this post was submitted on 10 Jun 2025
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Fediverse vs Disinformation

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Pointing out, debunking, and spreading awareness about state- and company-sponsored astroturfing on Lemmy and elsewhere. This includes social media manipulation, propaganda, and disinformation campaigns, among others.

Propaganda and disinformation are a big problem on the internet, and the Fediverse is no exception.

What's the difference between misinformation and disinformation? The inadvertent spread of false information is misinformation. Disinformation is the intentional spread of falsehoods.

By equipping yourself with knowledge of current disinformation campaigns by state actors, corporations and their cheerleaders, you will be better able to identify, report and (hopefully) remove content matching known disinformation campaigns.


Community rules

Same as instance rules, plus:

  1. No disinformation
  2. Posts must be relevant to the topic of astroturfing, propaganda and/or disinformation

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[–] ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca 17 points 1 day ago

ban illegal immigration

It is banned, that’s why it’s illegal

[–] iAvicenna@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

If you want less immigration then stop foreign policies that help fuck up other countries. Not saying that is the only cause but in the long run probably more effective than rounding up random people from the street.

[–] LandedGentry@lemmy.zip 166 points 2 days ago (17 children)

third worlders

I see they’ve found their new N-word after DEI-hire

[–] thisbenzingring@lemmy.sdf.org 52 points 2 days ago (1 children)

i bet none of them would answer the same way if you asked them what a 3rd world country is

[–] cmbabul@lemmy.world 67 points 2 days ago (7 children)

No chance that more than a fourth of them realize it’s from the Cold War and originally mean nations that were neither in the sphere of Soviet or American interest. They just think it means poor country with brown people

[–] Lodespawn@aussie.zone 10 points 2 days ago (4 children)

The Soviets, eastern Europeans, CHYNA, Cuba and North Korea are 2nd world. Odd that they would omit those countries from their rhetoric ..

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[–] Buske@lemmy.world 26 points 2 days ago (1 children)

They are all paid by the same people, Its not that hard to see which side they are on.

[–] TargaryenTKE@lemmy.world 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Usually given the exact same script too

[–] ugjka@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

you mean a prompt to OpenAI api?

[–] TargaryenTKE@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Sometimes? But even like 20 years ago when every single ABC/FOX/NBC anchor was literally given a script (teleprompter) the the way down to the local level and they were instructed to adhere to it as rigidly as possible

Edit: I exaggerate slightly, but not as much as you might think

[–] kryptonianCodeMonkey@lemmy.world 14 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Subtlety is for the 2010s. We in the propaganda finger paint by numbers era now (and none of the numbers will be brown!).

[–] dandelion@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 1 day ago

except in Germany, brown is coming back big there

[–] reddig33@lemmy.world 88 points 2 days ago (2 children)

“Talking Points Memo” isn’t just a website. The term comes from a Republican strategy to send out a memo to the party explaining what the message is that party leadership wants hammered on public media this week. It includes a list of “talking points” with premade example quotes.

[–] sundray@lemmus.org 62 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Way back when the Daily Show used to cut together clips of GOP talking heads pivoting to their talking points in interviews, regardless of the question being asked. It was surreal. And the Left never found a way to counter it, which is why they still do it today.

[–] Almacca@aussie.zone 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I'm always baffled why 'journalists' don't just repeat "Answer the fucking question" at politicians when they do that. Seems like a pretty simple way to counter it.

[–] taiyang@lemmy.world 9 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I remember that as far back as early aughts. Why isn't there a counter? Granted, we've known about Fox News being propaganda but nobody seems to do anything about that, either.

[–] djsoren19@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 1 day ago

because the counter is an actually competent news media free from the control of private interests who would actually push back against the bullshit when it's being peddled, but Americans didn't want to support that. They want news to be feckless entertainment, and so it is.

[–] SARGE@startrek.website 17 points 2 days ago (1 children)
[–] Empricorn@feddit.nl 5 points 2 days ago

Thank you, wanted to make sure someone posted it. And the sad thing is, this is how we got Trump. Boomers ate this shit up from their "local" news...

[–] Almacca@aussie.zone 7 points 1 day ago

All those problems are the result of corporate greed.

[–] Generic_Idiot@lemm.ee 17 points 2 days ago (3 children)

lol America may as well be a “third world country”

Why would anyone from a developed country come to the rapidly deteriorating US?

Idiocracy.

[–] Almacca@aussie.zone 3 points 1 day ago

I've been saying for a while that America is an undeveloping nation.

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[–] Bwaz@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

When a group pf people all share the same one brain cell, they tend to repeat each other.

[–] AccountMaker@lemmy.dbzer0.com 28 points 2 days ago

It's jarringly obvious that they are just told what to say.

Reminds me of propaganda workers in Serbia that sometimes copy their messages along with additional instructions, so you'd see something like "LONG LIVE THE PRESIDENT but change it a bit so that it's not all the same" in the comments of news platforms.

[–] throwawayacc0430@sh.itjust.works 14 points 2 days ago (3 children)

What the fuck is this outdated "third world" term?

Switzerland was neutral during the Cold War so are y'all banning the Swiss from immigrating?

Russia is technically 2nd world, so they're fine?

What is this dumb terminology lmfao.

Okay I think they meant "developing countries".

But why would someone from a developed region such as the EU immigrate to the US? The only reason why someone would want to come is because their country is already terrible and they want to take a risk, but if you ban them from coming, then you have zero immigration and your country collapses due to insufficient workers. Lol, dumbass politicians.

[–] Jikiya@lemmy.world 11 points 2 days ago

The term has been hijacked from it's original meaning, much like irony.

That said, it's so dumb. The folks from developing countries are much more likely to be on "their side". People from developing countries tend to be a great deal more religious. While folks from the EU tend to be less religious, and want more "socialist" programs from the government.

But of course they can't get over their racism to even make any good decisions.

[–] shawn1122@lemm.ee 6 points 2 days ago

Its the way they refer to poor nonwhite countries.

Developing works too, kind of.

Low income / high income is the most neutral way to frame it.

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[–] SoftestSapphic@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Turns out chatbots are just "intelligent" enough to copy/paste shit and change it a little so it doesn't get automatically removed.

Also the DOJ told us these people take money from the Kremlin.

[–] VeryVito@lemmy.ml 41 points 2 days ago
[–] tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip 5 points 1 day ago

Most con shit is stupid by design, like those scam emails that are deliberately written in broken English so that only stupid people will fall for them. Why would they bother writing something complex when they need an army of morons to lap up the talking points?

[–] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 40 points 2 days ago (4 children)

Like, obviously they all get their marching orders from one place.

But damn. How have they kept a seal on it?

Its obviously refried bullshit, but their ability to stay in lockstep smacks of a state level actor.

[–] sudo@programming.dev 41 points 2 days ago (2 children)

but their ability to stay in lockstep smacks of a state level actor.

I guarantee you its a national group like the Heritage Foundation or TPUSA issuing these talking points. Just because the opposition is organized doesn't mean their foreign backed. That's just conspiratorial thinking.

[–] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 17 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (3 children)

I guarantee you its a national group like the Heritage Foundation or TPUSA issuing these talking points.

Thats the right answer. I just don't get how they've kept it from leaking.

That’s just conspiratorial thinking.

It can be both conspiratorial and true.

I think rightwing movements have become victims to a kind of "ideological spear fishing" coming out of Russia for decades.

NRA: Russian funded.

Rightwing astroturfed podcasters: Russian funded.

European rightwing movements: Russian funded.

Its obvious that right wing movements were coopted decades ago to weaken and collapse western Democracies. So when it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, and smears shit all over the walls like a duck, maybe its a fucking duck*?

*[ apologies to any ducks whom I might have besmirched comparing them to rw'ers ]

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[–] KuroiKaze@lemmy.world 21 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Counter point. Those countries are sending us hot chicks.

[–] stebo02@sopuli.xyz 8 points 2 days ago (2 children)

so immigrants are only welcome when they're hot?

[–] okwhateverdude@lemmy.world 17 points 2 days ago (1 children)

And somehow, this is still a more sane immigration policy

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[–] KuroiKaze@lemmy.world 6 points 2 days ago

Leave the straw man on the farm bro

[–] Bluefalcon@discuss.tchncs.de 19 points 2 days ago

The nice thing about being a Russian asset? Ctrl + C, Ctrl + V all day.

[–] jjjalljs@ttrpg.network 21 points 2 days ago (2 children)

It seems to work. People, all of us, are kind of stupid and when we hear things repeated we remember them. None of us are immune to propaganda.

Repeating something simple, and false, that appeals to emotions is going to have a bigger impact than something longer and complicated.

And if you doubt that, remember half the country still believes Haitian refugees are stealing and eating people's pets.

How does the line go? A lie can run around the world before the truth has its boots on?

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[–] grue@lemmy.world 22 points 2 days ago (1 children)

It's just you. There's been a distinct lack of subtlety in right wing propaganda for a long time, going back at least to "this is extremely dangerous to our democracy."

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[–] LovableSidekick@lemmy.world 8 points 2 days ago

Post this message at least nine times or you will have bad luck!

[–] Ledericas@lemm.ee 9 points 2 days ago

its because they are getting thier talking points from putin, who is paying all of thier income.

[–] SoupBrick@pawb.social 11 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

I mean, they don't need to convince their base when it is comprised of loyal cultists.

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