Kremlin Troll Factories revealed.

Revealed: Putin's army of pro-Kremlin bloggers

Now one former foot soldier has broken ranks to expose the Orwellian ‘troll factories’ where state-sponsored employees work 12-hour shifts posting pro-Putin propaganda on news and social media websites.

St Petersburg blogger Marat Burkhard lifted the lid on the 24/7 life in an unassuming four-storey modern building he compared to the Ministry of Truth from George Orwell’s 1984. Hundreds of workers are paid above-average salaries of around £500 a month and required to write at least 135 comments per day - or face immediate dismissal. The repressive system’s strict rules and regulations include no laughing and fines for being a minute late. Friendship is frowned upon.

The Independent

£500 a month to spread Kremlin propaganda on ATS.

We all know who they are on here as they never have a user name older than a few weeks and those more vocal of the group, user names go dormant after a few days once talking points are made.

Think we should have a meme when we un cover one of these Kremlin Trolls!

They work in groups of three and we've all seen the following happen;

The structure is simple. Once a story has been published on a local news forum the troll army goes to work by dividing into teams of three: one plays the ‘villain’ criticising the authorities with the other two debate with him and support government officials. One of the pro-Kremlin pair needs to provide a graphic or image that fits in the context and the other posts a link to some content that supports his argument.

a reply to: flammadraco

I am sure there are trolls on here and i might even have had suspicions in the past . Hopefully most here can see through them though . 500 pounds a month . Who gets out of bed for that .

I just checked , the average 360 pounds a month so i guess they would .

a reply to: flammadraco

I bet they pay extra for people with a preexisting footing in a forum. Might want to see if some friends start taking extended trips away from the forum busy with their new money.

a reply to: CriticalStinker

It's obvious who they are, the complete unwavering support for Putin and hatred towards the US is normally a telling point.

While I have no doubt that there are 'Kremlin troll factories', sadly there are many people who are so indoctrinated and so full of hate, that they spread their propaganda for free while enjoying it. It's ironic. All the 'hate the west but luv Russia' crap that they post, and they use an American run board to whine on. They couldn't 'hate Russia and luv America' like that in Russia.

a reply to: FlyersFan

I agree, seems strange though that the Kremlin needs to pay citizens to "big up" Russia to the West. You would have thought the populace would do that themselves.

a reply to: flammadraco

This my friend is ASININE stuff

First troll army was Israeli shill program

Then came US shill program that has been active on ATS for years

And now the Russians are catching up

Oh but as your logic goes, only Russian trolls are bad right ?

originally posted by: flammadraco
I agree, seems strange though that the Kremlin needs to pay citizens to "big up" Russia to the West. You would have thought the populace would do that themselves.

They probably wouldn't believe the hype.
Russia Corruption Index
Reporters Without Borders - Russia
Business Corruption in Russia

Corruption in Russia

A notable worsening of this ranking for Russia – from 90th place to 126th – occurred at the beginning of Vladimir Putin's second term as president; a drop of 36 places in only one year. An equally pessimistic picture emerges from the estimates of the average size of bribes which has substantially increased over the last five years. For example, according to the Interior Ministry’s Department for Combating Economic Crimes, the average bribe amounted to 9,000 Rubles in 2008; 23,000 Rubles in 2009; 61,000 rubles in 2010; and 236,000 rubles in 2011. In other words, the average bribe in 2011 was 26 times greater than the average bribe in 2008, many times the inflation rate for the same period.[2] According to Sergei Ivanov, the Kremlin chief of staff, the most corrupt spheres in Russia (in terms of household corruption) are healthcare, education, housing and communal services.[3] In comparison, independent experts from RBC magazine name law-enforcement agencies (including the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate) as the most corrupt sphere in Russia, which is followed by healthcare, education, housing and communal services, and social security services.[4] At the government level, however, the five top areas for corruption are as follows: Government contracts and purchases; Issuance of permits and certificates; Law-enforcement agencies; Land distribution and land relations; Construction

One look at the Olympic venue in Russia and you can see the negative effects of the corruption in construction sector. Corruption and bribes permeate Russian business, politics, and society in general.

originally posted by: flammadraco
It's obvious who they are, the complete unwavering support for Putin and hatred towards the US is normally a telling point.

Yeah only Russian shills will display hate for US and support for Putin

Nothing at all to do with US deserving that hate by doing things like 9/11- killing their own citizens

Or helping to create ISIS

Yeah only bad Russian trolls don't like the sweet sweet USA

a reply to: flammadraco

Seems every one is doing it . From five eyes to Israel .

Israeli students to get $2,000 to spread state propaganda on Facebook
Submitted by Ali Abunimah on Wed, 01/04/2012 - 17:53
The National Union of Israeli Students (NUIS) has become a full-time partner in the Israeli government’s efforts to spread its propaganda online and on college campuses around the world.

electronicintifada.net...

originally posted by: FlyersFan All the 'hate the west but luv Russia' crap that they post, and they use an American run board to whine on. They couldn't 'hate Russia and luv America' like that in Russia.

What ?????

You want borders put on Internet so that Russians can't logon to ATS

You think US shills don't go posting on Russian board sites ??

a reply to: WineAndCheese9

You seem really offended by this news story, why is that?

originally posted by: WineAndCheese9
You want borders put on Internet so that Russians can't logon to ATS

Obviously I never said that.

I said that it's rather ironic that they whine about America and use an American run board to do it, when they simply couldn't do the same thing in Russia and get away with it.

a reply to: the2ofusr1

Not disputing that, how ever the news source is from an ex employee who worked in the Kremlin Troll Factory.

Lots of deflection going on already in this thread!

However back on the topic to hand, they need 135 comments a day or they are dismissed. I say starve them!

Don't feed the trolls!

What difference does it make? Russian trolls are as obvious as American trolls. There here, so what, you were warned. In fact, pretty sure a few members here offer a tin foil hat and troll spray when joining. It's not ATS's fault if you don't use it.

a reply to: FlyersFan

With some of the construction scandals just surfing the past couple years in Canada , there should be a long list of court doc's coming up soon . One has a 50 million $ bribe to a Libyan going back a few years . Most of this stuff we don't really hear about I suspect . Seems that the more open and transparent our govt. promises us the tighter the make access to information nearly impossible .

originally posted by: flammadraco
However back on the topic to hand, they need 135 comments a day or they are dismissed. I say starve them!

They get paid by the comment? I would think it wouldn't be hard to post 135 comments a day. They probably have a template that they follow. Get the propaganda talking points across and, if counter points are made, make sure you keep deflecting. Pretty basic stuff and it wouldn't take a genius to do it, I'm sure.

originally posted by: flammadraco
a reply to: the2ofusr1

Not disputing that, how ever the news source is from an ex employee who worked in the Kremlin Troll Factory.

Lots of deflection going on already in this thread!

However back on the topic to hand, they need 135 comments a day or they are dismissed. I say starve them!

Don't feed the trolls!

You know people can't resist, like throwing your hotdog to the monkeys at the zoo.

a reply to: flammadraco

There was a add recently where I think it was US military looking for Russian actors as well as Ukraine . This could be the product they wanted to get out into the information war . just saying

a reply to: WineAndCheese9

Yeah only Russian shills will display hate for US and support for Putin

Nothing at all to do with US deserving that hate by doing things like 9/11- killing their own citizens

Or helping to create ISIS

Yeah only bad Russian trolls don't like the sweet sweet USA

Eample .