Lemminary

TL;DR: I want to learn about disinformation. Where do recommend I start?

Background:

I've been a bit apprehensive about disinformation for a while now more than ever with the rising tide of post truth content on the internet and the active toppling of governments from within using info warfare. I'm also seeing a whole lot of users in suspicious activities online who, for example, leave spicy live bait in political comment sections. So I've gotten suspicious and also curious about this secret world behind the veil.

I'm not exactly sure of what I'm looking for because of this unknown unknown, so bear with me. I'm imagining learning about an underlying theory with illustrative examples that relate to modern groups and their tactics.

I'm thinking of something more robust than articles or blog posts and yet less dense than academic material, so maybe some books or long-form videos would be great, although any format is welcome. I wonder if there are reliable & trustworthy authors, science communicators, intelligentsias, or researchers themselves who put out this accessible content.

I'm familiar with the book An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook's Battle for Domination that exposes the play-by-play of foreign disinformation farms in American politics during the 2018 election. I thought it was great but limited in scope to Facebook along with the few countries it touches on. But learning about the rest of the nations along a broader timeline would be more ideal.

Do you have any suggestions? What would be a right approach to get myself soaking wet in the topic?

Mahmood Akram, a 19-year-old from Chennai, claims to speak 46 languages and write in over 400. In this video, he's heavily criticized by YouTuber Evildea, who gathers input from numerous native speakers to assess Mahmood's fluency in each language.

Here we see Elon not only contradicting his message to the people about how he's planning to "save Democracy" through DOGE, but also ends up telling on himself while explaining how an "unelected" bureaucracy is controlling the government.

If you listen carefully, you can hear his pitch change when he realizes.

*A look into how the tech leaders may be using the new administration to achieve their own agenda. Looking specifically at Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, Marc Andressen, Ben Horotwitz, Brian Armstrong, and David Sacks as well as their relationship with figures like JD Vance, Balaji Srinivasan, and Curtis Yarvin. There is a focused discussion on how a shaping of the government might take place based on convergences between the ideas of Yarvin, who influences the tech libertarian right, and Project 2025, who have authored a playbook exclusively for President Trump to help with his transition to power. *

YouTube video description:

Luigi Mangione: the man accused of shooting the UnitedHealth CEO back in December... what's the latest with him? There was a flurry of activity after he was arrested and now it feels like the news has gone quiet, even if the online buzz has only grown. Well it turns out there's been a ton of news, and weird developments and we have all of it for you right here in one convenient package, right here on Scroll Deep, the show that keeps up with internet nonsense so you don't have to.

I have a couple times. The last time was a couple years ago with someone I met online who I was getting to know but didn't like after the first date. They asked if I felt like watching some movie and I didn't respond and they didn't follow up. Tbh, I probably would've answered if they had sent a second text. I guess I avoided telling them the truth but it stuck with me like a pebble in my shoe and I feel bad thinking about it.

I sincerely don't know to what degree Trump and his crew may change the US, and by the looks of other countries, it could be as extreme as silencing the opposition by force. Are there any efforts to protect dissent? Can this be planned for and successfully fought back before it becomes a problem? Do you have a different view entirely?

I'd like to report mod activity that's not following sitewide rules on your server and instead bans people because they feel it's not worth their time. I would like for the mod to be overlooked.

The sitewide rule #1 says I can expect to participate without harassment and feel welcome. If I call a mod to look over a user breaking this rule, I should expect them to intervene, right?

So I don't understand why @Apytele@sh.itjust.works is deleting all my comments and banning me instead of the person being aggressive towards me because "both sides of the argument are nonsense" without even bothering with the actual concern. I didn't call them over to look at anyone's argument, I specifically stated in my report that the other person was being extremely disrespectful.

So now I'm banned:

Banned Lemminary from the community Curated Tumblr@sh.itjust.works reason: troll expires: in 30 days

Their excuse? I'm a troll, apparently. I invite anyone to check the messages to see if that's true or if I'm merely sharing my opinion.

I don't care about the ban--keep it that way. But please let me know if something is being done about these mods who enjoy pushing people around. It's infuriating that on top of being dog-piled on, berated & insulted in the thread all day (I got links), I also get treated this way by the people who have taken on the role of protecting users. If I hit the report button, I entrust the person in charge to keep a level head and do their job fairly.

Thank you for your time.