Thread by @horridpoplyrics, I feel Compelled today to take drastic steps to stop an avalanche [...]

I feel Compelled today to take drastic steps to stop an avalanche that I--to my shame-- had a small hand in creating.

It is good to talk to you all again, but, today's thread will be a bit dark, I am afraid.

Bots, Vetting, and Ethics (Thread)
#TatterTotsNotTwitterBots

This thread will not be about personally attacking anyone, nor about calling anyone out. But, it is becoming increasingly clear that there needs to be a more robust and extensive ethical standard when it comes to Bot-Hunting, Vetting, and Ethics.

Take for example @geoffgoldberg

Who is now suspended. Geoff is a real data scientist, who investigated bot activity from MEK and other terrorist organizations. Noble work indeed. However, at a certain point in 2019, he made a list of #Resisters who he thought were bots.

This included many Authentic people.

Geoff actually misused his data science powers to accuse good people like @DemocracyStorm and @WomanResistorNC of being inauthentic simply because of their Account Creation Dates and Proximity to others he suspected of being bots.

The results are obvious. https://decrypt.co/6913/geoff-golberg-twitter-bots-war

Let's take another example from the opposite, completely novice end of the spectrum: @/chill_canada, who apparently thinks that it is OK to accuse @USNavyMomPA
and @brycetache of being bots, because they used the same Banner Image featuring Pelosi.

Now, as I said, this is not about attacking anyone:

Chill Canada blames the loss of his old account on Bots, and is now clearly over-reacting. Geoff, clearly went too far, but, he was hunting bots from a known Terrorist organization, now wasn't he?

Stress kills us, doesn't it?

But, don't take my word for it, take the word of former CIA CounterIntel chief James M. Olson:

Those of us who've found ourselves amidst this volunteer CI effort need to be aware of the factors that stress will bring. And that none are immune to it.

https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/fall_winter_2001/article08.html

Certainly not myself, far from it, I have succumbed to the stress at times as well, with apologies to @aworldoutofmind for my behavior.

However, my argument stands: We need to get this absurdist concept of "vetting" and of accusing innocent people under control.

Of particular interest are some accounts created Sept-December 2019, who are seemingly obsessed with batting away every inauthentic account that comes their way. Which is absurd.

Let's take some time to explain the basics of the situation:

There are four major categories of inauthentic actors, be they bots, trolls or both:

1. State Actors
2. Enterprise Actors
3. Group Actors
4. Single actors

The first thing in anyone's mind when encountering is to discern which category they belong to.

State Actors are like Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) 28 or 29. Russian State Actors. For Enterprise Actors, for example, many major corporations have their own intelligence services, like Royal Dutch/ Shell Oil. They have one of the most professional Intel services in the world

Group actors are like Anonymous, or other online activist groups. While Single Actors are just that. Someone locked away in their room, trolling or creating bots. Actually, both myself and Mr. @geoffgoldberg can be considered Single Actors. That doesn't mean we can't be effective

But, it also does not give us the right to violate basic ethical standards in our work, and accuse innocent people.

Listen, the vast majority of bots are harmless little things, tasked with spamming nonsense for commercial interests.

Or, alternatively, just for following people that purchase bot followers online for that sweet efame.

I've said it before, and now again, for year on end: One real, authentic resister is worth 10,000 of these maggot-bots. https://twitter.com/horridpoplyrics/status/962760532783652864?s=20

https://twitter.com/horridpoplyrics/status/962760532783652864?s=20

However, in these new, so-called "vetters" I sense two things: Fear, and a singular, almost lustful need for fame and attention.

And I fear that my work over the last few years has helped lead to this very outcome. No one should ever fear a bot. They are nothing to you.

Without bragging, I have had some success in the field of bot-hunting. That is undeniable. However, I am vastly eclipsed by others like @conspirator0 and @ZellaQuixote who are the LeBron James and Steph Curry of bot-hunting. I am aware that I am 6th man at best on the team, folks

Still, I feel as if we've all reached a point where we kicked a snowball down a mountain, and are watching as if surprised by the avalanche of unethical activity that ensued.

Really, 1,000 bots can get away, rather than attack an innocent account, and it will be fine.

More than two years ago, I began extensively writing and teaching people how to spot bots. Now, I feel I may have been mistaken in that. I watch, as again and again, my friends, who've been in the trenches with me since 2017 are falsely accused of being inauthentic actors.

First and foremost, "Vetting" your followers is fine. But, it won't amount to much in the end. To be truly effective, you need to be capable of tracking, analyzing, and attacking a large portion of the network itself.

This requires significant skill and experience in the field.

Otherwise, you are just slashing at branches, not the roots. State actors can produce bots faster than a meat-packing plant produces hot dogs. What exactly do you hope to accomplish by exposing one single bot or troll account?

Certainly, case studies can be useful. But,

But the mark of someone that actually knows what they are doing is that they can properly and accurately track, analyze, and attack an entire network of bots, not that they can spot one that tried to follow them. Exposing one bot doesn't help much.

That is the most basic technique that we all learn when we enter this wilderness of mirrors: Strike once and strike true to the heart.

Even at the best of times, people who expose a single bot are just playing an endless game of whack-a-mole with Enterprise-grade Actors.

Not only that, but, they so frequently accuse innocent people of bad-faith activity that they end up doing far more harm than good, despite their intentions.

Here's one "vetter" accusing @NZStuff, the Kiwi version of Buzzfeed, of being a "bot". lol

I am not the be-all, end-all of ethics here. But, we need to have a real conversation of what is and is not ethical, and lay down stricter rules for what we do.

I want to spark that conversation. And I need your help to do it.

These are trying times,

But, I dearly hope that this thread finds you well. I pray for the health of you and your family these days, my friends.

Thank you for listening
-Ryan

For the Soundrack to the Thread. Today, we will go hardcore. This describes exactly how I feel, when I see people accuse others without the proper work.

"Your Plague is on me/
Made a mockery/
Your tongue is/
A spear."

Latest Threads Unrolled: