troll factories
State disinformation operations
Troll factories are organized operations that employ people to post divisive, misleading, or inflammatory content online, typically to influence public opinion or sow discord.
The term gained prominence with revelations about Russian state-sponsored efforts to interfere in Western elections and political discourse: The troll factory in St. Petersburg employed hundreds of workers posting on social media.
Unlike individual trolls acting alone, troll factories are coordinated campaigns with specific political or commercial objectives.
- botsAutomated software agents
- sockpuppetFake identity for deception
- internetInterconnected computer systems
- fake newsIntentionally deceptive media content
- propagandaBiased information for influence
disinformation campaigns · information warfare · manipulations · state actors · social media · comment sections · content farm · astroturfing · spin doctoring · gaslighting · media manipulation · media literacy · fearmongering · deepfakes · algorithms · productions · conspiracy theories · clickbait
troll factoriesgrassroots movements
Citizen-led collective action
citizen journalism · user-generated content · civil society · town halls · public forums
troll factoriesfact-checkers
Those who confirm accuracy
investigative journalism · truth commissions · independent press · Snopes · PolitiFact
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