Thread by @MollyMcKew, I hate to break it to a lot of people, but if [...]

I hate to break it to a lot of people, but if what you write/post contributes to disinformation narratives, you *are* the disinformation.

My new piece for @SURfdn’s #defusingdisinfo blog /1 https://standuprepublic.com/what-lessons-havent-we-learned-since-2016-lesson-5-are-you-disinfo/

What lessons haven’t we learned since 2016? Lesson 5: Are YOU Disinfo? - Stand Up Republic

We need to be more aware of whether and when our own posts are feeding narratives being pushed by adversaries and malign actors, what that means, and what we should do about it.

https://standuprepublic.com/what-lessons-havent-we-learned-since-2016-lesson-5-are-you-disinfo/

What do I mean?

While it isn’t a new tactic, recent reporting shows that malign information operators are focusing more on amplifying conspiracies and disinfo created already by Americans in this election cycle (instead of making their own.) /2 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/15/technology/coronavirus-disinformation-russia-iowa-caucus.html

A Conspiracy Made in America May Have Been Spread by Russia

The Americans who pushed a conspiracy theory the night of the Iowa caucuses have migrated to coronavirus conspiracies on Twitter, with help from a very Russia-friendly account.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/15/technology/coronavirus-disinformation-russia-iowa-caucus.html

This allows them to use disposable accounts to promote and amplify bad information, instead of having to build established infrastructure. /3

Central to this is an idea discussed earlier in this series:

that disinformation fails if we refuse to be a part of the machinery and behavior essential to its function.

This isn’t just about truth, but about understanding how disinfo really works and spreads. /4

One of the stories from the past 4 years that I think about the most is this one, where a reporter goes back &interviews people who it turns out were taking money, support, etc from the Kremlin’s “troll farm” in 2016 to organize events/other actions. /5 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/21/russia-social-media-activism-blacktivist

'Our pain for their gain': the American activists manipulated by Russian trolls

As social media accounts like Blacktivist emerge as fake, demonstrators feel tricked – but say the activism the accounts fueled was very real

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/21/russia-social-media-activism-blacktivist

Twitter crashed and glitched so reposting rest of thread here

https://twitter.com/mollymckew/status/1275257359229693953?s=21 https://twitter.com/mollymckew/status/1275257359229693953

https://twitter.com/mollymckew/status/1275257359229693953?s=21

You can follow @MollyMcKew.

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