AlexSavard

"In Internet communication, a troll is defined as a person who provokes disputes, e.g. by raising controversial topics or attacking other participants. However, a troll factory is an entity conducting disinformation propaganda activities on the Internet. This activity is often concealed under an inconspicuous name, e.g. public relations agency, Internet research centre, etc. The operations of troll factories are usually focused on the political or economic sphere. The aim of the operations may be e.g. attacking political opponents, unfairly attacking a competing company or other action indicated by the ordering party. Troll factories achieve their goals using, among other things, fake news and hate speech."

They include fake profiles, fake influencers, botting, etc. and is a well documented reality, and they even have an agency for it: Internet research institute. I will link some articles about it, mostly from Europe since they are used to these kind of tactics:

https://www.propublica.org/article/infamous-russian-troll-farm-appears-to-be-source-of-anti-ukraine-propaganda

https://spyscape.com/article/inside-the-troll-factory-russias-internet-research-agency

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-exposes-sick-russian-troll-factory-plaguing-social-media-with-kremlin-propaganda

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/01/troll-factory-spreading-russian-pro-war-lies-online-says-uk

https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/14/europe/russia-yevgeny-prigozhin-internet-research-agency-intl/index.html

There is also a segment from 2024 from CBC about fake influencers that were confirmed receiving funds from Russia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7KGwIZRZns&t=137s

Here is a little description of the website, Disinfowatch:

"DisinfoWatch is a leading Canadian foreign disinformation monitoring and debunking platform. Our data is sourced through an international network of journalists, civil society organizations and analysts, as well as some automated sources, and is anaylized and exposed in order raise broader general awareness of disinformation and build long-term resilience against it.

Our core objective is to increase public understanding and awareness about mis/disinformation, by whom and why it’s produced, how to identify it and how to help stop its spread."

Edit to add some text I copied this morning. The website is down. I don't think it is far-fetched to think Russia would DDOS this kind of website.

"Sputnik, a Russian state media outlet, has published an article targeting Mark Carney, the newly elected leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and incoming Prime Minister. The article frames Carney as an unqualified and problematic leader by listing alleged “mishaps” including one connecting him with Russia’s classic neo-Nazi accusation. It should be noted that Sputnik, like RT, is a key instrument of the Russian government and intelligence services, used for information and influence operations targeting Western democracies. Sputnik’s article is not a neutral critique but part of a broader disinformation campaign aimed at: Undermining Carney’s leadership by questioning his credentials, integrity, and political legitimacy. Eroding Canadian support for Ukraine by framing Carney’s pro-Ukraine stance, especially his use of “Slava Ukraini“, as radical or dangerous. Sowing distrust in Western financial and political elites by portraying Carney as an untrustworthy figure tied to corruption and globalist interests. This article follows a Kremlin playbook commonly used against Western leaders who support Ukraine, climate policies, or strong financial governance. Similar tactics have been used against Canadian officials"

First image is the twitter outage, second is Rogers.

Elon said the other was was a "cyber attack". Can we believe it? Why was it pretty much only In Canada? Hard to know in this post-truth era.

My internet has been acting REALLY weird this morning, and I have CCAP, a small independent internet company in Quebec City.

This is how immigrants are being treated in Spokane. They were on their way to their court hearing and were closed in by two trucks. Unmarked vehicles. These are Customs Enforcement Agents (better known as ICE). The passengers knew their rights so they started recording and asked the agents for a warrant. The agents didn’t provide a warrant and demanded they get out of the car. When they didn’t get out of the car the agents proceeded to smash their windows and forcefully remove them by dragging them out of their car. This is a gruesome display of excessive force. This family was on their way to court and were terrified.