The amount of propaganda bots trying to sign up lately is bonkers.

[catsalad@infosec.exchange]

@jerry The local timeline on sigmoid.social is 99% disinfo bots now

[mek2600@infosec.exchange]

@catsalad @jerry Wait, wait, wait- so the bored housewives in my area that I've been talking to on sigmoid.social......?

[timbray@cosocial.ca]

@jerry I realize this wouldn't work for everybody, but the number of bots trying to sign up to CoSocial.ca is zero, because we require that members pay $50 a year to run the service.

[catsalad@sigmoid.social]

@mek2600 @catsalad@infosec.exchange @jerry Domestic housewives imply the existence of feral housewives

[mek2600@infosec.exchange]

@catsalad@sigmoid.social @catsalad @jerry Now we're talkin! I wonder if there are any feral housewives in my area...

[jairajdevadiga@mastodon.social]

@jerry @idlebrain It's propaganda if they are being dishonest and wilfully spreading misinformation.

It's possible to have genuinely differing beliefs as long as we can agree on basic facts. Unfortunately the current media landscape, combined with chatbots, has made many people completely detached from reality.

[kevinrns@mstdn.social]

@jerry

Block and report

[wilbr@glitch.social]

@jairajdevadiga @jerry @idlebrain we can't see into their minds though; what if they honestly believe that 5G causes cancer and have scientific studies to prove it? Part of the modern disinformation goal is to muddy all forms of reality.

[mrgrumpymonkey@mastodon.social]

@mek2600 @catsalad@sigmoid.social @catsalad@infosec.exchange @jerry I think they call those cougars.

[biogeographer@mastodon.social]

@jerry It's a component of growth sadly, Fediverse engagement rates are ridiculously high compared to other platforms.

[sb@metroholografix.ca]

@jerry
They rapidly change their tactics re: usernames and especially the descriptions. Seems the shift gears weekly.

The one thing that's always constant are the random email domains with common links behind them.

They're pretty easy to spot, but only because I'm hyper aware of them.

[benroyce@mastodon.social]

@wilbr @jairajdevadiga @jerry @idlebrain

it doesn't matter if they sincerely believe it or not

a lie is a lie

[jerry@infosec.exchange]

@benroyce @wilbr @jairajdevadiga @idlebrain I argue that propaganda doesn’t have to be a lie to be propaganda. I am reminded of my time in China - the news there only covered accomplishments and successes in China and only covered problems and failures from western countries. None of it was a lie. But it was definitely propaganda. That is what we are seeing a lot of here. Plus, it’s often challenging to determine what is true or not without an army of fact checkers at our disposal.

[yuhasz01@mastodon.social]

@jerry

Physically/manually scrutinize all follower requests. Check any new sources in your feeds. Many wankers appear in mine.

[ra6bit@infosec.exchange]

@jerry Oh lovely, just what we need.

[mirabilos@toot.mirbsd.org]

@timbray @jerry hm, check your reports, I at least found a rather suspicious new account recently

[timbray@cosocial.ca]

@mirabilos @jerry Yeah, it was @_daisy - looks OK to me

[timbray@cosocial.ca]

@mirabilos Oh, now I remember. Yes, it was weird that their followING showed up before their followERS. No idea what was up tbh but it seems to have sorted itself out.

[zerotrustwraith@infosec.exchange]

@jerry This is the unfortunate reality of the internet right now. A free, open internet also fosters an environment for botnets and propaganda. Just like freedom of speech and other civil rights, it's a double edged sword.

While we can remain proactive and fight back against people with malicious intent, bad actors will always try to abuse systems created by those with good intentions and that is just the reality we have to accept.

[mirabilos@toot.mirbsd.org]

@timbray @jerry ah, yes, looks okay now; at that point in time, it was highly suspicious