[frabbit]

Persona management and state level trolling has been happening for a while now. Go back to the long, long ago past of 2011 and revel in US weaponisation of social networks:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/mar/17/us-spy-op...

"It is unclear whether a persona management programme would contravene UK law. Legal experts say it could fall foul of the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981, which states that "a person is guilty of forgery if he makes a false instrument, with the intention that he or another shall use it to induce somebody to accept it as genuine, and by reason of so accepting it to do or not to do some act to his own or any other person's prejudice". However, this would apply only if a website or social network could be shown to have suffered "prejudice" as a result.

• This article was amended on 18 March 2011 to remove references to Facebook and Twitter, introduced during the editing process, and to add a comment from Centcom, received after publication, that it is not targeting those sites."

[mistermann]

I wonder if the US 3 letter agencies have any motivation, and are sophisticated enough, to create the appearance of an organization controlled by a third party that is operating online to shape the thinking of American citizens.

Not that this would ever happen of course, just wondering if it is possible.