Yevgeny Prigozhin says Wagner will ‘be here in Belarus for some time’ For a long time, Russia made no mention of the dozens of so-called bot farms in the country. They are huge factories intended to spread and promote disinformation and fake news on social media worldwide. When Wagner Group Chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s attempted mutiny failed, one of his assets, the Patriot Media company, came to light. Owned by Prigozhin, it is believed to have had a hold over multiple bot farms. That group has now been closed, but in announcing its closure the Russian state inadvertently admitted it was aware of the bot farms. But what exactly are the farms? And how do they work? Express.co.uk looks at one of the Kremlin’s most important propaganda tools in its war against Ukraine. READ MORE Wagner’s next move plotted as group could smash Europe with hybrid warfare Yevgeny Prigozhin is known to have established a number of bot farms across Russia ‘Sick’ troll factory exposed While the bot farms were known for years, it wasn’t until last year that the UK Government released official documents revealing how “the Kremlin is using a troll factory to spread lies on social media and in comment sections of popular websites”. In its report, titled, “UK exposes sick Russian troll factory plaguing social media with Kremlin Propaganda”, so-called cyber soldiers were found to be targeting politicians and audiences across countries around the world, including the UK, South Africa and India. The Kremlin’s large-scale disinformation campaign was, the report said, designed in a way to manipulate international public opinion of Russia’s war in Ukraine, in the process attempting to grow support for the war effort and recruit “new Putin sympathisers”. “Sick masterminds of the operation are believed to be working overtly from an old factory in St Petersburg, with paid employees, and internal working teams,” the report said. Social media bot farms can either be automated or manned by real people The troll factory used the encrypted social media app Telegram to recruit and coordinate new supporters who were instructed to target social media users critical of the Kremlin. These people would then spam the users with pro-Putin and pro-war moments, targeting Boris Johnson, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and the EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell. Operations were traced not only on Telegram but Twitter, Facebook and TikTok. Back then, the troll factory was only suspected to be linked to Prigozhin, but it is now assumed that the disgraced mercenary leader is entirely responsible. The research claimed that TikTok influencers were being paid to amplify pro-kremlin narratives, also amplifying genuine messages from legitimate social media pages that posted news that aligned with the Kremlin’s viewpoint. SUBSCRIBE Invalid email We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info Ordinary citizens were recruited to the farms through billboards like that seen above Russia’s troll farms engaged in what is known as “brigading”, steering the attention of discussion on social media and in the comment sections of online newspapers towards favoured opinions. The manipulation of polls in Western media was also observed, for example, skewing the results of surveys on whether sanctions on Russia were supported by populations. Even celebrities were targeted by Prigozhin’s troll empire, including the likes of Daft Punk, David Guetta, Tiesto and Rammstein. Earlier this month, independent Russian news outlet PaperPaper reported that a former factory employee claimed the Russian depictions of the Ukrainian war crimes were staged fakes: ‘Most of the people who were portrayed in such stories as ‘victims’ of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were stand-ins, hired individuals,’ he said. “These characters repeated pre-memorised lines to themselves, trying to ‘squeeze out a tear.’ They were also instructed off-camera by the operator to speak ‘slower’ or to ‘repeat this moment again.” Trending
Inside Putin’s ‘sick’ troll factory headed by Wagner chief Prigozhin
Sourceexpress.co.uk
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