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Israel reportedly used fake social accounts to garner support from US lawmakers

haaretz.com

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Re: Israel reportedly used fake social accounts to garner support from US lawmakers

#301

Post by 2OEH8eoCRo0 »

shmatt wrote: post #268
2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: post #233

If there are influence operations online is it ethical to counter them with your own? Obviously none would be preferable. We need to better define what propaganda is . To me it's misleading or false information with the purpose of facilitating a political outcome. Or deceptive information not meant for selling a product.

So buy comments on Israeli MK Facebook accounts? I think the only ones that would move any needle here is Meta profits on DAU and the company being paid to run the bots. You think your congressman goes to FB comments to decide how they’re voting?

Anywhere a voting public gets their information. Unfortunately that means FB comments. Could you answer my question though? Would it be ethical to counter an influence operation with your own?

Re: Israel reportedly used fake social accounts to garner support from US lawmakers

#302

Post by [deleted] »

dragonwriter wrote: post #284
runarberg wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m thinking in terms of processes and propaganda. While other genocides use information technology for communication and propaganda, this one is unique in that information technology is used throughout, including in target selection and killings. The Rohingya Genocide does not e.g. use drones to carry out killings with targets selected by AI.

> While other genocides use information technology for communication and propaganda, this one is unique in that information technology is used throughout, including in target selection and killings. No, its not. Heck, the Holocaust used information technology for target selection. > The Rohingya Genocide does not e.g. use drones The genocides in the former Yugoslavia used most of the weapons of then-modern warfare, w…

[deleted]

Re: Israel reportedly used fake social accounts to garner support from US lawmakers

#303

Post by greentxt »

jowea wrote: post #137
vitus wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Just waiting for a random US future president to create an "Internet" branch of the military. Maybe that's already happened. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Cyber_Command is the closest thing that we have today. It's not a formal branch, though, but rather a joint effort across the existing branches.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cyber_warfare_forces A cursory look and it seems Germany and China were first to having a specific branch, but China dissolved theirs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyber_and_Information_Domain_S... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Liberation_Army_Str...

China's was disbanded like 1 wikipedia edit ago (46 days), if you believe that.

Re: Israel reportedly used fake social accounts to garner support from US lawmakers

#304

Post by dylan604 »

jamal-kumar wrote: post #65
runarberg wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

The holocaust came of age in the dawn of the information age if you count the radio as information technology, albeit a very one-sided information technology where you had the government giving everyone cheap radios that were only marked to tune to German and Austrian radio stations, unless you dared to go out at night to get an antenna up to receive others. [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volksempf%C3%A4nger

Just look at how that's evolved into what's now referred to a "talk radio". Only, you have multiple stations available so you can choose your particular firebrand to listen.

Re: Israel reportedly used fake social accounts to garner support from US lawmakers

#306

Post by sixQuarks »

refulgentis wrote: post #279
SimbaOnSteroids wrote: post #229

The wild part about this, at least to me, is the wholesale incompetence demonstrated by Israel in this regard. If I couldn't google the talking points the bots make and see Israeli officials saying the same things, one would think these bots were Iranians acting with the intent to make Israel look bad.

It's a very interesting thing, it demonstrates something uncomfortable & scary to me as a goy Zionist, who hangs out in a private, predominantly Jewish, space. Note the biggest word in the cloud: UNRWA. All my confirmation bias was in one direction in October. The oddly dissonant and desperate messaging you'd see made things extremely difficult to maintain that, like, you have to be of a very specific mindset to see…

This is an enlightening comment. Thanks for sharing

Re: Israel reportedly used fake social accounts to garner support from US lawmakers

#307

Post by sir0010010 »

oddtuple wrote: post #226
dang wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your account has continued to use HN primarily for political battle after we asked you recently to stop: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40519369 (May 2024) If you keep this up we're going to have to ban you, for reasons explained on many past occasions: https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&dateRange=all&type=comme... . Edit for anyone concerned: yes, this principle applies regardless of which side of any politic…

Dang, We get you’re frustrated but he’s just stating his opinion. It’s not out of line relative to the other discourse in this thread.

I think if you read the guide that dang linked to, it is clear that the account is breaking the rules for flamebait.

Re: Israel reportedly used fake social accounts to garner support from US lawmakers

#308

Post by zen928 »

pessimizer wrote: post #227
zen928 wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Use the appropriate forum to debate topics in the manner you prefer instead of trying to force others to conform to your standards.

There is no planet where the opinion above represents "force." Stop telling people who disagree with you to shut up.

> There is no planet where the opinion above represents "force."

How about one of the standard Merriam Webster definitions of force: (verb) "to compel by physical, moral, or intellectual means" i.e. by framing their argument to compel by convincing it's from an intellectual standpoint. Not too interested on your hangups for definitions of basic words to be honest here though.

Throwing a tantrum about being unable to redirect outrage freely onto others while masquerading adding functionality to enable that discourse as an "already solved problem implemented by others" with lack of complying to their personal standards being perceived as refusing "enhancements" isn't a discussion, its an emotion driven stance attempting to make the other party look unreasonable.

Re: Israel reportedly used fake social accounts to garner support from US lawmakers

#309

Post by dylan604 »

cooper_ganglia wrote: post #269
Maxatar wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know of any government department in Canada, Mexico, the UK, France, Germany, Australia that target U.S. law makers with fake social media accounts. Do you know of any? Can you cite them?

I don't know of them, that's why I'm sure it's happening. I'd assume that the US is doing this to our allied nations, too.

I'm not saying it's not happening, however, the US has a much bigger stick to use by withholding funds/arms/aid before stooping to this level of influence*. Pretty much no other country has the reciprocal influence to the US, so these kinds of machinations is kind of expected.

*Historical examples of other forms of US meddling/interference is not being ignored, and paves the way to why I would not say not being done.

Re: Israel reportedly used fake social accounts to garner support from US lawmakers

#310

Post by [deleted] »

asadotzler wrote: post #286
Retric wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't understand how this much power over the US was ever deemed acceptable? Free speech sometimes applies to things you don’t like. There’s pro and anti propaganda for just about any foreign interest. Some of it’s just more subtle such as recommendations on TikTok. Ukraine had really obvious pro Ukraine requests for military aid and images of destruction, but quite a bit of pro Russia propaganda was more subtle…

Like the kind of free speech you get when Israel's lobby drafts and helps pass laws that making boycotts of Israel illegal?

[deleted]
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