r/SipsTea • u/Previous_Month_555 • 4h ago

Feels good man Russian disinformation bot traffic nearly eliminated overnight after Ukraine drone strikes cripple multiple Russian data centers.

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23.8k Upvotes

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u/[deleted] 4h ago

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u/SciFiPi 4h ago

About a year ago a reddittor analyzed posts on the conservative sub.

The only day the two most active users in Conservative didn't post was November 1st, which happened to be the day of a power outage in Moscow that was the result of a Ukranian drone attack.

Nearly every day, two users on r/Conservative account for more than 30% of new posts. Sometimes exceeding 50%. (6 charts) : r/visualization

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u/msg_me_small_butts 3h ago

To anyone wondering what Reddit's response to this investigation was, they took away the tool he used to collect the data to make sure people can't do it again in the future.

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u/Bleh54 3h ago

Fuck /u/spez

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u/Vitese 3h ago

Complete ass hats. Manipulating the narrative just like Musk... albeit maybe not as maliciously.

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u/SmilingCurmudgeon 3h ago

I'm a couple decades too old for him to be interested.

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u/TesticleMeElmo 3h ago

Even his username sounds Russian

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u/Civil_Deer7337 2h ago

Sounds like Spetsnaz

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u/[deleted] 3h ago

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u/BertMacklenF8I 4h ago

12 hours of conservatives on their own

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u/Sadoguricappu 3h ago

They dont even know how to make a good argument and complain now lmao. MAGA are screwed

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u/InfamousEvening2 4h ago edited 4h ago

~~12 hour~~ 8 hour window of zero posts.

edit - my initial comment was out by a handful of hours

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u/Fiyah_Crotch2 4h ago

I just took a look, 8 hours of radio silence for a subreddit with a 700k population is nuts.

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u/MrKingsport 3h ago

Years ago, like close to a decade, a mod from there got mad at me in another sub and mass-banned me from a ton of subs specifically conservative ones which is weird cause I didn't visit those, ever.

I ran the old snoopsnoo on his account and I swear he was locked up in an instittion with internet access. Flat out posting for 16 hours a day, always the same 16, never stopping even on the weekends. Universally asleep for the same 8 hours every night. It was uncanny. I remember like 1 day in 6 months he had any posts inside that 8 hour window.

He could not let go of anything would just respond to get the last word relentlessly. It was identical to my family's behavior. Like perfectly identical. Just neurotic need to win even when provably factually wrong.

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u/InstructionFinal5190 3h ago

One would go so far to say, almost bot like?

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u/myfuckingstruggle 3h ago

And you don't think it was an ai bot? Sounds like one

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u/Honest-Resist-7676 3h ago

Close to a decade ago? Mod to multiple subreddits? Gotta be a dude, my dude. Occam's razor n stuff. Russia has prisoners who can't do manual labor, so it would probably be pennies per day to give them internet (not paying salary) and unleash the locked in inmates into the web with a clear goal: stir shit up in the west.

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u/LumpyJones 3h ago

I'd guess 2 people using the same account with 8 hour shifts at the russian troll farm, and 8 hours off to give the illusion it's one person who sleeps.

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u/freerangetacos 3h ago

Do AI bots have operating hours?

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u/Mediocre-Wrongdoer14 3h ago

If they are programmed to.

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u/cybender 3h ago

Union break beep boop

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u/Turence 2h ago

A decade ago?

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u/Soggy_Association491 4h ago

And you can check yourself and see if there was similar gap in the past

1 day before the day of the attack there was 7 hours of radio silence

the day before that 5 hours of radio silence

the day before that another 5 hours of radio silence

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u/w00t4me 3h ago

r/Conservative had another similar outage the day Ukraine struck a major Moscow power plant and knocked power out for the entire city,

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u/wytewydow 3h ago

What are those hours, in comparison to world timezones?

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u/greihund 3h ago

I mean, even internet trolls gotta sleep sometime

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u/mrwildacct 3h ago

"population"

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u/CurrentConditionsAI 4h ago

Seriously?

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u/notsam57 4h ago

sorted by newest.

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u/CurrentConditionsAI 4h ago

This is delicous!!!!!

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u/BenjiRolls_ 4h ago

Seeing the same too, 8hr gap lol

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u/Soggy_Association491 4h ago

I did check then i checked the previous day as well and there was a similar 7 hours gap.

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u/myfuckingstruggle 3h ago

So what you're saying is that 8 hours of radio silence is not a good indication of a deviation in traffic?

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u/InfamousEvening2 4h ago

go over and check on 'new' posts. the gap goes from 13 hrs ago to 21 hrs ago. (I know that arithmetic doesn't work with my previous comment, but I have other screenshots)

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u/CommercialAgency928 4h ago

Ha. No lies were told. That's hilarious.

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u/imightwin 4h ago

I have a folder full of screenshots showing bot comments and hypocritical opinions ranging from 2020 (when I started saving them) to now from those subs.

There's maybe 25-50 real accounts that eat up that fascist propaganda slop, and a merry-go-round of similar sounding bot or paid accounts with similar avatars that pop up every now and then spewing the same MAGA fascist opinions we see online and in our government.

Those same account either go silent or get banned, and a new almost identical account will pop up and start commenting and posting pro MAGA rhetoric.

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u/Soggy_Association491 4h ago

Go check older posts and you will see similar gaps as well.

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u/acowasacowshouldbe 3h ago

saw some posts 30-40 minutes ago so no? i wish this was the case though 

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u/Hog_Eyes 3h ago

There was an eight hour gap with no posts but they're back now

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u/Artevyx 4h ago

Even now, the posts are nothing like what you would normally see.

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u/mynameismy111 4h ago

Oh my God ! Oh my GOoooD! That's freaking delicious! Go Ukraine!

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u/Craven35 4h ago

Can real people post topics to discuss now? Like people from here on negative news for conservative policy?

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u/JustAnotherBit 3h ago

Probably, they wont be a hive mind calling for anyone not picking trumps holes to be banned.

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u/VoidOmatic 2h ago

Just remember that that sub exists to show a curated image of conservatives to us liberal/progressives. Those Russian bots are hear for us not Republicans.

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u/PuzzleheadedFeed2726 4h ago

Quiet piggy

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u/p0rkjello 3h ago

I saw a post earlier calling it “Operation Quiet Piggy”

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1

u/Imrahil_II 2h ago

I've been told im not conservative because I've criticized trump. I dont do party lines and I pass criticism around like candy

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u/New-Maximum-1013 2h ago

This comment made my day.

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u/Reasonable-Turn-5940 2h ago

the sheep lost their shepherd

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u/AcanthaceaeKey6259 2h ago

I live under a cave right here so what's happening or what's the context behind it?

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u/Burt_Macklin___ 4h ago edited 4h ago

Nah, most of those dumb fucks are real, astonishingly. They're the ones the bots manipulate into voting against their own interests and supporting pedophile Billionaires

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u/BodhingJay 4h ago

Nah.. not "most" not by a long shot

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u/squirrelbitten 4h ago

I'm not sure what part of America these other people are from, but I am seeing exactly what you are saying. Everything is still either bad because of Biden, trans people or immigrants. Republican attack on education seems to be working far too well.

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u/TyruntasaurusRecht 4h ago

Yes but the difference is, the real cultists dont have original thoughts or post. They just comment to and follow bots.

Cultservatives are sub-bot people.

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u/Immediate-Damage-302 4h ago

That's a bunch of downvotes. Pedophile/Billionaire supporters are a tough crowd!

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u/Burt_Macklin___ 4h ago

I'm surprised by how many people are offended by me calling out pedophile supporters too.

Or, it's just people who can't fucking read lmao

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u/GreasedUPDoggo 4h ago

Indeed. But it's important to note that Russia bots and influence campaigns are just as, or even more, involved in left wing groups and rallies. BLM, 50501, and the No Kings folks were heavily influenced, and even founded, by Russians (and Chinese in the case of 50501).

Russia openly stated that their bread and butter was focusing on sensationalizing issues between minority groups in order to ensure no people aren't willing to work with each other.

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u/HeWhoCreatesDivinity 4h ago

Okay vlad.

https://giphy.com/gifs/xTcf1gUpg87E5lNK2A

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u/Upstairs_Being290 3h ago

This guy is a right-winger LARPing as a Democrat just so he can say things like, "I'm a Democrat but....." Literally EVERY one of his comments is defending right-wingers and attacking left-wingers. I went back hundreds of comments and didn't see a single exception.

These are just some greatest hits from the last three days:

"You guys absolutely LOVE Trump. It's pure fan obsession at this point. Everything in life has to be about him!"

"But it's important to note that Russia bots and influence campaigns are just as, or even more, involved in left wing groups and rallies. BLM, 50501, and the No Kings folks were heavily influenced, and even founded, by Russians"

"I mean, to be fair the cats and dogs thing was hysterical! Everyone was too busy laughing about it for it to be controversial. Only folks in echo chambers thought it was actually detrimental. And those echo chamber folks are our party's MAGA. Lol they'll believe anything they are told about stuff." - speaking of Trump's disgusting attacks on Haitian immigrants

"She's also an overall terrible person. And I say that as a Dem who hates how much of a toxic poison pill her brand is." - speaking of Ilhan Omar after the obvious political attack of searching her house just before the election.

"I mean, you do have very loud support for Russian founded and backed groups and rallies, from our fringes in the Dem party. 50501 and No King being the best known. Lol but our fringes only care that the groups and rallies are anti-Trump. They'd give money to anyone if they are anti-Trump. So we definitely have our own "Rather be Russian than a Democrat" collective bunch of simpletons."

"If you care about Palestinian children then you oppose Hamas. If you care about supporting Hamas, you oppose Israel."

"It's creepy how obsessed you guys are with the guy." [speaking of David Ellison]

"Lol the internet echo chambers sure believe it" - mocking El Sayed

"If only he was still funny. Then he'd still be on." - attacking Stephen Colbert

"It's very little money. And to be fair, Europe has been buying from Russia through Indian proxies since the beginning of the conflict. Heck, starting in 2024 the EU spent more on Russian gas than Ukrainian aid. So I don't think this is as controversial as the internet makes it out to be." - supporting Trump buying Russian diesel (dozens and dozens of comments like this)

"Well said. Heck, I work in politics and am a Dem, but I left the top of the ticket blank. A bad president selected by the people is still better than a decent president that received no primary votes and was not selected by the people. She was illegitimate as a candidate. Which is surprisingly worse for our Democracy than a terrible president like Trump." - On why you don't support Kamala

"He's actually fairly progressive. He used to be very popular with my party, the Dems. Our fringes then spent years trying to call everything he does fascism. While giving no regards to Musk's massive contributions to humanity." - On why Elon Musk is a great guy

"I'm a Dem, but I tend not to try to judge other nation's decisions through an American lens. We have allies throughout Europe who are staunchly anti-immigration. The AFD has fairly moderate views for the climate that Germany finds itself in. And not even mildly comparable to NAZIs."

"That is a very social media echo chamber. Let's be honest, literally every politician has done a similar hand signal. Why? Because they don't filter everything through the toxicity of social media where any action is compared to NAZIs, assuming it's your political opponents doing it."

"Also, jeeeeez, comparing the "far right" in Germany to NAZI's is just so lazy and ignorant. Their views are not particularly comparable to NAZIs of yesteryear."

"Trump is not a dictator. Lol even as a Dem, I don't see how you can claim that. He was elected by the people and our midterm elections look to be going the same as always."

His entire comment history is "I'm a Democrat but I hate Democrats" bullshit. No criticism of Trump anywhere to be seen. Keep being a clown.

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u/Helix_2023 4h ago

They indeed were not founded by Russians but alright.

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u/Any-Expression-7027 4h ago

Lol you replied to one of the Russians whose computer wasn't taken offline.

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u/Upstairs_Being290 3h ago

Look at his history - his ENTIRE comment history is attacking the left, supporting the right's deals with Russia, etc.

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u/Cliffhanger87 4h ago

Lol he never said founded he said influenced. And it’s completely true. Russian disinformation campaigns and bots are on both sides. They don’t care about the side they just care about destabilizing and polarizing a nation

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u/tblaess5 4h ago

Can you read?

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u/sandwalkofshame 4h ago

Russian disinformation campaigns are definitely active on all sides, but dude also definitely said "even founded". Verbatim.

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u/Helix_2023 4h ago

Exactly. These movements on both sides are influenced via foreign interference to sow up more division in the United Stated. But none of these movements were founded by Russia ffs. It’s more believable that some of these movements were created by the FBI as a psy-op. They have a history of it.

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u/VirusWonderful5147 4h ago

I hate to be that guy, but the post by greasedUPDoggo literally reads:

"...the No Kings Folks were heavily influenced, and even founded, by Russians (and Chinese...