# Washington Post: Russian propaganda effort helped spread ‘fake news’ during election, experts say **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 25, 2016, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945 "2016-11-25T03:41:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Sterling\_Archer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Sterling\_Archer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sterling_Archer)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/61 "2016-11-30T17:10:55Z")
Why would democrats favor such laws and republicans oppose? How is this a partisan issue? ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/62 "2016-11-30T17:57:13Z")
> [@Sterling\_Archer](#): > > Why would democrats favor such laws and republicans oppose? How is this a partisan issue? Democrats Bad. Republicans Good. This is all you need to know. ---
**Author:** ![Sterling\_Archer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Sterling\_Archer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sterling_Archer)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/63 "2016-11-30T18:17:10Z")
And the “bad” side wants to prevent fraudulent news while the “good” side is in favor of it? ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/64 "2016-11-30T20:04:57Z")
> [@Sterling\_Archer](#): > > And the “bad” side wants to prevent fraudulent news while the “good” side is in favor of it? More like: the good side sees the danger of having government squelching speech it dislikes. The bad side apparently doesn’t see this danger. ---
**Author:** ![Sterling\_Archer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Sterling\_Archer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sterling_Archer)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/65 "2016-11-30T21:03:49Z")
That’s why I said model it after fraud laws. Then it cannot be abused simply as squashing speech you dislike. Do you have that same concern about fraud? Is it a first amendment violation that companies aren’t allowed to false advertise? That it’s illegal to con people out of their savings? ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/66 "2016-12-05T16:10:27Z")
But don’t you know that “The Fake News Meme is an Amateurish, Soros-Funded PsyOp Which Backfired”? [http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/fake-news-meme-going-viral/ri17981](http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/fake-news-meme-going-viral/ri17981) The article reads like something from _The Onion_, but it seems to be sincere (sincere in the sense that they want people to believe their twaddle). > [@](#): > > This PropOrNot is clearly a Soros funded psy-op. But it’s amateurish, it’s pathetic. It’s amazing people really believe this stuff. But this is coming from a group of people who previously, just believed everything they saw on TV. Now that they are ‘surprised’ Trump was elected, they are searching the net for answers, looking at sites they didn’t look before (like Drudge, Zero Hedge, and many others). They still doubt anything they see ‘online’ because clearly, TV is the only real authority for information, not ‘the internets’. The ownership of the domain [russia-insider.com](http://russia-insider.com) is anonymized, of course. So now they’re attacking the idea of fake news. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/67 "2016-12-05T16:32:21Z")
“Amateurish, pathetic”. Sad. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/68 "2016-12-05T17:57:20Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > “Amateurish, pathetic”. Sad. Yes. Their own words are a perfect description of their own article. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/69 "2016-12-05T18:27:51Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Sure it does. And what do you suggest as proof of factuality? Let’s take the story that a pizza parlor in DC is home to a child sexual abuse ring run by Clinton supporters. This has apparently spurred an armed man to “self-investigate” the fake news story, leading to patrons fleeing in fear of a mass shooting, and the man firing a few shots in the restaurant for unclear purposes. That man will hopefully spend several years in prison for his actions. The purveyor of the fake news that alleges this child abuse scheme, however, is peddling something that is clearly false. There’s literally no debate on that point. Aside from this armed invasion incident, the staff of the restaurant have been harassed and received death threats. I don’t know to what extent that the stories about this pizza parlor meet the legal definition of slander or libel, but it seems to me that whoever originates and propagates these stories, with knowledge that they are totally false, and with total recklessness for the foreseeable outcome of those stories, ought to be subject to some kind of punishment. At least with civil damages, but I would say criminal penalties would be suitable as well. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/70 "2016-12-05T19:16:53Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Let’s take the story that a pizza parlor in DC is home to a child sexual abuse ring run by Clinton supporters. This has apparently spurred an armed man to “self-investigate” the fake news story, leading to patrons fleeing in fear of a mass shooting, and the man firing a few shots in the restaurant for unclear purposes. > > . Can someone tell me what the supposed evidence behind this whole pizzagate thing is? I know I can google it, but I’m afraid what sites that will take me to. I know it has something to do with Podesta’s emails, but are there any specific things in there that led to this? ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2016, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/71 "2016-12-06T18:13:11Z")
[Alleged gunman tells police he wanted to rescue children at D.C. pizza shop after hearing fictional Internet accounts](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/alleged-gunman-tells-police-he-wanted-to-rescue-children-at-dc-pizza-shop-after-hearing-fictional-internet-accounts/2016/12/05/cb5ebabc-bae8-11e6-ac85-094a21c44abc_story.html?hpid=hp_rhp-top-table-main_cometpizza-0620pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.76e26afa0cb1) > [@](#): > > “He most likely really believes the conspiracy theory,” said Kathy Sue Holtorf, who produced one of his films and appeared with him in another. “He’s a good guy with the best of intentions. He probably saw himself as more on a hero mission to save children than anything else.” Wonder who he voted for. > [@](#): > > A new Internet conspiracy theory emerged Monday. Citing Welch’s minor background as an actor, some claimed the gun incident was either staged or even a hoax altogether. And on Sunday night, Michael Flynn Jr., the son and top aide of retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for national security adviser, tweeted that the Comet Ping Pong conspiracy theory might still be true. > > “Until #Pizzagate proven to be false, it’ll remain a story. The left seems to forget #PodestaEmails and the many ‘coincidences’ tied to it,” Flynn Jr. tweeted. He later posted images of direct messages from CNN host Jake Tapper imploring him to stop spreading the rumors. Until proven false? OK, then, make sure your tin-foil hat doesn’t have any holes in it. [At a D.C. pizzeria, the dangers of fake news just got all too real](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/at-a-dc-pizzeria-the-dangers-of-fake-news-just-got-all-too-real/2016/12/05/b8ae43b8-baf4-11e6-94ac-3d324840106c_story.html?utm_term=.99c0eb508f7a) > [@](#): > > A week before the presidential election, the son of retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn — the man President-elect Donald Trump has chosen as his national security adviser — shared the Comet Ping Pong conspiracy story. > > Thousands of others shared it, too. > > Days later, the retired general himself tweeted a hashtag referring to another fake news story that accused Clinton’s campaign chairman, John Podesta, of satanic rituals using bodily fluids. > > That there, the satanic ritual stuff, is straight out of the grocery checkout line. Michael Flynn, the chosen national security adviser, is tweeting about satanic rituals? Please tell me _that_ is fake news. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2016, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/72 "2016-12-06T18:25:39Z")
It was his son, Michael Jr. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2016, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/73 "2016-12-06T19:54:30Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > It was his son, Michael Jr. Michael Jr. tweeted about the Pizza place. Michael Flynn, Trump’s choice for national security advisor was indeed tweeting about a different (false) conspiracy theory involving satanic rituals: > [@](#): > > Days later, \*\*the retired general himself \*\*tweeted a hashtag referring to another fake news story that accused Clinton’s campaign chairman, John Podesta, of satanic rituals using bodily fluids. The sane Republicans have left the building, leaving behind only the credulous, ill-informed, conspiracy theory loving buffoons. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/74 "2016-12-10T01:21:37Z")
The [Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/obama-orders-review-of-russian-hacking-during-presidential-campaign/2016/12/09/31d6b300-be2a-11e6-94ac-3d324840106c_story.html?hpid=hp_rhp-top-table-main_russiahack-1215p%3Ahomepage%2Fstory) is reporting that the CIA has briefed the Senate that the Russians interfered with the election specifically to elect Trump. I’m sure they wanted to make America great again. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/75 "2016-12-10T02:04:46Z")
This just broke, and I don’t know enough about it to say anything. And its killing me. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/76 "2016-12-10T02:39:38Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > The [Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/obama-orders-review-of-russian-hacking-during-presidential-campaign/2016/12/09/31d6b300-be2a-11e6-94ac-3d324840106c_story.html?hpid=hp_rhp-top-table-main_russiahack-1215p%3Ahomepage%2Fstory) is reporting that the CIA has briefed the Senate that the Russians interfered with the election specifically to elect Trump. I’m sure they wanted to make America great again. No one will go on the record? Fake news strikes again. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/77 "2016-12-10T02:59:00Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > No one will go on the record? Fake news strikes again. Your attempts to invalidate this term are sad. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/78 "2016-12-10T03:03:08Z")
I heard on the radio driving home that Obama has ordered, crap I forget who, but some agency, to look into this and to make the investigastion quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/79 "2016-12-10T03:48:57Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > I heard on the radio driving home that Obama has ordered, crap I forget who, but some agency, to look into this and to make the investigastion quickly. Here’s the [link to CNN story](http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/09/politics/obama-orders-review-into-russian-hacking-of-2016-election/). > [@CNN](#): > > “The President has directed the Intelligence Community to conduct a full review of what happened during the 2016 election process. It is to capture lessons learned from that and to report to a range of stakeholders,” White House Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Adviser Lisa Monaco said at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast with reporters Friday. “This is consistent with the work that we did over the summer to engage Congress on the threats that we were seeing.” ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/80 "2016-12-10T04:03:02Z")
And if they reveal some really damning information, half the country won’t believe it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945.md?page=5)