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🛑 NEW: THE SILENCE OF THE TROLLS was a great story. It just isn't supported by any real data — just a handful of misleading charts. Researchers tracking actual troll networks saw no drop. Why did so many want to believe it anyway? We dug in... america2.news/motivated-re...

america2.newsMotivated Reasoning and Confirmation Bias Drive Viral Claims of “Russian Bot” DeclinesA viral chart showed that Ukraine’s strikes on Yandex silenced the company’s search crawler. But many people were ready (and willing) to believe it showed something more.

13/10/26, 5:13 pm29 reposts45 likes

arquebuse

@arquebuse.bsky.social

so be it, let - for once - a viral half-truth be against the bad guys and not in favor of them

Dave Troy

@davetroy.com

No. The truth actually matters, and embracing falsehoods will be used to discredit people fighting for Ukraine.

arquebuse

@arquebuse.bsky.social

I agree but perception matters more than truth which is why disinformation is so effective and must be used against the enemy, see Sefton Delmer's operations in WW2.

Dave Troy

@davetroy.com

Yeah, I know two authors of books on Delmer. You've got this wrong. This is just patently incorrect and actually unhelpful as 1) it gives surface area for attack, 2) it drives misperceptions that the problem is being solved when it patently is not. Come up with a better strategy. This ain't it.