Russia steps up propaganda push with online "Kremlin trolls"

[Lite Beer]

Russia steps up propaganda push with online "Kremlin trolls"
IULIIA SUBBOTOVSKA, Associated Press

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — Deep inside a four-story marble building in St. Petersburg, hundreds of workers tap away at computers on the front lines of an information war, say those who have been inside. Known as "Kremlin trolls," the men and women work 12-hour shifts around the clock, flooding the Internet with propaganda aimed at stamping President Vladimir Putin's world vision on Russia, and the world.

The Kremlin has always dabbled in propaganda, but in the past year its troll campaign has gone into overdrive, adding hundreds of online operatives to help counter Western pressure over its role in the pro-Russian insurgency in eastern Ukraine. The program is drawing Serbia away from its proclaimed EU membership path and closer to the Russian orbit, and is targeting Germany, the United States and other Western powers. The operation has worried the European Union enough to prompt it to draw up a blueprint for fighting Russia's disinformation campaign, although details have not yet been released.

Lyuda Savchuk, a single mother with two children, worked in the St. Petersburg "troll factory" until mid-March. The 34-year-old journalist said she had some idea of the Orwellian universe she was entering when she took the job, but underestimated its intensity and scope.

"I knew it was something bad, but of course I never suspected that it was this horrible and this large-scale," she said in an interview in her apartment, which has colorful drawings on the walls for her two preschool-age children.

She described how the trolls manage several social media accounts under different nicknames, such as koka-kola23, green_margo and Funornotfun. Those in her department had to bash out 160 blog posts during a 12-hour shift. Trolls in other departments flooded the Internet with doctored images and pro-Putin commentary on news stories that crop up on Russian and Western news portals.

In some departments, she said, the trolls receive daily talking points on what to write and what emotions to evoke. "It seems to me that they don't know what they are doing," Savchuk said. "They simply repeat what they are told."

She said most of the trolls are young and are attracted by relatively high monthly salaries of 40,000 to 50,000 rubles ($800 to $1,000).

Her descriptions of the work coincide with those of other former trolls who have spoken publicly, although Savchuk is one of the few willing to have her full name published. She quit after a little more than two months, after finding she couldn't stand being part of a propaganda machine.

The trolls are employed by Internet Research, which Russian news reports say is financed by a holding company headed by Putin's friend and personal chef. Those who have worked there say they have little doubt that the operation is run from the Kremlin.

St. Petersburg journalist Andrei Soshnikov, who was one of the first to report on the "troll factory," said about 400 people work in the building. A video he posted on YouTube this spring gave a rare glimpse inside the building; in one room trolls were shown sitting shoulder-to-shoulder at their computers. The operation moved into the building when it expanded in March 2014, the month Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine and provoked the first round of Western economic sanctions.

Soshnikov, a reporter at the weekly Moi Rayon, or My Region, said there has been a new push in recent months to hire more English-speaking trolls as part of an effort to sway public opinion in the United States.

"All of a sudden, (they) switch on Russia Today and realize that this is a holy land, Obama is a bloody dictator and true freedom of speech exists only in Russia."

In Serbia, trolls are recruited through several small right-wing parties that are both financially and politically supported by Russia, media analysts say.

When Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was killed in Moscow in late February, the Serbian trolls were quick to react. "Who is to gain from this assassination but America? It must have been CIA," was the dominant mantra that took hold in discussions on Serbian news sites. "Likes" went into the hundreds, while comments such as "Putin is responsible" received widespread ridicule.

Serbs receive most of their information about Russia from Moscow-backed media, and the trolls reinforce the Kremlin line. The result is a widespread view in Serbia that the Kiev regime is neo-Nazi and that Putin was right to annex Crimea.

"One of the consequences is the fact that popular support for the EU integration has dropped below 50 percent for the first time since democratic change in Serbia in 2000," said Jelena Milic, a political analyst at the Center for Euro-Atlantic Studies, in Belgrade. "It is going to be very hard to recover this public support."

In Germany, the foreign ministry has tried to counter the propaganda by issuing a memo to its diplomats on how to debunk some of the standard Russian arguments about the Ukraine conflict.

For instance, the memo answers the statement that "fascists are in power in Kiev" by noting that radical and far-right groups made up only a small proportion of the demonstrators who ousted the Russia-friendly president, and that far-right parties did very poorly in subsequent parliamentary and presidential elections.

-- (c) Associated Press 2015-05-29

[blueyeshk]

Like to see their response here.

[canuckamuck]

How much would it cost to pay the trolls on here?

[Scott]

How much would it cost to pay the trolls on here?

God only knows what would happen if they got paid!

But that's a different topic. For now, let's stick to this one on Russian trolls.

[Steely Dan]

How much would it cost to pay the trolls on here?

God only knows what would happen if they got paid!

But that's a different topic. For now, let's stick to this one on Russian trolls.

You mean they don't?

I would observe that the advent of social media has resulted in far more avenues for propaganda to spread. The Russians would stick to Pravda and RT if there were no payoff for going to the trouble of setting up a troll center. I also wonder whether there is a career path laid out for trolls leading perhaps one day to a lucrative and privileged position with a UN agency or an NGO.

[micmichd]

Don't worry, there might be a counter-troll to every troll.

[arjunadawn]

Propaganda has always been a facet of politics and the military but only recently has it taken on a very pressing, globally manipulative capacity. With the ability to target the entire planet and revise history in the moment potential for great evil exists. In fact, its hard to see how we as a species can legitimately get from "here" to "there" any longer in any meaningful/valid way- increasingly, nearly all truth is fabricated. It takes a very smart and wise person to stay focused, on target, and genuinely learn anything without social or political manipulation being woven into the information that passes the senses- just look at Wikipedia, for example. Regrettably, there are not that many smart and wise people coming out of the education system anymore. A sad dystopia lies ahead; I am certain of this.

[Scott]

Off-topic post removed. Let's stick to the Russian troll discussion.

[rijit]

I was told about the st petershurg trolls a year ago or ago, more recently the girl who told me wouldnt talk further as reading on her message board, you couldnt say she was directly threatened, but....there were some pretty spooky conversations held. seems now the policy has changed and wouldnt be surprised if the above story wasnt sanctioned by putins mob , why, so they could then counter.with ' well the west do it' i'm sure the wrst do influence the media, but never quite like this. and i have no doubts they have 'trolled' on this site. They wernt dificult to spot at first they talked and talked on only russian topics, really boring and biased come to mind.now they seem to have intergrated into the comuninty and talk generally other topics. On a well known western newspaper i even joked with them about working on sunday, double time' one replied.

Edited May 31, 2015 by rijit

[Basil B]

I was told about the st petershurg trolls a year ago or ago, more recently the girl who told me wouldnt talk further as reading on her message board, you couldnt say she was directly threatened, but....there were some pretty spooky conversations held. seems now the policy has changed and wouldnt be surprised if the above story wasnt sanctioned by putins mob , why, so they could then counter.with ' well the west do it' i'm sure the wrst do influence the media, but never quite like this. and i have no doubts they have 'trolled' on this site. They wernt dificult to spot at first they talked and talked on only russian topics, really boring and biased come to mind.now they seem to have intergrated into the comuninty and talk generally other topics. On a well known western newspaper i even joked with them about working on sunday, double time' one replied.

Had a job the other day, the client was Russian, mention Putin, and she just shrugged he shoulders, they learn early when not to say anything.

[Godders]

And of course Western security services, taught to fight under Marquis of Queensbury rules, would never resort to such underhand methods as trolling or fifth columnists to undermine its enemies.

Honestly, you wonder where most people have been for the rest of their lives when you read yellow press junk like this and the naive responses from some posters.

If you really want to know about how dirty war games can get, make a start by Googling "Project MKultra".

You'll need a shower afterwards.

[rijit]

that was an interesting part she reckoned that in russia itself the

feeling wasnt as pro putins as one is led to believe. that was why our conversation started ie is it really as pro taking involvement in the.ukkraine ect ect, as all these posters lead you to believe. and her answer was no, definatly not and so the 'story' unfolded oh and the personal chef bit is wrong i believe its a crony of putins from way bac, belueve he has the contract to supply the army with food. got some links on him will put them up later.

Edited May 31, 2015 by rijit

[rijit]

And of course Western security services, taught to fight under Marquis of Queensbury rules, would never resort to such underhand methods as trolling or fifth columnists to undermine its enemies.

Honestly, you wonder where most people have been for the rest of their lives when you read yellow press junk like this and the naive responses from some posters.

If you really want to know about how dirty war games can get, make a start by Googling "Project MKultra".

You'll need a shower afterwards.

pleased that your aware of all this, but PERSONALLY, i've never been experienced a full on propaganda war. having some one disagreeing with you is normal but after a while realising there was more to it than that was a weird, progressing to an uncomfortable experience.

[craigt3365]

And of course Western security services, taught to fight under Marquis of Queensbury rules, would never resort to such underhand methods as trolling or fifth columnists to undermine its enemies.

Honestly, you wonder where most people have been for the rest of their lives when you read yellow press junk like this and the naive responses from some posters.

If you really want to know about how dirty war games can get, make a start by Googling "Project MKultra".

You'll need a shower afterwards.

"yellow press junk"??? Really....