Last night JK, a frequent commenter on my blog, and I tossed a bunch of ideas back and forth about the Covington boy/Phillips video situation. I woke up this morning thinking more about all of these loose threads. Our comment exchange is located on my previous blog post. Twitter cover-up?
A few random thoughts here, first is that with the internet & computer technology, the professionals have many computer programming languages & technology specific terminology, which leaves non-tech people (like me and most other people) not only clueless, but also defenseless against the tech industry, in general. We are hooked on their products, but we rely completely on them or on the one or two techie people we know, or on our equally clueless non-tech family members and friends – to navigate and understand just about everything having to do with computer technology and systems.
We are at the mercy of the tech professionals to understand their tech world. The tech experts & the industry as a whole can tell the non-tech public just about anything wrapped up in some computer terms and it’s like Sanskrit to most of us, non-tech morons (like me),… all rather complicated and alien.
The one thing I have gleaned is the technology medium of exchange is data, making acquiring data, storing data, and exchanging data top priority. CNN Business & NBC put out the reports quoting Twitter, basically putting a “nothing to see here” end to this viral story. I suspect Twitter has that account info cached. I suspect Twitter knows who was responsible for that account.
I suspect the data of that account is cached by numerous sites that deal in broad sweep data collection and analysis. Finding it is the challenge, because I don’t believe, Twitter, who displays bias against right-wingers frequently in their rule enforcement and is run by liberals, would ever admit they gave a free pass to a professional, sophisticated, Dem SPIN repetitive messaging operation that resulted in kids receiving death threats.
That account stuck out because its messaging was indicative of a hostile foreign misinformation campaign with “highly polarized and yet inconsistent political messaging”, so if that type of messaging wasn’t a foreign operator and Twitter says its “appears to be” a schoolteacher in CA, well, that messaging was still “highly polarized and yet inconsistent political messaging”.
This made me think of the recent news reports of the Dems social media operations during the Moore campaign.
Both NBC and CNN Business report that anonymous account had a lot of other online activity on other sites. This Twitter video was reported to have been originally posted on Instagram by someone who was at the event. This account, @2020fight, pulled that video from Instagram, “but it was @2020fight’s caption that helped frame the news cycle”.
So, the account holder(s), @2020fight, added a provocative caption and launched it on Twitter.
I still have plenty of questions about these Twitter investigators and their investigation, that’s for sure.
In the CNN Business report, information warfare researcher, Molly McKew, mentions, “she later realized that a network of anonymous accounts were working to amplify the video.”… after she retweeted to help amplify it…
In the comments on my previous post, JK, offered the opinion”
“Sorry LB I’ve been, as I mentioned in a “rabbithole” – Anyway, without “assets” it would have been impossible for her to “realize a network.”
I suppose Miss McKew may have a side job with the NSA and is especially “screwed in” but, given our nation’s AG situation, it’s simply too incredible (dictionary meaning) that she managed to get it cleared for public dissemination.”
https://libertybellediaries.com/2019/01/24/twitter-cover-up/
I’ve been wondering how on earth she realized there was a network of anonymous accounts working to amplify that video, from her personal PC or cellphone? Does she have access to some sophisticated content monitoring capability? Does she work for someone or is she involved in monitoring or running networks of anonymous accounts, who engage in political messaging to be disbursed through amplification (anonymous accounts launching SPIN attacks) on social media How on earth did she realize it was a network of anonymous accounts?
She should be asked how she knew there was a network and how on earth she identified that network of anonymous accounts from her Twitter feed. I can see when the pool of liberal media guppies and pundits engage in a Dem retweet feeding frenzy , but I have no way to scan Twitter and identify a network of anonymous accounts who initiated an orchestrated (network, as McKew described it) SPIN messaging attack.
SPIN is information warfare, whether it’s foreign or domestic – it is an attack to flood media with political messaging to incite people (agitation propaganda). SPIN information warfare has several components, but the SPIN messaging component is repetitive messaging operations across all media platforms in America, particularly the news media venues. Since 1998, when I mentioned this on The Excite message boards, I believe SPIN repetitive messaging operates using the military tactic of swarming. Information warfare employs military strategy and tactics, while disguising it in benign PR terminology. It is ruthless mass media brainwashing operations more at home in totalitarian countries, designed to control public opinion in America and drown out and marginalize dissenting viewpoints.
Two different hives swarm on social media – the professional info operators waging orchestrated spin attacks and the pond of partisans – retweeting whatever the professional info operators feed them. Dems/media are used to being the Dem SPIN guppies for the Left’s professional SPIN political operatives. They have decades of experience dutifully reciting their talking points, sent from on high – no questions asked.
On my Twitter feed, I assume my feed is based on some algorithm Twitter has to fill my feed with content, based on my tweeting and who I follow. I follow 900+ journalists and pundit peeps, so I can follow the swarming Dem SPIN attacks launching by the Dem SPIN guppies. I have no way to identify the Dem SPIN professional operators manufacturing the Dem SPIN ammo or orchestrating the Dem SPIN swarming “networks of anonymous accounts”. McKew apparently has access to information on the professional operations, who orchestrate these Dem SPIN swarming attacks on social media.
I’ve got a lot of questions in my mind about this anonymous account holder(s),@2020fight, in the Covington/Phillips video. @2020fight had tweeted on average 130 times per day since the beginning of this year (per CNN) story. The NBC article refers to @2020fight’s activity as being an online influencer. Was @2020fight working with a political group or organization as an “influencer”?
There’s a difference between political free speech and waging orchestrated mass media smear campaigns, particularly using a photo of kids and smearing them based on a facial expression and a red hat. That video was propelled onto Twitter to incite an online rage mob against some kids. We need to know if this was just one “influencer” or a network, as McKew explained it. If it was orchestrated by a group of political operatives, it recklessly endangered children, all to incite hate against President Trump and a group of kids. That is different than one “influencer” unintentionally posted a video that went viral, imo. Was there a network of anonymous accounts, launched to amplify that video? If so, was that network of anonymous accounts manufactured by political operatives? I hope many concerned citizens continue to search for answers and investigate this attack on innocent kids.
Added Thought, January 26, 2019:
In my mind one online “influencer” schoolteacher very actively promoting her political views is very different than political operatives orchestrating an online mob action, deploying numerous anonymous accounts, to amplify “highly polarized and yet inconsistent political messaging”.
The targets of this messaging were a bunch of kids on a school trip waiting for their bus.
Another Added Thought, January 26,2019, 8:06 pm:
Last night, bouncing ideas back and forth with JK, in comments on my previous post, I wrote:
“JK, this Rob McDonagh works for Storyful – one google search – Storyful is headquartered in Ireland, parent organization is News. Corp, (Murdoch). So, following the CNN & NBC stories, Storyful alerted Twitter, headquarters in San Francisco, about the suspicious account.
Assuredly, if this suspicious account is in the San Francisco Bay area, their investigators wouldn’t have had to travel far to talk to this account holder, who claims to be a school teacher. It isn’t like an account in a foreign country, for crying out loud. And if it was an innocent school teacher in the bay area, seems like she might have been calling Twitter in her hometown or going there to talk to someone quickly to resolve the matter. Something just seems so sketchy about all of it.”
JK offered some very interesting thoughts too. I might be incorrect about Storyful contacting Twitter. The CNN report says, McDonagh, at Storyful was, “was monitoring Twitter activity on Saturday morning”. Rereading the NBC report, it says:
“Questions soon emerged about the account. Following an inquiry by CNN about the fake profile photo, Twitter suspended @2020fight on Monday for violating its policy on fake accounts.”
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/twitter-account-amplified-covington-catholic-d-c-march-video-appears-n961981
My main issue is what does Twitter know about this anonymous account holder(s) and any other anonymous accounts involved in suspicious, high volume retweets of this video? Have Twitter investigators been in communication, online or in person, with the account holder(s)? In the NBC report, the 2nd paragraph, bothered me and it still bothers me:
“But it appears that the account, @2020fight, was run not by a foreign operative trying to fan America’s political divisions but rather by a woman who described herself as a San Francisco Bay Area teacher and advocated liberal causes — and, to all appearances, did not expect to find herself at the center of a media firestorm.”
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/twitter-account-amplified-covington-catholic-d-c-march-video-appears-n961981
Why was NBC framing this account holder as a victim:
“to all appearances, did not expect to find herself at the center of a media firestorm.”
Huh??? She was using a photo pulled from a Brazilian blogger, high rate of tweets and and she was engaged in behavior that was ““highly polarized and yet inconsistent political messaging”,”
She assuredly was at the center of an aggressive political messaging operation though, whether for her own political motive or as part of a network, is not clear. It would be very interesting to know who she followed and who was following her and who her large crowd of retweets were. This could be important to know if it’s an orchestrated network .. along with knowing if there was a network of other anonymous accounts amplifying this video.
If it is a network, It would help lead back the big fish Dem SPIN political operatives, running this operation and it would help flesh out some of the Dem SPIN guppies on Twitter (although anyone following politics on Twitter can give you a lonnnnng list, lol of the Dem SPIN guppies). All networks have various links, so unraveling the links might lead higher up the Dem SPIN orchestrated smear campaign food chain.
Twitter’s own rules ban malicious conduct, so assuredly an orchestrated smear campaign targeting children should be against the rules. PERIOD. Why isn’t Twitter releasing more details? And why did the NBC report try to paint this account holder(s) as the victim???