] Business and adoption According to an article in the Journal of Consumer Policy, academics disagree on how prolific astroturfing is.[10] According to Nancy Clark from Precision Communications, grass-roots specialists charge $25 to $75 for each constituent they convince to send a letter to a politician.[36] Paid online commentators in China are purportedly paid 50 cents for each online post that is not removed by moderators,[25] leading to the nickname of the "50-cent party".[20] The New York Times reported that a business selling fake online book reviews charged $999 for 50 reviews and made $28,000 a month shortly after opening.[18] According to the Financial Times, astroturfing is "commonplace" in American politics, but was "revolutionary" in Europe when it was exposed that the European Privacy Association, an anti-privacy "think-tank", was actually sponsored by technology companies.[41] History of incidents Origins Although the term "astroturfing" was not yet developed, an early example of the practice was in Act 1, Scene 2 of Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar. In the play, Gaius Cassius Longinus writes fake letters from "the public" to convince Brutus to assassinate Julius Caesar.[15] The term "astroturfing" was first coined in 1985 by Texas Democratic Party senator Lloyd Bentsen when he said, "a fellow from Texas can tell the difference between grass roots and AstroTurf... this is generated mail."[15][42] Bentsen was describing a "mountain of cards and letters" sent to his office to promote insurance industry interests.[43] Pharmaceuticals Patient advocacy groups funded by biopharmaceutical companies are common.[44][45] In 1997, Schering Plough paid a P/R firm Schandwick International, to create a national coalition of patient advocacy groups promoting Schering's Rebotron, a treatment for Hepatitis C. The groups pushed increased testing as a way to manufacture cases and lobbied state legislatures to cover the $18,000 treatment. The groups also hosted telephone "information lines" with scripts written by the drug company and distributed "patient information" pamphlets promoting drug therapies over other alternatives and overstating the danger of the medical condition.[46] Manufacturers of AIDS drugs commonly fund LGBTQ organizations, which in turn, lobby to advance policies that increase AIDS drug sales. In 2019, the communications director of AIDS United, a Washington DC-based coalition of AIDS service organizations, resigned, stating such funding creates conflicts of interest among gay rights activists.[47] Tobacco In response to the passage of tobacco control legislation in the US, Philip Morris, Burson-Marsteller and other tobacco interests created the National Smokers Alliance (NSA) in 1993. The NSA and other tobacco interests initiated an aggressive public relations campaign from 1994 to 1999 in an effort to exaggerate the appearance of grassroots support for smoker's rights. According to an article in the Journal of Health Communication, the NSA had mixed success at defeating bills that were damaging revenues of tobacco interests.[48] Internet Email, automated phone calls, form letters, and the Internet made astroturfing more economical and prolific in the late 1990s.[26][42] In 2001, as Microsoft was defending itself against an antitrust lawsuit, Americans for Technology Leadership (ATL), a group heavily funded by Microsoft, initiated a letter-writing campaign. ATL contacted constituents under the guise of conducting a poll and sent pro-Microsoft consumers form and sample letters to send to involved lawmakers. The effort was designed to make it appear as though there was public support for a sympathetic ruling in the antitrust lawsuit.[36][49] In January 2018, YouTube user Isaac Protiva uploaded a video alleging that internet service provider Fidelity Communications was behind an initiative called "Stop City-Funded Internet", based on how some images on the Stop City-Funded Internet website had "Fidelity" in their file names.[50] The campaign appeared to be in response to the city of West Plains expanding their broadband network, and advocated for the end of municipal broadband on the basis that it was too risky.[51][52] Days later, Fidelity released a letter admitting to sponsoring the campaign.[53] Politics In 2009–2010, an Indiana University research study developed a software system to detect astroturfing on Twitter due to the sensitivity of the topic in the run up to the 2010 U.S. midterm elections and account suspensions on the social media platform. The study cited a limited number of examples, all promoting conservative policies and candidates.[38][39][40] In 2003, GOPTeamLeader.com offered the site's users "points" that could be redeemed for products if they signed a form letter promoting George Bush and got a local paper to publish it as a letter to the editor. More than 100 newspapers published an identical letter to the editor from the site with different signatures on it. Similar campaigns were used by GeorgeWBush.com, and by MoveOn.org to promote Michael Moore's film Fahrenheit 9/11.[29][54] The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget's "Fix the Debt" campaign advocated to reduce government debt without disclosing that its members were lobbyists or high-ranking employees at corporations that aim to reduce federal spending.[55][56] It also sent op-eds to various students that were published as-is.[57] Some organizations in the Tea Party movement have been accused of being astroturfed.[58] In October and November 2018, conservative marketing firm Rally Forge created what The New Yorker described as "a phony left-wing front group, America Progress Now, which promoted Green Party candidates online in 2018, apparently to hurt Democrats in several races."[59] Its ads on Facebook used socialist memes and slogans to attack Democrats and urge third-party protest voting in several tight races, including the 2018 Wisconsin gubernatorial election.[60][61] In 2018, a website called "Jexodus" claiming to be by "proud Jewish Millennials tired of living in bondage to leftist politics" was set up by Jeff Ballabon, a Republican operative in his mid-50s. The website was denounced as "likely a clumsy astroturf effort rather than an actual grassroots movement".[62][63][64][65] The website was registered November 5, 2018, before the congressional election, and before those representatives accused of antisemitism had even been voted in.[65] This website was later cited by Donald Trump as though it were an authentic movement.[62] In January 2021, a team led by Mohsen Mosleh conducted a politically oriented astroturfing campaign on Twitter, using "a set of human-looking bot accounts"; each bot would search for users posting links the researchers considered to be fake news, and "tweet a public reply message to the user’s tweet that contained the link to the false story". 1,586 spam replies were made over the course of fourteen days, until Twitter detected and suspended all of the bot accounts.[8] Environment The Koch brothers started a public advocacy group to prevent the development of wind turbines offshore in Massachusetts. The Kennedy family was also involved.[66][67][68][69][70] Corporate efforts to mobilize the public against environmental regulation accelerated in the US following the election of president Barack Obama.[71] In 2014, the Toronto Sun conservative media organization has published an article accusing Russia of using astroturf tactics to drum up anti-fracking sentiment across Europe and the West, supposedly in order to maintain dominance in oil exports through Ukraine.[72] In Canada, a coalition of oil and gas company executives grouped under the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers also initiated a series of Canadian actions to advocate for the oil and gas industry in Canada through mainstream and social media, and using online campaigning to generate public support for fossil fuel energy projects.[73] Commercial In 2006, two Edelman employees created a blog called "Wal-Marting Across America" about two people traveling to Wal-Marts across the country. The blog gave the appearance of being operated by spontaneous consumers, but was actually operated on behalf of Working Families for Walmart, a group funded by Wal-Mart.[74][75] In 2007, Ask.com deployed an anti-Google advertising campaign portraying Google as an "information monopoly" that was damaging the Internet. The ad was designed to give the appearance of a popular movement and did not disclose it was funded by a competitor.[76] In 2010, the Federal Trade Commission settled a complaint with Reverb Communications, who was using interns to post favorable product reviews in Apple's iTunes store for clients.[77] In September 2012, one of the first major identified cases of astroturfing in Finland involved criticisms about the cost of a €1.8 billion patient information system, which was defended by fake online identities operated by involved vendors.[37][78] In September 2013, New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced a settlement with 19 companies to prevent astroturfing. "'Astroturfing' is the 21st century's version of false advertising, and prosecutors have many tools at their disposal to put an end to it," said Scheiderman. The companies paid $350,000 to settle the matter, but the settlement opened the way for private suits as well. "Every state has some version of the statutes New York used," according to lawyer Kelly H. Kolb. "What the New York attorney general has done is, perhaps, to have given private lawyers a road map to file suit."[79][80] State-sponsored An Al Jazeera TV series The Lobby documented Israel's attempt to promote more friendly, pro-Israel rhetoric to influence the attitudes of British youth, partly through influencing already established political bodies, such as the National Union of Students and the Labour Party, but also by creating new pro-Israel groups whose affiliation with the Israeli administration was kept secret.[81][82] In 2008, an expert on Chinese affairs, Rebecca MacKinnon, estimated the Chinese government employed 280,000 in a government-sponsored astroturfing operation to post pro-government propaganda on social media and drown out voices of dissent.[25][83] In June 2010, the United States Air Force solicited for "persona management" software that would "enable an operator to exercise a number of different online persons from the same workstation and without fear of being discovered by sophisticated adversaries. Personas must be able to appear to originate in nearly any part of the world and can interact through conventional online services and social media platforms..."[84] The $2.6 million contract was awarded to Ntrepid for astroturfing software the military would use to spread pro-American propaganda in the Middle East, and disrupt extremist propaganda and recruitment. The contract is thought to have been awarded as part of a program called Operation Earnest Voice, which was first developed as a psychological warfare weapon against the online presence of groups ranged against coalition forces.[26][85][86][87] On April 11, 2022, seven weeks into the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, BBC published the results of investigation of a network of Facebook groups with the overall aim to promote the Russian president Vladimir Putin as a hero standing up to the West with overwhelming international support. With the help of researchers from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, members, activities, and interrelations in 10 pro-Putin public groups with more than 650,000 members between them in the time of writing, boasting names such as Vladimir Putin - Leader of the Free World, were analyzed. Over a month, researchers counted 16,500 posts, receiving more than 3.6 million interactions. The campaign "creates the appearance of widespread support for Putin and the Kremlin in the shadow of the invasion and relies on... inauthentic accounts to accomplish its goal", according to the ISD report. Lead researcher Moustafa Ayad described the network and its practice of using tens of duplicate accounts in potential violation of Facebook's rules on inauthentic behavior as an example of astroturfing.[88]
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2023 22:56
|
|