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An update on state-sponsored activity

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Re: An update on state-sponsored activity

#31
post #22
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By "friends" I was referring to reports that the NRA has been a front for the Russian government as an agent of social division. Here I am, breaking HN rules by making a political statement, but if the facts are true (and I believe them to be), it is indeed an issue of relevance to the "hacker community". > What exactly about NRA members and associates scares you? If you think the following link (an NRA commercial) i…

HN rules don't ask you not to make political statements, but please don't do political flamewars here, and especially not add personal swipes into the mix. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

@dang, I understand your complaint but wish to explain my original comment and response:

Firstly, the United States is under "cyber attack" by State actors seeking to influence our elections. This topic should definitely be appropriate to HN, yes?

@mindcrime asked of me why I hated him and other citizens (in the most leading and disingenuous manner possible). His comments were flagged.

I posted a newsworthy clip (this got a lot of attention in the press) that demonstrated what they were doing and why it was worrisome.

My only "personal swipe" was to tell him that if he was ok with propaganda that was designed to dehumanize the opposition, then he scared me. That is not a personal attack, per se.

Lastly, I think it's important to note that the tech community is party to a lot things that have huge social impacts and to deny that is, shall we say, not entirely honorable.

Flamewars don't belong here, but adult conversation does. I stand by my words and intent to have such a conversation.

Re: An update on state-sponsored activity

#32
post #10
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You forgot the part where that “political content” was disguised as domestic opinion. Reducing the amount of astroturfing on the internet is a good thing.

Is there any evidence it’s working? Seems to mostly piss people off. Anyway, most astroturfing is done by american companies and is more harmful. Will google stop them too? Highly doubtful.

> Is there any evidence it’s working?

Yes.

> Seems to mostly piss people off.

While some of it has other purposes, as well, destabilizing America by exacerbating and radicalizing existing internal political divisions is clearly a central purpose of the effort, so “seems to mostly piss people off” is actually a sign that it is working (especially when you consider the details of who is pissed off and what they direct that anger at.)

Re: An update on state-sponsored activity

#33
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there any evidence it’s working? Seems to mostly piss people off. Anyway, most astroturfing is done by american companies and is more harmful. Will google stop them too? Highly doubtful.

> Is there any evidence it’s working? Yes. > Seems to mostly piss people off. While some of it has other purposes, as well, destabilizing America by exacerbating and radicalizing existing internal political divisions is clearly a central purpose of the effort, so “seems to mostly piss people off” is actually a sign that it is working (especially when you consider the details of who is pissed off and what they direct…

[deleted]

Re: An update on state-sponsored activity

#34
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there any evidence it’s working? Seems to mostly piss people off. Anyway, most astroturfing is done by american companies and is more harmful. Will google stop them too? Highly doubtful.

> Is there any evidence it’s working? Yes. > Seems to mostly piss people off. While some of it has other purposes, as well, destabilizing America by exacerbating and radicalizing existing internal political divisions is clearly a central purpose of the effort, so “seems to mostly piss people off” is actually a sign that it is working (especially when you consider the details of who is pissed off and what they direct…

I hope google is not trying to destabilize america, which it sounds like you are arguing is a good thing.

Re: An update on state-sponsored activity

#35
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is there any evidence it’s working? Yes. > Seems to mostly piss people off. While some of it has other purposes, as well, destabilizing America by exacerbating and radicalizing existing internal political divisions is clearly a central purpose of the effort, so “seems to mostly piss people off” is actually a sign that it is working (especially when you consider the details of who is pissed off and what they direct…

I hope google is not trying to destabilize america, which it sounds like you are arguing is a good thing.

I read “it” in the question as referring to the false-flag propaganda that Google is targeting, not Google's response.

That reading does depend on trying to ascertain which of the two sentences in the precedinh comment was being referenced without an explicit indicator, and that certainly could be wrong.

Re: An update on state-sponsored activity

#36

> Technical data associated with these actors is strongly linked to the official IRIB IP address space. I've always been under the impression that IP addresses aren't always reliable indicators of identity, has this changed?

Far more reliable for large organizations/governments, less reliable for ISPs that hand out dynamic IPs.

I should have been more clear, I'm wondering if it is technically possible to spoof an IP address?
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