Return to Astroturfing, Sockpuppets & Crowd-Renting Studies - Compendium I
Table of contents
1: Introductory Material
1.1: Terms and Case Studies
1.2: Persona Management Software
1.3: "The Gentleman's Guide To Forum Spies (spooks, feds, etc.)" <- Recommended
1.4: 2014 Thinkst Investigation into Building Effective Sock Puppets <- Recommended
2: Astroturfing by Country
2.1: U.S.A
2.2: Israel
2.2.1: "Sockpuppet nation: How fake commenters and other online ploys skew what you read"
2.3: Turkey
2.3.1: "Turkey's Government Forms 6,000-Member Social Media Team"
2.3.2: "Turkish Hackers Deface Hundreds of Websites and Twitter Accounts"
2.3.3: "Twitter Accounts of US Media Under Attack by Large Campaign"
2.4: China
2.4.1: 50 Cent Army
Introductory Material
Terms and Case Studies
Astroturfing, sockpuppets & crowd renting: ft. Crowds On Demand & Weiner plus HBGary vs Anonymous & WikiLeaks
Astroturfing short definition:
Astroturfing is the practice of masking the sponsors of a message or organization (e.g., political, advertising, religious or public relations) to make it appear as though it originates from and is supported by grassroots participants. It is a practice intended to give the statements or organizations credibility by withholding information about the source's financial connection.
Sockpuppet short definition:
A sockpuppet is an online identity used for purposes of deception. The term, a reference to the manipulation of a simple hand puppet made from a sock, originally referred to a false identity assumed by a member of an Internet community who spoke to, or about, themselves while pretending to be another person.[1]
The term now includes other misleading uses of online identities, such as those created to praise, defend or support a person or organization,[2] to manipulate public opinion,[3] or to circumvent a suspension or ban from a website.
Crowd-renting short (loose) definition:
The use of paid (or otherwise incentivized) "actors" for the purpose of "astroturfing", part of which may include supporting or protesting/disrupting, and manufacturing of both, a person, organization, business/political interests, other agendas, etc. May also include online activities and the use of sockpuppets.
Case studies included in above link:
- Anthony Weiner & Crowds On Demand.
- HBGary et al vs. Wikileaks & Anonymous.
Trickle down-voting (see 1.4: 2014 Thinkst Investigation into Building Effective Sock Puppets) short definition:
Trickle-downvoting involves monitoring submissions/comments over time and applying enough artificial downvotes to keep the content's score as close to zero as possible (thus also off the hot list and/or as a way to deter other readers voting or being too sure of what they're reading) -- theoretically and demonstrably manipulating discussion without arousing as much suspicion as mass-downvoting.
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Persona Management Software
Persona Management Software is designed to assist with the creation, management and use of sock puppets. Proof of concept exists as an example developed by Ntrepid and thought to be connected to Operation Earnest Voice:
wiki: "Ntrepid" - https://archive.fo/h6dnE
In March 2011, Ntrepid won a $2.76 million contract from the U.S. military for "online persona management."[2] The contract was for the creation of technology which would allow for blogging activities on websites, exclusively outside of the United States, to "counter violent extremist and enemy propaganda."[6][8] It would allow for one operator to anonymously create and control up to ten personas from one computer.[3] Each persona would have a background, history, supporting details, and cyber presence that is consistent from a technical, cultural, and geographic standpoint.[9]
The project is overseen by U.S. Central Command (Centcom), whose spokesman Commander Bill Speaks stated that the operation would be carried out in Arabic, Farsi, and Urdu.[2]
The project is thought to be connected with Operation Earnest Voice.[2]
wiki: "Operation Earnest Voice" - https://archive.fo/hLGuk
Operation Earnest Voice is an astroturfing campaign by the US government.[1] The aim of the initiative is to use sockpuppets to spread pro-American propaganda on social networking sites based outside of the US.[2][3][4][5] The campaign is operated by the United States Military Central Command (CENTCOM), thought to have been directed at jihadists across Pakistan, Afghanistan and other countries the Middle East.[2]
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"The Gentleman's Guide To Forum Spies (spooks, feds, etc.)"
I am not sure of the origins of this document, but nonetheless, it contains useful perspective on some of the behaviors to be on the lookout for when spotting subversive/sockpuppet user accounts and agendas.
https://archive.fo/A5HLW
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2014 Thinkst Investigation into Building Effective Sock Puppets
PDF WARNING: https:// thinkst.com/stuff/hitb2014/Thinkst_2014_SockPuppets.pdf | https://archive.fo/TC0pq
This one is a long read but quite interesting and worth it -- I strongly recommend it if you find the time. It covers many topics and testing phases/mediums and illustrates the ease and difficulties of using sockpuppets to manipulate online discussion in various contexts.
Some highlights:
- Case of HamBaconEggs; One of many sock puppet accounts posting heavily anti-Semetic content, exposed as pro-Israel US post-graduate student.
- Tactic: Trickle down-voting; Monitoring comments/submissions over days and subtly keeping their score as close to 0 as possible with artificial voting. (See terms)
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Astroturfing by Country
wiki: "State-sponsored Internet propaganda" - https://archive.fo/uxaO7
U.S.A.
Examples include: Anthony Weiner & Crowds on Demand, HBGary et al vs Wikileaks & Anonymous, Operation Earnest Voice, HamBaconEggs.
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Israel
Examples include: HamBaconEggs, JIDF.
(Oct 2017) timesofisrael.com - https://archive.fo/nfjFA
Mentions:
- Use of sockpuppets by Netanyahu's party and other parties/interests in Israel.
- Israel Bitcoin scams using sockpuppets.
- Manipulation of Google results.
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Turkey
(Sep 2013) wsj.com - https://archive.fo/7PUJ1
The Justice and Development Party, led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is recruiting a 6,000-member social-media team to woo citizens and fight critics, party officials said.
"Turkish Hackers Deface Hundreds of Websites and Twitter Accounts"
(Mar 2017) bleepingcomputer.com - https://archive.fo/eHAsK
Also mentions:
(Jan 2018) mcafee.com - https://archive.fo/iVpTR
campaign purportedly carried out by Turkish hacker group “Ayyildiz Tim” targeting high-profile, verified Twitter accounts with the purpose of spreading Turkish political propaganda
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China
50 Cent Army
wiki: "50 Cent Army" - https://archive.fo/vcMyV
(Nov 2013) guardianlv.com - https://archive.fo/lTodH
For almost a decade, China has been using an army of sockpuppets known as the 50 Cent Party to control public opinion on the internet. Now, their ranks have swollen to around two million. They are the men and women who are paid by the government to sway public opinion by commenting on various message boards, blogs, and social media. Recently, the Chinese government has begun treating this as an official occupation.
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[–] SearchVoatBot ago
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[–] SearchVoatBot ago
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[–] Crensch 1 point 0 points 1 point (+1|-1) ago
Haven't gotten to read at all, but I remember when this happened to me and I realize what was happening almost immediately:
[–] argosciv [S] 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
Yeis. Noticed that happening a lot and figured you'd recognize it. Also had a feeling some folks would try to spin this post in their favor and otherwise dilute its message by playing the victim card... only took a couple of hours and some comment history stalking xD
[–] Crensch 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
Kek.
[–] SearchVoatBot ago
This comment was linked from this v/pizzagate comment by @NOMOCHOMO.
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[–] Fambida ago
Damn, man, that's a nice post. Shame you posted it at fuck o clock in the US morning so few will see it.
Maybe try reposting at 7 pm eastern/4 pm pacific to get the home from work crowd.
[–] argosciv [S] 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
True. Was thinking of cross-posting it in a few places anyway during better hours.
[–] Vindicator 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
You definitely should! I've saved it to my sub. Great research, Argo. Thanks for sharing.