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riversedge

(69,728 posts)
Sun Dec 9, 2018, 08:29 AM Dec 2018

Russian accounts fuel French outrage online






Russian accounts fuel French outrage online

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/russian-accounts-fuel-protesters-outrage-online-xx2f2g8th



Rhys Blakely




December 8 2018, 12:01am, The Times

Accounts have spread disinformation to bolster a narrative of police brutality
JULIEN MATTIA/REX FEATURES

Hundreds of social media accounts linked to Russia have sought to amplify the street protests that have rocked France, according to analysis seen by The Times.

The network of accounts has circulated messages on Twitter that focus on the violence and chaos of the yellow vest or gilet jaune riots. As the unrest began last month, a group of about 200 monitored accounts was churning out approximately 1,600 tweets and retweets a day. A large proportion of the accounts appear to be so-called “sock puppets”, which purport to be run by westerners.

According to an analysis by New Knowledge, a cybersecurity company, the accounts have spread disinformation, using photographs of injured protesters from other events to bolster a narrative of brutality by French police.

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Russian accounts fuel French outrage online (Original Post) riversedge Dec 2018 OP
Putin's heavy hand HumblePi Dec 2018 #1
Russia is a problem. This is what poorly or unregulated trans KPN Dec 2018 #2
Trump lives on these words..... riversedge Dec 2018 #3
"A beast born almost entirely from Facebook" dalton99a Dec 2018 #4

HumblePi

(46 posts)
1. Putin's heavy hand
Sun Dec 9, 2018, 09:18 AM
Dec 2018

Putin will swoop like a vulture in Europe once he has divided countries like German and France from within just as he did in the U.S. Europe can't rely on the United States for protection anymore. Angela Merkel knew a year ago after the NATO summit that Trump's 'America First' meant, 'you're on your own, we're not here for you.'

KPN

(15,587 posts)
2. Russia is a problem. This is what poorly or unregulated trans
Sun Dec 9, 2018, 09:24 AM
Dec 2018

transition to capitalism from a state-controlled economy has unleashed on the world. A vociferous appetite of the few “winners” for more ... money, power, control.

riversedge

(69,728 posts)
3. Trump lives on these words.....
Sun Dec 9, 2018, 09:38 AM
Dec 2018



.......... A vociferous appetite of the few “winners” for more ... money, power, control.

dalton99a

(81,073 posts)
4. "A beast born almost entirely from Facebook"
Sun Dec 9, 2018, 10:06 AM
Dec 2018
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanhatesthis/france-paris-yellow-jackets-facebook

The "Yellow Jackets" Riots In France Are What Happens When Facebook Gets Involved With Local News
The Yellow Jackets movement is what happens when you point Facebook's traffic hose at France's small towns. The question now is: How do you turn it off?
Ryan Broderick
Last updated on December 6, 2018, at 7:02 a.m. ET



This week, protesters scaled the Arc de Triomphe, burned cars, and clashed with police in the third consecutive weekend of riots in France. More than 300 people were arrested in Paris last weekend alone, and 37,000 law enforcement officers have been deployed around the country to restore order.

The “Gilets Jaunes” or “Yellow Jackets” protests have only gotten more violent since they began last month. Three people have died, hundreds more have been injured. To hear the protesters tell it, they’re marching through the streets to fight back against rising fuel prices and the high cost of living in the country. Beyond that, though, it’s an ideological free-for-all. Fights have also been witnessed among demonstrators, and some have sent death threats to other protesters.

But what’s happening right now in France isn’t happening in a vacuum. The Yellow Jackets movement — named for the protesters’ brightly colored safety vests — is a beast born almost entirely from Facebook. And it’s only getting more popular. Recent polls indicate the majority of France now supports the protesters. The Yellow Jackets communicate almost entirely on small, decentralized Facebook pages. They coordinate via memes and viral videos. Whatever gets shared the most becomes part of their platform.

Due to the way algorithm changes made earlier this year interacted with the fierce devotion in France to local and regional identity, the country is now facing some of the worst riots in many years — and in Paris, the worst in half a century.

This isn’t the first time real-life violence has followed a viral Facebook storm and it certainly won’t be the last. Much has already been written about the anti-Muslim Facebook riots in Myanmar and Sri Lanka and the WhatsApp lynchings in Brazil and India. Well, the same process is happening in Europe now, on a massive scale. Here’s how Facebook tore France apart.



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