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Ask HN: Do we need to worry about Russian troll farms here?

5 points by tombert ↗ HN
In the last few months, I've noticed a slew of accounts posting anti-vax messaging on any COVID-19 related articles. These accounts will be less than a week old, and you'll see that their only posts will have been the same anti-vax rhetoric.

Obviously everyone is entitled to their own opinion, even if it's one that I disagree with, hence why I do not want to link to these examples in fear that I'd be bringing hate on honest actors, but I was curious if anyone knew if HN was falling victim to the same attacks that Facebook is in regards to troll farms?

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Research_Agency [2] https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/09/16/1035851/facebook-troll-farms-report-us-2020-election/

EDIT: It has been brought to my attention that this question might be against HN guidelines. Please feel free to close this thread if that is true.

6 comments

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uniqueuid
The guidelines mention that such issues should not be discussed here but instead reported directly:

"Please don't post insinuations about astroturfing, shilling, bots, brigading, foreign agents and the like. It degrades discussion and is usually mistaken. If you're worried about abuse, email hn@ycombinator.com and we'll look at the data." [1]

That said, I'd be interested in learning about any existing documented cases (not just from Russia).

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

tombert
Ah, I don't want to be in violation of guidelines. If this question is against HN guidelines then the admins can feel free to close this question.

UPDATE:

Upon reading the rules, I'm not trying to insinuate any particular person, because it's totally fair that I might be wrong. I was asking a more general question, hoping to get an answer from a mod or something.

octokatt
Almost certainly yes. Has anyone not seen the uptick?
vidoc
Personally no, I've seen an uptick of some pretty pissed off (and vulgar) comments which appear to be made to trigger San Francisco people. These comments are largely inoffensive as they are rapidly downvoted and these accounts banned.

One worrying trend i noticed tho, is the systematic pinning of such things on 'Russians'. I am appalled by this blatent scapegoating and how it has become a meme over the last few years. People casually jump on this idiotic red scare 2.0 conspiracy theory in full impunity.

tombert
I am definitely an idiot, and maybe I jumped the gun saying Russian, but stating that Russian troll farms exists isn’t exactly controversial, hence why I provided a few links.
vidoc
No offense my friend, this wasn't directed at your post in particular, I was just venting my frustration for this annoying trend. Besides, Ivan Petrovich Pavlov was actually russian :D