Reddit moderators spotted Iranian fake news campaign months ago

Earlier this week, Facebook, Twitter and Google announced they had pulled a number of accounts linked to a misinformation campaign based out of Iran. Facebook took down 652 pages believed to be connected to the campaign while Twitter suspended 284 accounts. Google also removed a number of YouTube channels, Google+ accounts and Blogger blogs. But NBC News reports today that a handful of Reddit moderators spotted this misinformation effort some time ago and that their reports to the website were ignored.

After noticing certain Reddit users were posting divisive political content from some obscure news sites, one moderator, Alex Brown, and a few others began investigating. By looking into website identification data and tracking IP addresses, the group was able to determine that the websites were linked to Iran and were part of a propaganda effort. "I tried going to the admins," Brown told NBC News. "I told them about this [eight] days ago. These are hard examples of literal fake news, with clear evidence pointing to the Iranian government."

According to documents viewed by NBC News, the group tried to notify Reddit employees over two dozen times. Their first attempt was in July 2017 and the most recent attempts were made last week. Brown and Josh Russell, who worked with Brown and is interested in misinformation campaigns such as this one, say the effort was similar to the Russian campaigns aimed at sowing political discord ahead of the last US presidential election. Content posted by those involved with the Iran-based effort reportedly did well in subreddits like /r/WorldNews and /r/MarchAgainstTrump.

"We are aware of recent reports of malicious actors on social platforms," a Reddit spokesperson told NBC News. "We are investigating our own site and, as we have done previously, will be transparent with our findings." A source also said that the company was exploring the idea of allowing researchers like Brown who have identified these sorts of campaigns to contact site administrators directly. We've reached out to Reddit and we'll update this post if we receive additional information.

Source: NBC News



via Engadget RSS Feed https://ift.tt/2LrGfNz
RSS Feed

If New feed item from http://www.engadget.com/rss-full.xml, then send me

IFTTT

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Evernote cuts staff as user growth stalls

Image
Note-taking app Evernote has fallen on hard times of late, culminating in its latest spate of job cuts impacting 15 percent of its workforce (54 employees). CEO Chris O' Neil -- an ex-Googler who took the reins in 2015 -- announced the firings at an all-hands meeting earlier today, reports TechCrunch . In a message on the Evernote blog , O' Neill admitted he'd set "incredibly aggressive goals" for the company in 2018. He continued: "Going forward, we are streamlining certain functions, like sales, so we can continue to speed up and scale others, like product development and engineering." The layoffs follow an exec exodus just weeks ago and the company's recent brand refresh (complete with a refined logo and wordmark). But critics are more concerned about its product, especially the free tier, which they claim lacks the perks to...
Read more

The best air conditioner

Image
By Liam McCabe This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter . When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, it may earn affiliate commissions that support its work. Read the full article here . After six summers of researching, testing, and recommending window air conditioners, we've learned that quiet and affordable ACs make most people the happiest—and we think the LG LW8016ER will fit the bill in most rooms. This 8,000 Btu unit cools as efficiently and effectively as any model with an equal Btu rating, and runs at a lower volume and deeper pitch than others at this price. Little extra features like a fresh-air vent, two-axis fan blades, and a removable drain plug help set it apart, too. The LG LW8016ER is a top choice for an office or den, and some people will find it quiet enough for a bedroom, too. If our main pic...
Read more

We won't see a 'universal' vape oil cartridge anytime soon

Image
Pre-loaded cartridges of cannabis concentrate are currently among the most popular means of consumption, and for good reason. They're discreet to use and easy to handle, a far cry from the dark days of 2016 when we had to dribble hash oil or load wax into narrow-mouthed vape pens by hand. But, frustratingly, an ever increasing number of oil cartridge manufacturers employ one-off design standards so that their products won't work with those of their competitors, thereby locking customers into proprietary ecosystems. We've already seen this with nicotine vaporizers -- which has a seen a massive rise in "pod systems" in the last few years, each outfitted with a unique canister and battery built to be incompatible with those of their competition. Is it too late for the burgeoning cannabis industry to set a universal standard for their product designs? ...
Read more