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Confessions of a Digital Nazi Hunter

nytimes.com

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Re: Confessions of a Digital Nazi Hunter

#21

Post by Osseric »

hateduser2 wrote: post #18
Osseric wrote: post #2

“A large number of people have blocked you in response to high volumes of untargeted, unsolicited, or duplicative content or engagements from your account,” we were informed. This was true; Impostor Buster had been blocked by many neo-Nazis. “A large number of spam complaints have been filed against you.” Yes, by neo-Nazis. “You send large numbers of unsolicited replies or mentions.” Yes, to neo-Nazis. What are the a…

Is abuse a position?

I'm not sure I understand your question in relation to my statement. I'm trying to imply that these people abuse and harass people because of their morally reprehensible position, and they're identified and targeted by the "bot" or other people and labelled by their position, not because they're abusers. Even if they didn't abuse or harass they would still be condemned for their position, or maybe they wouldn't be. I tend to lean on the former.

Re: Confessions of a Digital Nazi Hunter

#22

Post by mcguire »

Osseric wrote: post #2

“A large number of people have blocked you in response to high volumes of untargeted, unsolicited, or duplicative content or engagements from your account,” we were informed. This was true; Impostor Buster had been blocked by many neo-Nazis. “A large number of spam complaints have been filed against you.” Yes, by neo-Nazis. “You send large numbers of unsolicited replies or mentions.” Yes, to neo-Nazis. What are the a…

"The con goes like this: The impersonator lifts an online photo of a Jew, Muslim, African-American or other minority — typically one with clear identifying markers, like a yarmulke-clad Hasid or a woman in hijab. Using that picture as a Twitter avatar, the bigot then adds ethnic and progressive descriptors to the bio: “Jewish,” “Zionist,” “Muslim,” “enemy of the alt-right.”

"False identity forged, the trolls then insert themselves into conversations with high-profile Twitter users — conversations that are often seen by tens of thousands of followers — and proceed to say horrifically racist things...

"Using a crowdsourced database of impersonator accounts, carefully curated by us to avoid any false positives, the bot patrolled Twitter and interjected whenever impostors tried to insinuate themselves into a discussion."

While I see your point about accuracy and don't necessarily buy the "carefully curated" part, I wouldn't describe the described behavior as "spam" either.

Re: Confessions of a Digital Nazi Hunter

#23

Post by GuB-42 »

creaghpatr wrote: post #5

Couldn't the bot just report the imposter accounts instead of engage them? Pretty sure it's against TOS to impersonate someone without declaring it a parody account.

The problem is that the bot has only a single voice against a whole community.

Twitter trusts the numbers, in a sense, it is very democratic. Trolls are simply very good at strategic voting.

Re: Confessions of a Digital Nazi Hunter

#24

Post by CalChris »

Osseric wrote: post #16
CalChris wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It wasn't simply the morally reprehensible position . It was also the act of impersonation. The bot identified impersonation.

Ok, so does impersonation allow you to be spammed? It seems like impersonation is non-consequential, or at least hard to measure. Especially on such an ephemeral platform.

If you are going to dismiss impersonation on such an ephemeral platform, why do you care about spamming?

Re: Confessions of a Digital Nazi Hunter

#25

Post by woodydeck »

Having a frog on your account most definitely does not mean you are a Nazi, but yes, the identitarians do meme Pepes that are racist.

I am familiar with the author, he's a drama queen, but he's not incorrect there is a huge wave of antisemitism in the world. It's a daily battle. Ben Shapiro got a lot of racial abuse too, but its just part of living in a world with free speech.

Most antisemitism comes not from Nazi sympathizing identitarians, but Muslim extremists. It's a real problem in Europe, and it's good to discuss.

I really reject trying to delegitimize Trump supporters by throwing them all in with the alt-right. As a Jewish Kekistani, it infuriates me. I don't like identitarians, but they have a right to their views. I want everyone to be very clear on what terrible views they have so they don't get power. This sort of schlock in the NYT just makes things convoluted and people less likely to be able to discern who is friend, and who is foe.

Re: Confessions of a Digital Nazi Hunter

#26

Post by finnthehuman »

>I’d received the second-most abuse of any Jewish journalist on Twitter during the campaign cycle. [...] As a result, I’ve become something of an unintentional expert on alt-right trolls and their tactics.

Red flag: Blind man about to describe elephant.

Not to be hasty, I didn't stop reading there.

I stopped reading once I found out the author thinks he's moving the needle by ineptly fighting a blatantly-obvious disinformation campaign. On Twitter.

Re: Confessions of a Digital Nazi Hunter

#27

Post by Osseric »

mcguire wrote: post #22
Osseric wrote: post #2

“A large number of people have blocked you in response to high volumes of untargeted, unsolicited, or duplicative content or engagements from your account,” we were informed. This was true; Impostor Buster had been blocked by many neo-Nazis. “A large number of spam complaints have been filed against you.” Yes, by neo-Nazis. “You send large numbers of unsolicited replies or mentions.” Yes, to neo-Nazis. What are the a…

" The con goes like this: The impersonator lifts an online photo of a Jew, Muslim, African-American or other minority — typically one with clear identifying markers, like a yarmulke-clad Hasid or a woman in hijab. Using that picture as a Twitter avatar, the bigot then adds ethnic and progressive descriptors to the bio: “Jewish,” “Zionist,” “Muslim,” “enemy of the alt-right.” " False identity forged, the trolls then i…

I agree. But twitter seemingly categorized it as such, maybe not spam to a singular user(s). But spam in the sense that it's volume was overwhelming? Maybe there is that many neo-nazis? I'm just not buying into the same things you are.

Re: Confessions of a Digital Nazi Hunter

#28

Post by akhilcacharya »

woodydeck wrote: post #25

Having a frog on your account most definitely does not mean you are a Nazi, but yes, the identitarians do meme Pepes that are racist. I am familiar with the author, he's a drama queen, but he's not incorrect there is a huge wave of antisemitism in the world. It's a daily battle. Ben Shapiro got a lot of racial abuse too, but its just part of living in a world with free speech. Most antisemitism comes not from Nazi sy…

>As a Jewish Kekistani

What the actual hell is happening to this country

Re: Confessions of a Digital Nazi Hunter

#29

Post by fnovd »

woodydeck wrote: post #25

Having a frog on your account most definitely does not mean you are a Nazi, but yes, the identitarians do meme Pepes that are racist. I am familiar with the author, he's a drama queen, but he's not incorrect there is a huge wave of antisemitism in the world. It's a daily battle. Ben Shapiro got a lot of racial abuse too, but its just part of living in a world with free speech. Most antisemitism comes not from Nazi sy…

>As a Jewish Kekistani, it infuriates me. I don't like identitarians,

I can't tell if you're deliberately trolling or not, which I guess is the point you're trying to make.

Re: Confessions of a Digital Nazi Hunter

#30

Post by hateduser2 »

woodydeck wrote: post #25

Having a frog on your account most definitely does not mean you are a Nazi, but yes, the identitarians do meme Pepes that are racist. I am familiar with the author, he's a drama queen, but he's not incorrect there is a huge wave of antisemitism in the world. It's a daily battle. Ben Shapiro got a lot of racial abuse too, but its just part of living in a world with free speech. Most antisemitism comes not from Nazi sy…

I guarantee you the abuse the author receives is not from Muslims.
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