We’re taking steps to protect against future interference in our political conversation by state-sponsored propaganda campaigns

Hi Tumblr,

We’re all grappling with the influence that state-sponsored disinformation campaigns can have on our political conversations—and how wide-spread that interference turned out to be. So please take a moment to read this, think about it, and talk about it.

Last fall, we uncovered 84 Tumblr accounts linked to the Russian government through the Internet Research Agency, or IRA. These accounts were being used as part of a disinformation campaign leading up to the 2016 U.S. election. After uncovering the activity, we notified law enforcement, terminated the accounts, and deleted their original posts. Behind the scenes, we worked with the Department of Justice, and the information we provided helped indict 13 people who worked for the IRA.

Now that the investigations are done, we want to let you know how we’re going to help protect Tumblr in the future and what you can do to help.

Here’s what we know about these accounts

The IRA employs more than 1,000 people who engage in electronic disinformation and propaganda campaigns around the world using phony social media accounts. Their goal is to sow division and discontent in the countries they target. What makes them so difficult to spot is that they’re not spambots. They’re real people who get trained and paid to spread propaganda.

As far as we can tell, the IRA-linked accounts were only focused on spreading disinformation in the U.S., and they only posted organic content. We didn’t find any indication that they ran ads.

Remember, the IRA and other state-sponsored disinformation campaigns play off our zero-sum politics. They want to drive a wedge between us so that we spend our time fighting with each other instead of building towards the future. We’ll be watching for signs of future activity, but the best defense is knowing how they operate and how to judge the content you see.

What we’re doing in response to the interference

First, we’ll be emailing anyone who liked, reblogged, replied to, or followed an IRA-linked account with the list of usernames they engaged with.

Second, we’re going to start keeping a public record of usernames we’ve linked to the IRA or other state-sponsored disinformation campaigns. We’re committed to transparency and want you to know everything that we know.

We’ve decided to leave up any reblog chains that might be on your Tumblrs—you can choose to leave them or delete them. We’re letting you decide because the reblog chains contain posts created by real Tumblr users, often challenging or debunking the false and incideniary claims in the IRA-linked original post. Removing those authentic posts without your consent would encroach on your free speech—and there have been enough disruptions to our conversations as it is.

What we’re doing to stop future disinformation campaigns

You’ve probably read that U.S. intelligence officials expect foreign agents to try similar propaganda campaigns in the future. We’ll be monitoring Tumblr for signs of state-sponsored disinformation campaigns, and if we see anything we will…

Terminate the accounts and remove their original posts.
Notify you if we determine that you’ve liked, reblogged, replied to, or followed a propaganda account.
Add the username to the public record.
Alert law enforcement.

There are also things you can do to help stop the spread of disinformation and propaganda.

Be aware that people want to manipulate the conversation. Knowing that disinformation and propaganda accounts are out there makes it harder for them to operate. The News Literacy Project has this handy checklist for spotting their tricks.
Be skeptical of things you read. Disinformation campaigns work because they know people don’t fact check. Look for reliable sources, and double-check that the source really says the same thing as the post. You can also check Snopes and Politifact. Both are award-winning resources and usually have the latest viral claim fact checked on the front page.
Correct the record. When you see people spreading misinformation—even unintentionally—politely say something in a reblog or reply. If it’s your friend, send them a message to let them know.

One last note: Please vote.

Transparency won’t mean a thing if we don’t participate in the process. Whatever your political stance, voting ensures a government that represents your interests. For our U.S. users: You can register online or by mail, and many states are holding primaries right now.

knitmeapony

Honestly, you know Facebook is fucked up when the Tumblr staff manages to get it more right than they do

hyperewok1

Hey how about those anti-propaganda tactics, like the radical notion of fact checking and getting sources before you reblog

#tumblr staff #tumblr #tumblr issues #politics #us politics #propaganda #us election 2k17 #(oH MY GOD)#(I AM SO TIRED)#(DONE)#(i mean it's good they admitted to it unlike facebook but jUST THERE'S SO MUCH MORE YOU COULD BE DOING ABOUT THIS TOO)#(LIKE ACTUALLY HAVING AN ACTIVE SUPPORT TEAM THAT BLOCKS PEOPLE WHO ARE COMMITTING CRIMES SENDING DEATH THREATS ETC.)#(WHY HAS SOCIAL MEDIA COME TO THIS)#(BRING BACK JOURNAL SITES AND GEOCITIES SHRINES I MISS THEM)#(at least for fandom anyway just)#(and fandom's not really important right now THIS IS SUCH A SERIOUS ISSUE THERE'S SO MUCH MORE THAT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE)#(ALSO GETTING SOURCES BEFORE YOU REBLOG YEAH)#(LITERALLY PLEASE)#(THIS WAS LIKE INTERNET KNOWLEDGE 101 WHEN I WAS IN OLD FANDOM WHY... is it not now..... sobs)#(ok but honestly this is legit terrifying)#(i'm glad indictments were FINALLY made over it but... just... still.....)#(OK BUT TBH if you are reblogging this complaining about neo nazi bots and pornbots instead as someone with Jewish family)#(MAYBE IDK FOCUS ON THE PERSON THAT'S ALLOWING ALL OF THIS TO HAPPEN???)#(BECAUSE WITH THEM LEAVING ACTUAL CHANGE WOULD BE MADE?? MAYBE??? IDK)#(what a concept apparently internet trolls are more important RN than ACTUAL POLITICIANS ALLOWING THIS TO HAPPEN who knew?)#(even though internet trolls are easy to report and block wow maybe tumblr will get to them now that they've WRAPPED UP AN INVESTIGATION)#(like?? people are acting like this is a joke IT'S.... NOT.... GUYS THIS IS SERIOUS)#(THEY WERE TRYING TO SWAY THE VOTE AND SUCCEEDING SO MAYBE DON'T ACT LIKE THIS IS A JOKE BC APPARENTLY ALMOST THE WHOLE SITE WAS DUPED)#(i've already seen mutuals say they got an email saying they got duped by over half the list meanwhile i'm here with like. nothing so yEAH)#(that is to say they spread other stuff too including stealing from leftist bloggers but they spread a LOT of anti hillary stuff so)