Russian Trolls and Identity Politics

[silentcrow]

So. On the recent "Goths Against Trans People" thread here: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3354669-Some-lighter-reading-gender-non-confirming-goths-oppress-trans-people?pg=1&order=

I jokingly said:

"Although I note the writer is "Russian-American" - are we sure this isn't all just coming out of a Russian troll farm to further destabilise America?

I'll get my (tin foil) hat."

I was absolutely kidding, albeit with a whisper of unease because, hey, it's the internet, right? What should I come across tonight but this Medium article, written by the same people who compiled the "Inauthentic Selves" article following the money behind the trans movement (we discussed it here a few weeks ago: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3328210-Follow-the-money-who-is-funding-the-US-transborg).

Have a read. It's long, but seems thorough: medium.com/@sue.donym1984/russian-trolls-tried-influencing-the-identity-politics-of-the-left-so-why-arent-we-talking-about-cd324617d939

I just have one question. AIBU to stock up on tin foil?

(Ok, I am being very jokey about this, I know - I genuinely can't figure out whether it's for real or what, but if it is that's pretty scary.)

Thanks for extracting the conclusion, PerkingFaintly. I did work through the whole essay but those Sue Donym articles are very long. They show Russian agents are influencing this debate too. But what they don’t draw out is how big a role they play, or whether they are just one factor in a much wider movement that draws on lots of different sources across social media and wider cultural changes. I don't know. I just know that there is a world of difference between writers like Debbie Hayton and Kristina Harrison, and the online world of "TWAW" activism that has no interest in them, and much more interest in "punching TERFs". Social media and computer games lend themselves to the creation of personas much more broadly than just any Russian influence. I suspect a lot of it is ground-up (but from a social media ground) much more than orchestrated, but that understanding the online to in-real-life boundaries is important, because those are points that we need to defend - the great work MNers do highlighting the ridiculous materials going into the schools, or the malicious legal case against Linda Bellos.

But having said that, look at how successful the attack on institutions carried out by trolls of all sorts is, especially in splitting up the left - in the last few weeks I’ve seen posters here saying they will cancel memberships of the Greens, UNISON, stop donating to the NSPCC. And that’s understandable, but it does leave those institutions even weaker and more one-sided. If anyone feels strong enough to stay and carry on influencing, then those institutions maybe do have a chance of recovering. And I think the poster on a different thread who said we’re going to have to rebuild our organisations and rights from the ground-up was well onto something. I think what Fair Play for Women are doing with the leaflet campaign is really important and that sort of in-real-life work is what will really pay dividends.

Thanks for the article perking, it's very interesting.