troll farms
Online manipulation operations
Troll farms are organized operations that employ people to post inflammatory, misleading, or propagandistic content on social media, often to manipulate public opinion or sow discord.
The term emerged in the 2010s, particularly associated with Russian interference in Western elections: Evidence linked the disinformation campaign to a troll farm in St. Petersburg.
Workers may pose as ordinary citizens, amplifying divisive narratives or attacking political figures.
- paid trollsPeople hired to post divisively
- astroturfingDisguised sponsored advocacy
- botsAutomated software agents
- social mediaOnline content-sharing platforms
- sockpuppetsDeceptive alternate identities
deepfakes · propaganda · IRA · manipulation · election interference · fake news · St. Petersburg · cyberwarfare · deception · foreign influence · trolls · disinformation · propaganda campaigns · public opinion · Facebook · psychological operations · social engineering · narratives
- digital culturesocial media, memes, hashtags, viral content, influencers
- disinformationdisinformation, misinformation, misinformation campaigns, fake news, propaganda
- propagandapropaganda, brainwashing, disinformation, misinformation, indoctrination
- online manipulationastroturfing, bots, disinformation, fake news, misinformation
- RussiaRussia, Moscow, Kremlin, Red Square, Siberia
- authoritarianismautocracy, absolutism, despotism, dictatorship, totalitarianism
troll farmsgrassroots movements
Citizen-led collective action
citizen journalism · user-generated content · verified accounts · civil society · town hall meetings
troll farmsfact-checkers
Those who confirm accuracy
investigative journalism · truth commissions · independent journalism · investigative reporting · Snopes
troll farmscivil society
Nongovernmental organized citizenry
democratic institutions · community organizing · public interest groups · town halls · civic education
farm, farming, farmer, patrol, troll, farms, trolling, trolled, troll-like