Read the full story and comment on stalbertgazette.com

Did Reddit year-end recaps expose Russian interference in Alberta?::Online anti-LGBTQ+ harassment and engaging with small communities are documented foreign interference tactics, but they have so far not been observed in Canada.

  • sbv@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    181·
    8 months ago

    When Reddit’s year end recaps were released — which give statistics on activity for individual subreddits such as top posts and comments — they indicated Russia was the third most common country of origin for users visiting many of these [small subreddits for Albertan towns], causing moderators to rethink what was behind the trolling activity they had contended with a few months before.

    I don’t think there’s any question about the interference campaign existing. At this point the question is about influence. How effective are these trolls?

    And what was the second country, and why isn’t that a problem?

    • DaddleDew@lemmy.worldEnglish
      22·
      8 months ago

      It also suggests that Reddit has been sitting on this data showing signs of foreign interference and just didn’t care to do anything about it.

        • HungryJerboa@lemmy.caEnglish
          8·
          8 months ago

          Obligatory fuck /u/Spez.

          This type of behavior needs to be regulated. Foreign interference isn’t acceptable, and if Canada passes the online harms act then the ensuing regulator needs to handle situations like this or at least hand out massive fines for greed and indifference.

    • RubberDuck@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      8 months ago

      AFAIK during the seeding stage trolls try and get engagement. The moment they get people to engage, the game shifts to amplification. That way the people amplified are not the trolls themselves but actual people from the US, allowing them to keep distance from the future misinformation.

    • Zagorath@aussie.zoneEnglish
      2·
      8 months ago

      I’m guessing it would be America, which is less of a problem because statistically most Redditors are American, and the two countries are diplomatically and socially very close, so a large number of Americans visiting a sub about small Canadian towns is less surprising than large amounts of Russians.

      It’d be like if /r/queenstown had Australia as its second-biggest country of origin. Aus and NZ are so closely related (not just geographically, but socioculturally) that you’d expect that to be true, especially given Australia’s comparatively large overall population compared to other potential candidates (per capita, you might not be surprised if a country like Tonga or Fiji were even higher, but in absolute terms that would be very surprising).

      • sbv@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        11·
        8 months ago

        I’m guessing it would be America, which is less of a problem because statistically most Redditors are American, and the two countries are diplomatically and socially very close, so a large number of Americans visiting a sub about small Canadian towns is less surprising than large amounts of Russians.

        I guess the question comes down to posting. Is it better for an American to weigh in on issues facing Red Deer, or a Russian? If they’re honest, I think either is fine. If they’re cosplaying as an Albertan, both are problematic.

        • Somethingcheezie@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          8 months ago

          Both are foreign interference. Do you go to random threads of foreign small towns and weigh in. No. These people are politically or financially motivated.

      • sbv@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        7·
        8 months ago

        That’s what I’m guessing.

        But if there are a bunch of Americans coming to Albertan subs and astroturfing political opinions, I’m not sure that’s actually better than Russia.

        I don’t give a shit if it’s an American or Russian who wants to warp our discourse, our political conversations are still getting bent out of shape.

        • Betch@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          8 months ago

          Oh absolutely. In no way is it any better, it just adds to it.

          It would be good to know what percentage of users/posts were from country #2 and Russia as well.