Tumbling with Rob Fields

Aspirations and inspirations from the intersection of marketing, business and contemporary culture. robfields.com

[robfields]

[staff]

We’re taking steps to protect against future interference in our political conversation by state-sponsored propaganda campaigns

Hi Tumblr,

We’re all grappling with the influence that state-sponsored disinformation campaigns can have on our political conversations—and how wide-spread that interference turned out to be. So please take a moment to read this, think about it, and talk about it.

Last fall, we uncovered 84 Tumblr accounts linked to the Russian government through the Internet Research Agency, or IRA. These accounts were being used as part of a disinformation campaign leading up to the 2016 U.S. election. After uncovering the activity, we notified law enforcement, terminated the accounts, and deleted their original posts. Behind the scenes, we worked with the Department of Justice, and the information we provided helped indict 13 people who worked for the IRA.

Now that the investigations are done, we want to let you know how we’re going to help protect Tumblr in the future and what you can do to help.

Here’s what we know about these accounts

The IRA employs more than 1,000 people who engage in electronic disinformation and propaganda campaigns around the world using phony social media accounts. Their goal is to sow division and discontent in the countries they target. What makes them so difficult to spot is that they’re not spambots. They’re real people who get trained and paid to spread propaganda.

As far as we can tell, the IRA-linked accounts were only focused on spreading disinformation in the U.S., and they only posted organic content. We didn’t find any indication that they ran ads.

Remember, the IRA and other state-sponsored disinformation campaigns play off our zero-sum politics. They want to drive a wedge between us so that we spend our time fighting with each other instead of building towards the future. We’ll be watching for signs of future activity, but the best defense is knowing how they operate and how to judge the content you see.

What we’re doing in response to the interference

First, we’ll be emailing anyone who liked, reblogged, replied to, or followed an IRA-linked account with the list of usernames they engaged with.

Second, we’re going to start keeping a public record of usernames we’ve linked to the IRA or other state-sponsored disinformation campaigns. We’re committed to transparency and want you to know everything that we know.

We’ve decided to leave up any reblog chains that might be on your Tumblrs—you can choose to leave them or delete them. We’re letting you decide because the reblog chains contain posts created by real Tumblr users, often challenging or debunking the false and incideniary claims in the IRA-linked original post. Removing those authentic posts without your consent would encroach on your free speech—and there have been enough disruptions to our conversations as it is.

What we’re doing to stop future disinformation campaigns

You’ve probably read that U.S. intelligence officials expect foreign agents to try similar propaganda campaigns in the future. We’ll be monitoring Tumblr for signs of state-sponsored disinformation campaigns, and if we see anything we will…

Terminate the accounts and remove their original posts.

Notify you if we determine that you’ve liked, reblogged, replied to, or followed a propaganda account.

Add the username to the public record.

Alert law enforcement.

There are also things you can do to help stop the spread of disinformation and propaganda.

Be aware that people want to manipulate the conversation. Knowing that disinformation and propaganda accounts are out there makes it harder for them to operate. The News Literacy Project has this handy checklist for spotting their tricks.

Be skeptical of things you read. Disinformation campaigns work because they know people don’t fact check. Look for reliable sources, and double-check that the source really says the same thing as the post. You can also check Snopes and Politifact. Both are award-winning resources and usually have the latest viral claim fact checked on the front page. 

Correct the record. When you see people spreading misinformation—even unintentionally—politely say something in a reblog or reply. If it’s your friend, send them a message to let them know.

One last note: Please vote.

Transparency won’t mean a thing if we don’t participate in the process. Whatever your political stance, voting ensures a government that represents your interests. For our U.S. users: You can register online or by mail, and many states are holding primaries right now.

[dorkaelskunkworks]

In addition to this post, Tumblr staff also sent out e-mails to folks who’d followed one of those accounts, or interacted with them.  They provided a list.  

We all scream a lot about the failings of this blue hellsite, but that’s the most concrete action any social media platform I’ve been using has done to address the issue of Russian psyops in social media.  

[odinsblog]

Full list below:

1-800-gloup

4mysquad previously known as: thomascestevez

aaddictedtoblackk previously known as: kathyzunigaoverhere, soaddictedtoblackk

artautumn

awesomelizzyjenningsthings

bastardpigeon previously known as: pigeonbastard

belindadoingitgood

bellaxiao previously known as: blogmadworldlove

bellygangstaboo

best-usa-today

bestofninegag previously known as: apolicethepolicethings

black-to-the-bones

blackness-by-your-side previously known as: black-galaxy-magic, fullyfurrymiracle, u4guy, ufo-pilot-and-his-sexy-spouse

blacknproud previously known as: in-the-mirror-world, indiebirdsblog, no-place-for-homophobia

blacktolive

bleepthepolice

cartnsncreal previously known as: feelmydragonballs

chantelreneeblm

coldfirefan

coolmagnificentbets

cybercollectionnerdstuff

delroyheater previously known as: delroyheater32, mastercucumber, scrumptiousluminarytimemachine, sexinstructor666, sexintructor

destinyrush previously known as: delightfullyghostlysong

down-to-venus previously known as: teenageflowerluminary

eugeny-a-antonov

everydaycutenesstherapy

fedupwithlying previously known as: badgyalforyou

funkycodex previously known as: craftykryptonitedelusion

gentlexnoise previously known as: slakerglitch, superblydopepatrol

getaninspiration

gogomrbrown previously known as: go-mrbrown, infectedv0ice, todd-la-death

gottimechillinaround previously known as: howardhenderson

guns4l1fe previously known as: 4lifeme, guns4lifeme, unabashedpolicerunaway

honestlyyoungpersona

honeyjenna

hustleinatrap previously known as: thenaturecanpost, tumblercube

ineverstopexploringblog previously known as: charlenefletcher

info-mix previously known as: americanstatistics, crazypolitician, girlsagainst, illegalmom, just-stat, rochelbarr

itwontbeeasyme

jamesjdelvecchio

jenningsmiracle

joycherryblossom previously known as: joyfullyhappycherryblossom

justmarilynadventure previously known as: justmarylinthings

kingbeardplayer previously known as: kirksgossplayer, placeofminimalthings

kirstenbrownstories

lagonegirl

lamcbride

loveboholiveboho

massivelydopepolice

massmedear previously known as: massblog021

melanin-diary previously known as: blackjourney2justice, dontshootus, jusslittlestoner

missberrianstuff

mooseblogtimes

morningwoodz previously known as: 5cubes, bangbangempire, empireofweird, gifemprireohh, innerpicsempire, picsempire

nadiquitegoodatit previously known as: runlovernad

nevaehtyler previously known as: laserenita

noteverythingiswhite previously known as: ashleyfsilver

poligraphme previously known as: poligraphmy

postingwhileblack previously known as: ghettablasta, heygeraldmartinjohanssen, honestinjun, nativewolveshere

rebellloudwiththecrowd previously known as: massivelystrangetyrant

ricordio

rikki-ri

sassydreamlandcloud

scentedballoonpanda

sergpolozov

shoutoutworldwide previously known as: blackprideworldwide, krispymentalitycowboy

shyshannonstuff

skullofjustice previously known as: naughtykermit, ryanbutlersstuff, usnationaldebt

skwad55

somestuff4ya previously known as: somestufffoya, unitedposters

starling-all-black-all-day

stopropaganda

sumchckn previously known as: blondeinpolitics, blvckcommunity, classylgbthomie, hwuudoin, politixblondie

summerinsomniac

superblygun

swagintherain previously known as: blacklivesmatterusa, carzwithgirlz

the-real-eye-to-see

thetrippytrip previously known as: matrixpath, themostpost

thingstolovefor previously known as: the-inner-mirror

this-truly-brutal-world previously known as: awesomewhitepearl, free-mind-and-soul

voteforwest2020 previously known as: mrbadasscat

weproudto2black

wevanessastewartstuff

yanbig

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[robfields]

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[robfields]

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[robfields]

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[robfields]

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[robfields]

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[robfields]

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[robfields]

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