Information campaign currently underway to push the Mollie Tibbetts murder story.
Started in pro-Trump media, after news of Manafort convictions and Cohen confession broke. Now picked up by Russian bots/trolls and a GOP Congressman.
This effort hasn't peaked yet
(THREAD)
@RVAwonk
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Today, the Mollie Tibbetts story is being pushed by 600 Twitter accounts associated with Russian influence operations (tracked by the Alliance for Security Democracy). Currently, "mollietibbetts" is their number 1 trending topic, and number 4 hashtag. 5/x
@RVAwonkpic.twitter.com/TSlSqQaYCL
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Often, pro-Trump influence operations aided by Russian bots/trolls get a boost from Russian government media. However, RT has Manafort/Cohen up top. Going with "adds no weight to Mueller's collusion probe." It'll be interesting to see if RT picks up the Mollie Tibbetts story 6/xpic.twitter.com/CmzvLpFDMV
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This info campaign is almost certainly convergence, not collusion. Fox News, Breitbart, MAGA Twitter, GOP Congressmen, Russian trolls, etc. aren't coordinating their efforts. Each wants to distract from Manafort/Cohen and stoke anti-immigrant fears, and does it on their own. 7/x
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Unfortunately, this infomation campaign isn't victimless. And I don't just mean the damage such things are doing to the national discourse. Mollie Tibbetts is now a Trumpist political prop, whether her family wants the national attention or not. 8/x
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Similar thing happened to Seth Rich, another murder victim whose story could be spun into Trumpists' worldview. Also pushed by info campaign including Fox, Breitbart, some GOP officials, & Russian bots/trolls. Rich's family had to publicly ask them to stop. Some still haven't 9/x
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Some admit pushing murder story for cynical political reasons. Newt Gingrich: "If Mollie Tibbetts is a household name by October, Democrats will be in deep trouble. If we can be blocked by Manafort-Cohen, etc., then GOP could lose [the House] badly." 10/xhttps://www.axios.com/2018-midterm-elections-mollie-tibbetts-republicans-8a33d987-7157-41ec-b1c3-49544a51237c.html …
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Others who focus on the Tibbetts story will be true believers. In their bubbles, immigrant crime is rampant = gospel, no matter the data. It's that combination of cynical manipulators and true believers that makes narratives like this persist. And this one's still growing. (END)
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End of conversation
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