The Propaganda Problem

Captain Obvious

I'm wondering how Boards has been affected by the spread of propaganda pushers on social media. Do you find yourselves devoting much time to combatting it or do you not see it as an issue? It's become very prevalent on Twitter, The Journal and /r/ireland. It also seems to be an issue on AH, often with rereg accounts.


Having had two controversial referendums and with a third approaching along with a presidential election and possibly a general election, do you expect Boards to be a big target? Are there any plans to combat it outside of normal operation?

Skylinehead

There are no bots here.








¬_¬

dudara

I’ll be honest. I’ve long suspected we have a “bot” (or professional troll) problem. Some of the stuff that surfaced during the abortion debate or in relation to Trump is just too bizarre and didn’t fit the usual usage patterns that I’ve become accustomed to seeing as a mod/CMod/Admin.

However, I’ve never been able to prove it. It’s a gut instinct on my part.

Ken.

Nixonbot wrote: »

There are no bots here.








¬_¬

Can confirm. I've asked all the other 5000 people here in this web brigade and they all say their are no bots on the internet.

Beasty

I think anyone behind "social media bots" probably have far bigger fish to fry than Boards. I take dudara's point on the abortion referendum, but I would see that as more a concerted effort by a relatively small number of individuals than any automated process

I have also seen comments from others alleging bots getting involved in certain forums, but I have seen absolutely no evidence of this. Yes there really are people out there that like the way Russia/Putin goes about things. Others may use related topics to troll in a way they would love to come across as some kind of bot infestation. All I can see is a small number of probably sad individuals who maybe have little else in their lives to entertain them.

Captain Obvious

Beasty wrote: »

I think anyone behind "social media bots" probably have far bigger fish to fry than Boards. I take dudara's point on the abortion referendum, but I would see that as more a concerted effort by a relatively small number of individuals than any automated process

I have also seen comments from others alleging bots getting involved in certain forums, but I have seen absolutely no evidence of this. Yes there really are people out there that like the way Russia/Putin goes about things. Others may use related topics to troll in a way they would love to come across as some kind of bot infestation. All I can see is a small number of probably sad individuals who maybe have little else in their lives to entertain them.

I think that is a pretty naive position to take. Boards would be a prime target considering it's local reach. I think the current situation with so many politics threads in AH makes it even more vulnerable as they don't apply the standards to supporting claims and providing sources as the politics forum does or the PC did.


Ireland itself is a prime target for influence. We have been at the forefront of providing constitutionally mandated citizen rights in the last few years. We are an integral part of the Brexit negotiations. We have a lot of pro immigration politicians and are generally left leaning in policies. And we will have a lot of elections/referendums coming up.

Chips Lovell

At the moment, on Politics at least, they're a manageable problem. They're usually noticed and banned within hours of their first post. They seem to appear more frequently at certain times. So, while we banned seven since the start of July, we banned five in June alone.

In terms of the issues we have to deal with, they're probably one of the least time consuming.

Beasty

Let me put it another way. If there are bots they are not very good ones. Yes posters try and spread propaganda but it's very easy to see through it. If there was much in the way of automation behind posting on certain topics it would be easily spotted. When.people do allege bot activity it's very easy for those of us with Admin powers to check for links. We've also had developers checking some of the allegations of bots. However it's much easier for posters to see any perceived evidence of such activity themselves

As I've already indicated there may well be coordination amongst certain groups attempting to get a message over. If there was anyone capable of putting some automation behind this they are not very good at it

Captain Obvious

I don't think bots are the big issue here. Some of them are smart but they can still be easily spotted in many cases. Propaganda pushers would be the main thing. Since IP addresses can be spoofed or hidden, I'd imagine the only way to realistically identify them is by similarities in posting.

Beasty

OK, OK - we'd better admit it. Yes we have been experimenting with bots moderating AH. Thought they had blended nicely into the background, but it looks like someone has let the cat out of the bag:(

Back to the drawing Boards I guess

:pac:

TheValeyard

Beasty wrote: »

OK, OK - we'd better admit it. Yes we have been experimenting with bots moderating AH. Thought they had blended nicely into the background, but it looks like someone has let the cat out of the bag:(

Back to the drawing Boards I guess

:pac:

But Pat Kenny operates so well within his coding. Whats wrong with your bots?

Beasty

Murray TheDemonic TalkingSkull wrote: »

But Pat Kenny operates so well within his coding. Whats wrong with your bots?

Not paying them anything enough, apparently

TheValeyard

Beasty wrote: »

Not paying them anything enough, apparently

Hmmm.
Makes sense. I hear the Pat Kenny bot requires a lot of funding to keep in working order.