770:
disposal system, as the premier record puts it. As one of their own has said, there isn't even any such thing as a former KGB man. They think it's hilarious, and quite useful to them, how little institutional memory most of the rest of us have. Meanwhile, The
Washington Post told us just this week what sorts of things the UAE has been up to. But people have Pokemon to farm on Twitch, or some bullshit like that, so you can see the bind they're in, regarding maintaining vigilance or at least awareness. I'm not even one to go on and on about it all, trying to get anyone else to pay attention or read a little nonfiction or a little real news once in a while, but I just feel weird regarding how little 99% of people bother to have even a crumb of awareness (like "what's a Chekist?"), considering the threats and risks involved. Again, no time though, what with amusing themselves to death, I guess? Albums dropping on the Insta or some bullshit like that. They know
400:
223:
110:
130:
607:
90:
120:
36:
140:
100:
348:, which was started in March 2014 (soon after Russian soldiers seized two Crimean airports and deposed the prime minister of Crimea, but before Russia illegally annexed the region). The goal of the case study was to explore potential Russian disinformation inserted in the article over the next eight years, by using methods that could be automated
150:
368:
remains unclear. The report’s authors find the existence of the network only as suggestive of coordinated editing, and conclude that there is evidence of "a particular strategy used by bad actors of splitting their edit histories between a number of accounts to evade detection". They stress a possible strategy of
752:) 13:06, 1 November 2022 (UTC) Good article. I've noticed that articles relating to Dubai are often full of praise for it, sometimes with references that are barely relevant to what is being said. I suspect that there are agents of many other countries involved, and some don't get as much attention as Russia's.
561:
is apparently not immune from these activities. Russian agents have the motivation and opportunity, and allegedly the ability, to insert their disinformation here. We should continue to investigate and report this activity, using the tools of journalism and the tools now being developed by academic researchers.
769:
were up to in 1974. Anyone who thinks they ever stopped is ignorant (some willfully and most merely negligently). Of course once
Knowledge (XXG) was invented, their playbook version builds were updated accordingly, as that would be self-evidently logical. It is all part of the history of their sewage
560:
The
Russian government is now engaged in a brutal war in Ukraine, or as they call it, a "special military operation". They are widely reported as supporting this war and other controversial activities with a disinformation war, including inserting disinformation on social media sites. Knowledge (XXG)
372:, or infiltration of Knowledge (XXG) by Russian agents. While there are clearly limitations on using this methodology, it looks like a step forward in the search for a way to examine particularly contentious topics where hundreds of editors may be making thousands of edits across dozens of articles.
355:
The authors identified article editors who were later banned by administrators or checkusers, generally via sockpuppet investigations. The beauty of this method is that outside researchers do not need to judge whether
Knowledge (XXG) rules have been broken – an often difficult and contentious task.
332:
The report starts with a review of the current state of disinformation operations on the internet. The review may be especially useful to
Wikipedians who haven't followed recent changes in disinformation techniques. It then gives the basics of Knowledge (XXG) operations, and factors that could make
774:
more about cartoon/movie mafia dons than the much more dangerous real-life mafia dons that actually threaten real lives. Or maybe they just imagine that they "see their souls when they look into their eyes" (what souls?), or fawn over them as fellow stable geniuses or some bullshit like that. Who
436:
together, attempted to connect with associates of Donald Trump, and are suspected of attempting to donate money to the Trump campaign via the NRA. In 2018, she was convicted of acting as an unregistered foreign agent of Russia while in the U.S. and served 18 months in federal prison before being
367:
Some of the media articles about this report seem to take the existence of this network as "proof" of
Russian government editing. In reality, it is clearly not that easy to draw such a conclusion. What they found was people inserting pro-Russian bias; whether this was commissioned by the Kremlin
536:
tion industry, and in disrupting the
English-language Knowledge (XXG). After finally being banned on the English Knowledge (XXG), he created dozens of sockpuppets. Russavia, by almost all accounts, is not a citizen or resident of Russia, but his edits raise some concern and show some patterns.
524:
Fifty now-blocked sockpuppets edited the article on Roman
Abramovich, thirty edited the Deripaska article, but less than ten edited the articles on Fridman, Khan, and Skoch. There is a overlapping pattern of edits by the same sockfarms (large groups of sockpuppets named together in sockpuppet
359:
They identified 89 accounts that were banned, mostly for sockpuppeting. After eliminating three bots, they were left with 86 "suspicious" editors. These editors' editing history was examined, including edits made on other articles where two or more of them crossed paths,
454:
titled "Who
Whitewashed the Wiki of Alleged Russian Spy Maria Butina?" strongly suggesting that it was a specifically named editor, who was Maria Butina. Furthermore, there was an anonymous unregistered IP editor from the same university as Butina.
245:, edit Knowledge (XXG)? There are many reasons to think that they would if they thought it would be successful. Russia interfered with the 2016 U.S. Presidential election and other Western elections by means of the internet, according to the
462:. The editors of the talk page noticed the first news article, generally accepted it as factual, and cleaned the article of the offending edits. The editor suspected to have been Butina denied the allegations on their user talk page.
333:
the site attractive to spreaders of disinformation. This section should be quite familiar to many
Wikipedians, but is followed by a more challenging section on how Knowledge (XXG) fights disinformation. If you need to learn about
707:
204:
I have edited articles I thought were written by foreign agents and interacted with some of the Knowledge (XXG) editors mentioned below. The opinions expressed below are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect those of
594:
585:
475:
384:
Fortunately we have the complementary methods of journalism which generally look at the cases of individuals or small groups. I believe that most Wikipedians who look at the following cases will conclude that
190:
544:, on his userpage at Commons, that he had obtained permission from the official Kremlin.ru site for all photos there to be uploaded to Commons under Creative Commons licenses. He also made 148 edits at
517:, who then edited his Knowledge (XXG) article. Finsbury admitted this in 2012. The articles on A. Abramovich and Nesis were almost certainly edited by the disgraced (and now defunct) political PR firm
681:
641:
666:
656:
570:
676:
636:
76:
631:
646:
566:
269:
266:
262:
182:
671:
624:
549:
796:
661:
317:
618:
306:
194:
55:
44:
93:
924:
273:
21:
399:
380:
So where do we stand now? Do Russian agents edit Knowledge (XXG) articles? The academic approach to this question has so far given an answer of essentially
824:
819:
814:
428:, who was also working with the high ranking Russian politician – Deputy Governor of Russia’s Central Bank (and suspected member of the Russian Mafia)
356:
They only need to know that the editors have been banned, a fact reported in the article's edit history, with data gathering fairly easily automated.
189:
should not be surprised by this report. I have documented similar allegations about paid editing by Russians and others several times, for example in
528:
Banned user Russavia edited two of the oligarch articles. He was a very active administrator on Wikimedia Commons, who specialized in promoting the
389:
But we must note that no analysis of Knowledge (XXG) edits can prove to the standards of a criminal court the identity of a Knowledge (XXG) editor.
250:
872:
809:
272:
to establish Russian online encyclopedias as alternatives to Knowledge (XXG). Its agents have the motivation and opportunity to spread
258:
804:
606:
49:
35:
17:
294:
examines this question, and proposes a potentially useful method of assessing whether Russian agents have edited Knowledge (XXG).
285:
784:
761:
745:
857:
451:
437:
deported to Russia. She received a hero's welcome on her return, became a television presenter, and was soon elected to the
749:
433:
414:. Butina was convicted of being an unregistered Russian agent. Erickson was convicted of unrelated fraud charges.
178:
289:
830:
407:
234:
541:
361:
185:), has suggested that Russian agents have edited Knowledge (XXG) through the use of sockpuppets. Readers of
873:"Analysis: The strongest evidence yet that UAE is trying to meddle in U.S. politics. The Cybersecurity 202"
338:
780:
175:
298:
775:
knows; this ain't my day job. At least a few people are standing watch and telling the rest of us.
741:
458:
That article, and five other articles from reliable sources reporting similar facts, are listed at
425:
345:
892:
545:
487:
438:
103:
854:
703:
459:
429:
123:
776:
757:
483:
334:
133:
905:
729:
503:
495:
479:
213:
163:
309:
153:
313:
733:
518:
491:
246:
242:
230:
382:
we have a method that has identified 86 editors, with many of them looking suspicious.
918:
352:
and used by other researchers in other studies of disinformation on Knowledge (XXG).
514:
507:
420:
411:
241:
Do Russian agents, paid directly by the government or by people close to President
143:
848:
753:
552:. Both of these articles were, at one time, strongly biased in favor of Russia.
499:
446:
254:
113:
222:
410:, who had ties to the National Rifle Association and was the boyfriend of
369:
766:
284:
A report from the Centre for Analysis of Social Media division of the
387:
yes, there appear to be some Russian agents editing Knowledge (XXG).
276:, but do they have the ability to avoid Knowledge (XXG)’s defenses?
344:
The most interesting section is a case study of the article on the
54:
305:
readers through his reporting on the BBC on disputes between
605:
398:
221:
34:
719:
712:
692:
550:
International recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia
30:
From Russia with WikiLove: I can has Kremlin sockfarms?
209:
or its staff, or of any other Knowledge (XXG) editors.
478:", I reported on eight well-known Russian oligarchs:
261:. Russians are certainly aware of Knowledge (XXG)'s
717:If your comment has not appeared here, you can try
328:
Suggestions of coordinated editing from 86 accounts
233:about 2016 political rallies organized by Russia's
249:. Much of their effort used social media such as
432:. Butina and Torshin attended meetings of the
174:A recent academic report, widely cited in the
548:, and 321 edits on the ridiculously detailed
8:
850:KGB: the secret work of Soviet secret agents
925:Knowledge (XXG) Signpost archives 2022-10
466:Fertilizer from the oligarchs' sockfarms
364:of editors and articles edited by them.
195:"I have been asked by Jeffrey Epstein …"
18:Knowledge (XXG):Knowledge (XXG) Signpost
839:
720:
696:
393:An unregistered foreign agent of Russia
291:Information Warfare and Knowledge (XXG)
70:
901:
890:
314:Hong Kong and Mainland Chinese editors
307:Taiwanese and Mainland Chinese editors
341:, this is a good short introduction.
29:
7:
728:Excellent article. Thanks as always
56:
28:
765:John Barron told us all what the
702:These comments are automatically
286:Institute for Strategic Dialogue
148:
138:
128:
118:
108:
98:
88:
797:putting together the next issue
297:The lead author of the report,
265:and the Russian government has
713:add the page to your watchlist
229:Poster and redacted text from
1:
785:04:31, 16 November 2022 (UTC)
312:in 2019 and disputes between
762:00:00, 6 November 2022 (UTC)
941:
513:Usmanov hired the PR firm
434:National Rifle Association
853:, Reader's Digest Press,
598:"Disinformation report" →
424:was a Russian student at
335:sockpuppet investigations
71:From Russia with WikiLove
465:
406:Presidential Pardon for
235:Internet Research Agency
590:"Disinformation report"
710:. To follow comments,
610:
403:
226:
39:
847:Barron, John (1974),
652:Disinformation report
609:
402:
301:, may be familiar to
263:reach and credibility
225:
68:Disinformation report
38:
706:from this article's
476:The oligarchs' socks
362:describing a network
274:their disinformation
191:The oligarchs' socks
879:. November 14, 2022
426:American University
346:Russo-Ukrainian war
316:in 2021. I’ve also
900:Unknown parameter
697:Discuss this story
611:
546:Russo-Georgian War
488:Arkadiy Abramovich
439:Russian State Duma
404:
227:
181:(see this issue's
45:← Back to Contents
40:
721:purging the cache
682:From the archives
642:News from the WMF
525:investigations).
460:Talk:Maria Butina
430:Aleksandr Torshin
216:
50:View Latest Issue
932:
910:
909:
903:
898:
896:
888:
886:
884:
869:
863:
862:
844:
833:
795:needs your help
738:
724:
722:
716:
695:
667:Featured content
629:
621:
614:
597:
589:
573:in this month's
484:Roman Abramovich
376:Another approach
212:
166:
152:
151:
142:
141:
132:
131:
122:
121:
112:
111:
102:
101:
92:
91:
62:
60:
58:
940:
939:
935:
934:
933:
931:
930:
929:
915:
914:
913:
899:
889:
882:
880:
877:Washington Post
871:
870:
866:
860:
846:
845:
841:
837:
836:
835:
834:
829:
827:
822:
817:
812:
807:
800:
789:
788:
734:
730:User:Smallbones
726:
718:
711:
700:
699:
693:+ Add a comment
691:
687:
686:
685:
657:Recent research
622:
619:31 October 2022
617:
615:
612:
601:
600:
595:
592:
587:
581:
580:
571:Recent research
558:
504:Alexander Nesis
496:Mikhail Fridman
480:Alisher Usmanov
468:
416:
415:
396:
395:
378:
330:
318:interviewed him
282:
238:
237:
219:
168:
167:
161:
160:
159:
158:
149:
139:
129:
119:
109:
99:
89:
83:
80:
69:
65:
63:
57:31 October 2022
53:
52:
47:
41:
31:
26:
25:
24:
12:
11:
5:
938:
936:
928:
927:
917:
916:
912:
911:
864:
858:
838:
828:
823:
818:
813:
808:
803:
802:
801:
791:
790:
787:
701:
698:
690:
689:
688:
684:
679:
677:Traffic report
674:
669:
664:
659:
654:
649:
644:
639:
637:News and notes
634:
628:
616:
604:
603:
602:
593:
584:
583:
582:
579:
578:
557:
554:
519:Bell Pottinger
492:Oleg Deripaska
467:
464:
417:
405:
397:
394:
391:
377:
374:
329:
326:
281:
278:
247:Mueller report
243:Vladimir Putin
239:
231:Mueller report
228:
220:
218:
217:
200:
199:
183:"In the media"
170:
169:
157:
156:
146:
136:
126:
116:
106:
96:
85:
84:
81:
75:
74:
73:
72:
67:
66:
64:
61:
48:
43:
42:
33:
32:
27:
15:
14:
13:
10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
937:
926:
923:
922:
920:
907:
894:
878:
874:
868:
865:
861:
856:
852:
851:
843:
840:
832:
826:
821:
816:
811:
806:
798:
794:
786:
782:
778:
773:
768:
764:
763:
759:
755:
751:
747:
743:
739:
737:
731:
723:
714:
709:
705:
694:
683:
680:
678:
675:
673:
670:
668:
665:
663:
660:
658:
655:
653:
650:
648:
645:
643:
640:
638:
635:
633:
632:From the team
630:
626:
620:
613:In this issue
608:
599:
591:
576:
572:
568:
564:
563:
562:
555:
553:
551:
547:
543:
538:
535:
531:
526:
522:
520:
516:
511:
509:
505:
501:
497:
493:
489:
485:
481:
477:
473:
470:In the March
463:
461:
456:
453:
450:published an
449:
448:
444:In 2018, the
442:
440:
435:
431:
427:
423:
422:
413:
409:
408:Paul Erickson
401:
392:
390:
388:
383:
375:
373:
371:
365:
363:
357:
353:
351:
347:
342:
340:
336:
327:
325:
323:
319:
315:
311:
308:
304:
300:
295:
293:
292:
287:
279:
277:
275:
271:
270:several times
268:
264:
260:
256:
252:
248:
244:
236:
232:
224:
215:
210:
206:
202:
201:
198:
196:
192:
186:
184:
180:
177:
172:
171:
165:
155:
147:
145:
137:
135:
127:
125:
117:
115:
107:
105:
97:
95:
87:
86:
78:
59:
51:
46:
37:
23:
19:
883:November 15,
881:. Retrieved
876:
867:
849:
842:
793:The Signpost
792:
771:
735:
727:
651:
647:In the media
625:all comments
574:
567:In the media
559:
540:In 2010, he
539:
533:
529:
527:
523:
515:RLM Finsbury
512:
508:Andrei Skoch
486:and his son
471:
469:
457:
445:
443:
421:Maria Butina
419:
418:
412:Maria Butina
386:
381:
379:
366:
358:
354:
349:
343:
331:
322:The Signpost
321:
302:
296:
290:
283:
240:
208:
207:The Signpost
203:
188:
187:The Signpost
173:
94:PDF download
831:Suggestions
777:Karmanatory
704:transcluded
672:Serendipity
500:German Khan
447:Daily Beast
299:Carl Miller
259:video sites
144:X (Twitter)
859:0883490099
556:Conclusion
339:checkusers
280:A new tool
176:mainstream
164:Smallbones
82:Share this
77:Contribute
22:2022-10-31
904:ignored (
902:|authors=
893:cite news
825:Subscribe
736:Doc James
708:talk page
662:Interview
565:See also
474:article "
310:(program)
267:attempted
919:Category
820:Newsroom
815:Archives
767:Chekists
746:contribs
588:Previous
575:Signpost
472:Signpost
370:entryism
350:at scale
303:Signpost
251:Facebook
134:Facebook
124:LinkedIn
114:Mastodon
20: |
542:boasted
452:article
288:titled
255:Twitter
754:Epa101
506:, and
154:Reddit
104:E-mail
810:About
750:email
257:, or
179:press
16:<
906:help
885:2022
855:ISBN
805:Home
781:talk
758:talk
742:talk
596:Next
569:and
534:avia
532:ian
530:Russ
337:and
193:and
772:way
320:in
162:By
79:—
921::
897::
895:}}
891:{{
875:.
783:)
760:)
748:·
744:·
732:.
586:←
521:.
510:.
502:,
498:,
494:,
490:,
482:,
441:.
324:.
253:,
211:–
908:)
887:.
799:.
779:(
756:(
740:(
725:.
715:.
627:)
623:(
577:.
214:S
197:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
