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- Goose
- Cogito ergo sum
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- Posts: 13,427
How a Putin Fan Overseas Pushed Pro-Trump Propaganda to Americans
How a Putin Fan Overseas Pushed Pro-Trump Propaganda to Americans
The Patriot News Agency website popped up in July, soon after it became clear that Donald J. Trump would win the Republican presidential nomination, bearing a logo of a red, white and blue eagle and the motto “Built by patriots, for patriots.”
Tucked away on a corner of the site, next to links for Twitter and YouTube, is a link to another social media platform that most Americans have never heard of: VKontakte, the Russian equivalent of Facebook. It is a clue that Patriot News, like many sites that appeared out of nowhere and pumped out pro-Trump hoaxes tying his opponent Hillary Clinton to Satanism, pedophilia and other conspiracies, is actually run by foreigners based overseas.
But while most of those others seem be the work of young, apolitical opportunists cashing in on a conservative appetite for viral nonsense, operators of Patriot News had an explicitly partisan motivation: getting Mr. Trump elected.
Patriot News — whose postings were viewed and shared tens of thousands of times in the United States — is among a constellation of websites run out of the United Kingdom that are linked to James Dowson, a far-right political activist who advocated Britain’s exit from the European Union and is a fan of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. A vocal proponent of Christian nationalist, anti-immigrant movements in Europe, Mr. Dowson, 52, has spoken at a conference of far-right leaders in Russia and makes no secret of his hope that Mr. Trump will usher in an era of rapprochement with Mr. Putin.
His dabbling in the American presidential election adds an ideological element that has been largely missing from the still-emerging landscape of websites and Facebook pages that bombarded American voters with misinformation and propaganda. Far from the much-reported Macedonian teenagers running fake news factories solely for profit, Mr. Dowson made it his mission, according to messages posted on one of his sites, to “spread devastating anti-Clinton, pro-Trump memes and sound bites into sections of the population too disillusioned with politics to have taken any notice of conventional campaigning.”
We live in a time in which decent and otherwise sensible people are surrendering too easily to the hectoring of morons or extremists.
- tennyson
- Exchanger
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- Posts: 6,654
Re: How a Putin Fan Overseas Pushed Pro-Trump Propaganda to Americans
Nothing to see here, move along ! 
"Do not confuse motion and progress, A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress"
- Common Sense
- Exchanger
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- Registered: 2/16/2015
- Posts: 3,256
Re: How a Putin Fan Overseas Pushed Pro-Trump Propaganda to Americans
Scary news...... The Russians are coming! I hear they stole the election!
Delusional
“We hold these truths to be self-evident,” former vice president Biden said during a campaign event in Texas on Monday. "All men and women created by — you know, you know, the thing.”
- Goose
- Cogito ergo sum
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- Registered: 1/29/2015
- Posts: 13,427
Re: How a Putin Fan Overseas Pushed Pro-Trump Propaganda to Americans
Common Sense wrote:
Scary news...... The Russians are coming! I hear they stole the election!
Delusional
Delusional in what way?
Delusional because this man does not exist?
Delusional because these fake stories were never posted.
Sorry, he is and they are.
The website is still up and running.
But you really offered some trenchant analysis.
Let me follow your (ha) reasoning. This story isn't true because you don't want to believe it.
Brilliant.
Troll on, buddy
Last edited by Goose (12/18/2016 8:19 am)
We live in a time in which decent and otherwise sensible people are surrendering too easily to the hectoring of morons or extremists.
- •
Thread Starter- Goose
- Cogito ergo sum
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- Posts: 13,427
Re: How a Putin Fan Overseas Pushed Pro-Trump Propaganda to Americans
Here's a link to the Patriot News agency Website
It's the site that Common claims doesn't exist.
We live in a time in which decent and otherwise sensible people are surrendering too easily to the hectoring of morons or extremists.
- •
Thread Starter- Goose
- Cogito ergo sum
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- Registered: 1/29/2015
- Posts: 13,427
Re: How a Putin Fan Overseas Pushed Pro-Trump Propaganda to Americans
I think that we have seen a great example of this right here on the Exchange.
As Fake News Spreads Lies, More Readers Shrug at the Truth
We live in a time in which decent and otherwise sensible people are surrendering too easily to the hectoring of morons or extremists.
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Thread Starter- TheLagerLad
- Exchange Beer Snob
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- From: Bucks County, PA
- Registered: 1/29/2015
- Posts: 2,055
Re: How a Putin Fan Overseas Pushed Pro-Trump Propaganda to Americans
My Christmas wish came true and I've received several Abuse Reports over the past couple of days.
Let's try and avoid unnecessary name calling, hmmmmkayyyyy.
Thanks.
I think you're going to see a lot of different United States of America over the next three, four, or eight years. - President Donald J. Trump
- Goose
- Cogito ergo sum
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- Registered: 1/29/2015
- Posts: 13,427
Re: How a Putin Fan Overseas Pushed Pro-Trump Propaganda to Americans
Hey, commonsense succeeded in derailing the thread with some personal BS.
We are off in the weeds, and a discussion of this topic will NOT occur.
And That was the goal all along.
Mission accomplished.
Last edited by Goose (12/18/2016 10:15 am)
We live in a time in which decent and otherwise sensible people are surrendering too easily to the hectoring of morons or extremists.
- •
Thread Starter- Goose
- Cogito ergo sum
Offline
- Registered: 1/29/2015
- Posts: 13,427
Re: How a Putin Fan Overseas Pushed Pro-Trump Propaganda to Americans
How a Putin Fan Overseas Pushed Pro-Trump Propaganda to Americans
The Patriot News Agency website popped up in July, soon after it became clear that Donald J. Trump would win the Republican presidential nomination, bearing a logo of a red, white and blue eagle and the motto “Built by patriots, for patriots.”
Tucked away on a corner of the site, next to links for Twitter and YouTube, is a link to another social media platform that most Americans have never heard of: VKontakte, the Russian equivalent of Facebook. It is a clue that Patriot News, like many sites that appeared out of nowhere and pumped out pro-Trump hoaxes tying his opponent Hillary Clinton to Satanism, pedophilia and other conspiracies, is actually run by foreigners based overseas.
But while most of those others seem be the work of young, apolitical opportunists cashing in on a conservative appetite for viral nonsense, operators of Patriot News had an explicitly partisan motivation: getting Mr. Trump elected.
Patriot News — whose postings were viewed and shared tens of thousands of times in the United States — is among a constellation of websites run out of the United Kingdom that are linked to James Dowson, a far-right political activist who advocated Britain’s exit from the European Union and is a fan of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. A vocal proponent of Christian nationalist, anti-immigrant movements in Europe, Mr. Dowson, 52, has spoken at a conference of far-right leaders in Russia and makes no secret of his hope that Mr. Trump will usher in an era of rapprochement with Mr. Putin.
His dabbling in the American presidential election adds an ideological element that has been largely missing from the still-emerging landscape of websites and Facebook pages that bombarded American voters with misinformation and propaganda. Far from the much-reported Macedonian teenagers running fake news factories solely for profit, Mr. Dowson made it his mission, according to messages posted on one of his sites, to “spread devastating anti-Clinton, pro-Trump memes and sound bites into sections of the population too disillusioned with politics to have taken any notice of conventional campaigning.”
We live in a time in which decent and otherwise sensible people are surrendering too easily to the hectoring of morons or extremists.
- •
Thread Starter
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