A thread was posted on ATS on Sept. 21st entitled "NSA Today: Narcissistic Psychopathic Sadistic Trolls Paid By Your Tax Dollars to Disrupt Internet," which can be found here. The thread looks like it was formatted as a news article but was then moved to the "General Conspiracies" forum where it would receive less attention and despite having new posts only shows up almost halfway down the page.
The posted article mentions how one of Reddit's moderators ("BipolarBear0") was repeatedly deleting an article about the NSA and GCHQ disseminating information on the Internet for character assassination. Here are some of the better responses from ATS members:
ArchPlayer: I have seen and interacted with these types here on ATS. This could be the primary reason why a lot of old time members, both official and the trollers think the place has depreciated with content and analysis. Anytime a critical conversation occurs, some overzealous "passionate" shill comes to the argument and turns it into "im the victim" off topic and off conversation, even to the point of rebel rousing enough "supporters" to join him.
Not surprised.
MALBOSIA: I just read part of a thread here recently, from an Admin that stated if there was any accusation towards another member as being a shill, the accusers account would be terminated.
Also recently I read another thread from the same Admin that stated ATS will no longer tolerate "organized posters" I believe was the description given.
I am a little confused on the position of ATS staff on whether or not people are getting paid to come here and sway discussion topics and what sort of recourse is available to regular members. Are we still not allowed to call them out when it is suspected? Not that I believe that would do any good, it only gives them something to work with accusing them of being a shill when there is no way to prove it.
Yeahkeepwatchingme: I thought this was known? And it's obvious these paid people become moderators or even buy the site somehow. Paid to not only disrupt conversations, but to remove and actually censor posts/threads.
I remember one site hipforums that literally turned into the opposite of what it claimed to stand for. The moderators are corrupt, all the normal people I conversed with years ago disappeared and the topics have turned into a trollfest.
I don't buy their act at all. Trying to rile people up, turn the tables, provoke passionate responses, debunk the topic, etc, etc.
Keep getting fat off your government, you'll be used as the fall guys. Good day, nazi shills, we know you're out there.
FamCore: Trolls and schills definitely run rampant on sites like ATS, and in the comments sections of news sites, social media, everywhere - i personally refer to them as parasitic propagandists (spelling?) but the fact of the matter is we need to fact-check and be vigilant when looking into others' statements. Sad that it is such a problem, how many people have been misled due to their activities we will never know but I refuse to let someone's comment sway me unless they can back up their accusations with hard evidence
trollz: In my time here, I've seen a few members who seemed to be intentionally trying to derail threads by various tried-and-true methods and push agendas, so personally, I believe this site is at times a target for those sorts. We all know the NSA/other alphabet agencies are active in monitoring/manipulating internet users, so it would be rather strange if there were NOT paid shills here, especially considering the nature of ATS.
MysterX: Since we know they are here, we know they are disrupting and spreading division and preventing ideas from taking root, this is absolute proof positive your government does NOT value free speech and the free sharing of ideas and information.
Imagine that, the USA government, so apt to preach freedom around the world when it suits them, actively stifling and preventing and subverting freedom online...classic.
Which also makes it all the more curious that one of the worst rule infractions we can do here on ATS is to insinuate or outright say that another poster may be or is a paid troll or government troublemaker. I know there is certainly at least two 'members' (and they are REAL members!) that i know for sure are government propagandists.
One always casts Russia and Putin especially in a negative light at every opportunity, posting propaganda almost every day.
Many of us know some like that here don't we?
They are obviously here, probably in large numbers considering how popular ATS is around the world...yet we ought not point the finger at them, we're not to out them and we are not to tip others off to keep an eye on the type of material they are posting...curious eh?
The hypocrisy is stunning.
ObjectZero: I've seen this as well, but a take it as a sign that I'm getting near something the more they post.
The thread being referenced here brings up the following article:
One of the many pressing stories that remains to be told from the Snowden archive is how western intelligence agencies are attempting to manipulate and control online discourse with extreme tactics of deception and reputation-destruction. It’s time to tell a chunk of that story, complete with the relevant documents.
Over the last several weeks, I worked with NBC News to publish a series of articles about “dirty trick” tactics used by GCHQ’s previously secret unit, JTRIG (Joint Threat Research Intelligence Group). These were based on four classified GCHQ documents presented to the NSA and the other three partners in the English-speaking “Five Eyes” alliance. Today, we at the Intercept are publishing another new JTRIG document, in full, entitled “The Art of Deception: Training for Online Covert Operations.”
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