The Shill Conspiracy - I Am Calling You Out.

Originally posted by humphreysjim
Have you ever conclusively proved the existence of even one shill? According to you, I am likely one of them.

Actually...

The US military is developing software that will let it secretly manipulate social media sites by using fake online personas to influence internet conversations and spread pro-American propaganda.

A Californian corporation has been awarded a contract with United States Central Command (Centcom), which oversees US armed operations in the Middle East and Central Asia, to develop what is described as an "online persona management service" that will allow one US serviceman or woman to control up to 10 separate identities based all over the world.

The project has been likened by web experts to China's attempts to control and restrict free speech on the internet. Critics are likely to complain that it will allow the US military to create a false consensus in online conversations, crowd out unwelcome opinions and smother commentaries or reports that do not correspond with its own objectives...



...This month Petraeus's successor, General James Mattis, told the same committee that OEV "supports all activities associated with degrading the enemy narrative, including web engagement and web-based product distribution capabilities".

Centcom confirmed that the $2.76m contract was awarded to Ntrepid, a newly formed corporation registered in Los Angeles. It would not disclose whether the multiple persona project is already in operation or discuss any related contracts..

Military's 'sock puppet' software creates fake online identities to spread pro-American propaganda


So whether or not you are a shill isn't a topic I really care to discuss, however, the fact that General Mattis has openly discussed using "web engagement" to degrade the "enemy narrative," and that a company has been contracted to do so, is conclusive proof of, "even one shill," for something. If you read the article you will learn that the intent seems to be to control enemy opinion of the US, outside of the US, and even brings up the precedent that sock puppetry is illegal and akin to identity theft when carried out on US soil...

Persona management by the US military would face legal challenges if it were turned against citizens of the US, where a number of people engaged in sock puppetry have faced prosecution. Last year a New York lawyer who impersonated a scholar was sentenced to jail after being convicted of "criminal impersonation" and identity theft.

And all this really means is that to avoid legal issues the sock puppets would have to be based OUTSIDE of the United States borders to be used on American citizens. Besides, the internet is global. You can't expect to post something on a UK forum and think, "well then, ain't no yanks ever gonna see that," and that further obfuscates the issue.
The bottom line is that sock puppets are real, we just don't know what they're being used for, and we can be damned certain that it isn't just governments that would be interested in them.

Think about it. Corporations, religions, and political parties could also join the fun. yay

If you think that most shills and disinfo agents are on the skeptics or MSM side - you are wrong.

If you would know where the REAL shills are, you would be in for BIG surprise, i am quite sure.

Originally posted by flexy123
If you think that most shills and disinfo agents are on the skeptics or MSM side - you are wrong.

If you would know where the REAL shills are, you would be in for BIG surprise, i am quite sure.

Actually I just posted evidence that there are actual shills, by the very definition, pushing a US government agenda. As to whether or not their point of view will be skeptical regarding conspiracies, it cannot be known. What can be known is that the shill point of view will be conducive to SWAYING people away from conspiracies, even if it means pretending to be pro-conspiracy in some type of convoluted psi-op. And considering that the media and the government have close ties (I don't feel that I need to explain why, but if you're wondering it goes like this. You cross the white house, and you will no longer have access to the white house. If you no longer have access, you can kiss your ratings goodbye), it can be assumed that the shills would also be furthering the media agenda even if there is no direct relation.

So what evidence have you posted?

Oh, that's right, none.

Way to keep ATS at the forefront of ignorance denial.

Yeah, I'm calling them out too.

Yes, there are shills. Government, corporate, political, religious, intelligence.... if someone has a reason to have significant interest in some matter they probably have the interest to promote that thing or oppress the other side, or keep an eye on it. Not just on conspiracy forums.

Not all of them are going to be paid. Some of them do it for free for their cause.

Yes, the government sure does care about what you think. And so do some of those other agency/groups.

Yes, what you post online can cause change.

But for most of you it won't. Most of you aren't that good at it.

Oh, and as to the 9/11 stuff. Yeah. Did you notice real problems with the accepted or media information? I'm sure you did. Is some of the information intentionally wrong? Yeah. Do you guys blow that up to mean way more than it does? Yeah. You are paranoid in the most un-useful way possible.

Originally posted by UnrelentingLurker
ill point out the elephant in the room. there was hardly a presence of these types until the department of defense announced their "cognitive infiltration" of websites of this nature.

Oh you silly goose. That's just not true. There have been people keeping a sideways eye on forums ever since they opened up into the Universities, long before you ever had a modem at home probably.

Increasing complexity requires increasingly complex solutions.

I would be shocked if there were not at least a few folks paid to post on these sites. Not a big deal.

The ones that bother me are the ones who come on here and act like everything rush limbaugh, alex jones, sorcha faal, etc. spits out is truth. Those are the real shills. The ones that never bother to check facts or rely on false facts when coming to a strong opinion. In that case probably about 80-90% of the people on here and other sites.

I would also be shocked if every post wasn't read by one or several intelligence agencies. They must get a good laugh at how much ignorance gets thrown around here every day.