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X.com is gonna snitch you out to the public if you use a VPN

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Re: X.com is gonna snitch you out to the public if you use a VPN

#61

Post by bdangubic »

kardianos wrote: post #29
cluckindan wrote: post #6

This is a good thing. Top MAGA Influencers Accidentally Unmasked as Foreign Trolls https://www.thedailybeast.com/top-maga-influencers-accidenta... ”Dozens of major accounts masquerading as “America First” or “MAGA” proponents have been identified as originating in places such as Russia, India, and Nigeria. In one example, the account MAGANationX—with nearly 400,000 followers and a bio reading “Patriot Voice for We Th…

I agree it is a good thing. These so-called "America First" and "MEGA" accounts have been driving a wedge within the conservative party for a while. Many speculated that these were largely foreign accounts, but it was hard to prove, until now. Many of the racist "conservative" voices are being shown to be from Iran or other countries.

There are plenty outside of Iran too… :)

Re: X.com is gonna snitch you out to the public if you use a VPN

#62

Post by _heimdall »

mystraline wrote: post #49
_heimdall wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Companies requiring that you use potentially poor privacy and security protocols isn't a good thing. Using a VPN doesn't make one a bot or a spammer.

Try telling that to: Discord, Microsoft, Facebook, Paypal, Google, or most any major US based service. Your account will get pre-locked due to "reputational quality" immediately. Usually, they then demand photo ID, phone number or app, or some other onerous process. If you need a VPN but dont want this "bad quality VPN smell", what you're looking for is a "residential IP VPN". Those look and smell like a Comcast IP,…

Oh I know, I run into this frequently. I was on a work trip not long ago and had my Uber and Lyft accounts locked because (a) I use then infrequently and (b) I always have a VPN on when traveling.

Re: X.com is gonna snitch you out to the public if you use a VPN

#63

Post by clanky »

marginalia_nu wrote: post #57
clanky wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fact that it existed in some nonzero quantity at some point before the choreographed Musk takeover does not contradict what I wrote in any way.

One of the central points of the Mueller report is that they were organized and operated at a large scale, running major social media accounts and were infiltrating various fringe groups such as the Tea Party and BLM. Though it's worth noting this was happening under Prigozhin's lead, and since he's fallen out of a window now, it's unclear what's become of his troll factories.

You could pilot a 747 through the range that encompasses what one might mean by "a large scale." None of the Mueller findings really showed anything likely to have had a substantial impact on popular discourse or voting, or anything within even 2, probably 3 orders of magnitude of the algorithmic reach of the modern day Xitter bluecheck flying monkeys. These accounts couldn't even get bluechecks back then!

Re: X.com is gonna snitch you out to the public if you use a VPN

#64

Post by haizhung »

marginalia_nu wrote: post #9
cyanydeez wrote: post #2

Or theres a lot of people who like to troll and propagandize americans for nationalism and racism

Yeah. This feature seems mostly fine, and fairly effective at highlighting troll farms. There's been a whole slew of the most prolific accounts that were spamming inflamatory political propaganda, ostensibly targeting Europe or the US that have been reveal to operate out of India, Pakistan, south east asia, etc.

Funny that you are being downvoted. Maybe we need this feature at hackernews too :-)

Re: X.com is gonna snitch you out to the public if you use a VPN

#65

Post by unparagoned »

isodev wrote: post #7

I don't like the idea of linking VPN usage with something shady or illegal. Privacy is a human right, and knowing that I'm using a VPN or not doesn't change how "authentic" or truthful the post is.

Most people are terrible at determining how authentic or truthful a post is. So not data to help them do that is helpful.

Re: X.com is gonna snitch you out to the public if you use a VPN

#66

Post by AaronAPU »

isodev wrote: post #7

I don't like the idea of linking VPN usage with something shady or illegal. Privacy is a human right, and knowing that I'm using a VPN or not doesn't change how "authentic" or truthful the post is.

I think it is reasonable to expect privacy when reading social media. Not so much when posting routinely to millions of people while claiming to be some non-anonymous person you aren’t.

Does the distinction not make sense from your perspective?

Re: X.com is gonna snitch you out to the public if you use a VPN

#68

Post by amriksohata »

cluckindan wrote: post #6

This is a good thing. Top MAGA Influencers Accidentally Unmasked as Foreign Trolls https://www.thedailybeast.com/top-maga-influencers-accidenta... ”Dozens of major accounts masquerading as “America First” or “MAGA” proponents have been identified as originating in places such as Russia, India, and Nigeria. In one example, the account MAGANationX—with nearly 400,000 followers and a bio reading “Patriot Voice for We Th…

Do you think this wouldnt be happening on both sides of the political spectrum?

Re: X.com is gonna snitch you out to the public if you use a VPN

#69

Post by IAmGraydon »

ChocolateGod wrote: post #8

X has a pandemic of people pretending to be Americans (or Westerners in general) saying edgy or controversial things in order to encourage engagement and subsequently earn money from X's program. This is why this feature was added. IMHO the program itself just encourages misinformation and should be scrapped.

X's program? They're not doing this to earn money. They're trying to sow division in the US, and they've been very successful.

Re: X.com is gonna snitch you out to the public if you use a VPN

#70

Post by itsdrewmiller »

_heimdall wrote: post #25
cluckindan wrote: post #6

This is a good thing. Top MAGA Influencers Accidentally Unmasked as Foreign Trolls https://www.thedailybeast.com/top-maga-influencers-accidenta... ”Dozens of major accounts masquerading as “America First” or “MAGA” proponents have been identified as originating in places such as Russia, India, and Nigeria. In one example, the account MAGANationX—with nearly 400,000 followers and a bio reading “Patriot Voice for We Th…

Companies requiring that you use potentially poor privacy and security protocols isn't a good thing. Using a VPN doesn't make one a bot or a spammer.

They aren’t requiring it though - they are just noting it on your profile. That seems like a very reasonable approach that lets the reader decide how much it matters.
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