Member-only story
I Didn’t Expect To Be Spammed With Russian Propaganda
And most likely AI generated at that
Although the News has been frequently filled with in-depth reporting on Russia’s hacking interference in social media, I’ve not concerned myself much with it.
After all, social media hacks are almost de rigueur these days.
Certainly, not all of these are from foreign sources.
Almost daily, I get a new friend request from some longtime friend on Facebook.
Or a message sent en masse that I never ever open, no matter how close the friend.
But years on Medium have lulled me into feeling quite protected here. Even isolated from outside interference.
And really, I don’t feel threatened now.
Just annoyed.
Because today, I got this new follower.
I always suspect something is amiss when the profile photo is just too cute to be ignored. And this was a very young Russian girl, which set off immediate warning bells.
So I read her most recent article.
A lengthy diatribe professing Russia’s interest in promoting ongoing violence and aggression, with all kinds of justifications dating back to World War II.
Something no young girl would write.
And then, grammatical errors that couldn’t be attributed simply to poor translation.
All of which made me finally realize the actual source.
ONE NEW FOLLOWER BLOCKED.
End of story.
