politics
Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!
Rules:
- Post only links to articles, Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.
Links must be to the original source, not an aggregator like Google Amp, MSN, or Yahoo.
Example:

- Articles must be relevant to politics. Links must be to quality and original content. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and rehosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
- Be civil, No violations of TOS. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.
- No memes, trolling, or low-effort comments. Reposts, misinformation, off-topic, trolling, or offensive. Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.
- Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
- No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in a ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be banned without warning
We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.
All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.
That's all the rules!
Civic Links
• Congressional Awards Program
• Library of Congress Legislative Resources
• U.S. House of Representatives
Partnered Communities:
• News
view the rest of the comments
I was wondering if this is just because of VPN use or something but nope this confirms they’re actually just hired trolls and the rubes have been manipulated this whole time. Fucking pathetic how dumb we are.
Well, lots of tankies, "centrists", and of course nearly all Republicans seem to think that concerns about Russia going back to 2016's election are a "hoax".
I don't know if they could even begin to articulate what they think that word means in the context of their claims. But they sure are butthurt about it.
It wasn't just based on IP from what I understand, but also what country's app store you used.
I could be wrong here, but unless you're actively trying to hide something pretty serious, I'd be surprised if people use a VPN and set it to a country like Nigeria or Bangladesh if you're from NA.
Maybe Canada if you're from the USA, likely other states, or maybe somewhere in the EU if you think their data protection laws will be better for you.
But Nigeria? Who fuck sets their VPN there?
I know I've had to try several countries before I found Invidious instances that would work over a VPN. It seems that there are a few European countries that work, though.
( I guess I don't understand enough about how Invidious works, but I sure don't think that Alphabet needs to track my views of random videos. )
The hired trolls are only one part of the problem. The other problem -- perhaps the bigger problem -- is that running scam / spam accounts is a legitimate occupation for people living in near-poverty. They need to put food on the table, and if they can do so by posting MAGA bullshit to get the advertising clicks, of course they'll keep on doing that.
This is a good example of why everyone should be working to improve the living situations of everyone else in the world, and not just in their own country. It's not like most people enjoy running scams, but if that pays the bills, fuck it, let the rich Americans sort it out.
There are literal companies you can hire. They also do it to cancel people or promote beliefs about people.
A good example is that Johnny Depp admitted he hired one against his ex during the public court stuff to make her look bad. Amber Heard. And it worked.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3VnNDMYzttcGgBNQB0BswtH/amber-heard-vs-the-internet-an-organised-smear-campaign
Companies, in this case, owned by Saudi
This stuff sounds like crackpot conspiracy theories. But it's real. This stuff is reality now.
That last paragraph was something that struck me...I was thinking about this earlier in the day.
The great thing about disadvantaged groups is that they are easy to exploit.
This isn't cheating. This is playing the game strictly by the rules. The whole system of checks and balances assumed good faith and professional conduct. That turned out to be a really shitty assumption.