i really wish more people would read articles like the one below, which give more nuance to the hysteria about "Russian disinformation". the reality is, this disinformation isn't nearly as effective as people think it is https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/09/14/is-russian-meddling-as-dangerous-as-we-think

the truth is, russian disinformation rarely has much reach, especially when compared with disinformation coming from american politicians and celebrities

the irony is that by magnifying "russian influence" beyond any reasonable scope, new forms of disinformation & discord are created. in many ways liberals attributing all dissent to russian disinformation is also a desired outcome for disinformation operations

a particularly funny story mentioned in this article, is that even centrist liberal "resist" protests aren't immune to criticism of russian influence. one such protest against Trump using cringey showtunes was possibly advertised by russian influencers

in general, i think people worried about russian influence confuse what constitutes "disinformation" and what their level of engagement and influence really is. as an example, while the DNC email hack was probably influential, that wasn't DISinformation - it was true information!

other aspects of russian influence, like russian troll accounts advocating for black lives matter, far left politics, etc., are not necessarily engaging in "disinformation", but trying to stoke conflict. problem is, these conflicts are huge & exist regardless of russian meddling