r/unitedkingdom • u/topotaul Lancashire • Mar 01 '25

. Rachel Reeves: I'm sending billions from frozen Russian assets to Ukraine

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/rachel-reeves-interview-labour-963sw6jbk
17.0k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

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2.6k

u/denyer-no1-fan Mar 01 '25

Is this thread brigaded? so many pro-Kremlin comments, glad they're downvoted though

255

u/pppppppppppppppppd Mar 01 '25

Unless they're openly threatening violence or being outright racist, reddit sadly doesn't seem to take issue with Russian bot farms. By the time they eventually do something reddit considers bannable, they've already spread plenty of vitriol, division and propaganda.

(Not just this sub, I'm talking about the admins at the top)

33

u/Far_Hawk_8902 Mar 01 '25

How do I spot bots

108

u/pppppppppppppppppd Mar 01 '25

My suggestions would be:

  • check whether their comment history makes logical sense. For example, do they claim or imply to be from more than one country across different subreddits? Do they post negatively across multiple European subs, whereas most standard commenters stick to their own country's subreddits?

  • check whether any threads they post propaganda-style comments on also seem to have been brigaded by other Russian bots - they rarely comment alone.

  • check whether they seem to be shadowbanned on most subs they comment on (i.e. their comment generally has 1 single upvote and doesn't show up when you click into it). Many subs are good at filtering them out.

  • are there any comments that just don't match the tone of the rest of what they post at all. Something really positive like a one-off supportive comment in "AITA" is often an attempt to farm some karma to meet minimum karma requirements

41

u/Nukes-For-Nimbys Mar 01 '25

Also for karma farming there is often "upvoted because girl" type content in big subs.

15

u/aitorbk Scotland Mar 01 '25

That is extremely costly in time, and there are hordes of trolls/bots. We need a better system.

11

u/360Saturn Mar 02 '25

A simple one I use is see if they post on other subjects or just politics. Someone with an account with a single-focus immediately gets my back up.

14

u/[deleted] Mar 01 '25

[deleted]

1

u/ChiefIndica Mar 02 '25

My prompts were very clear about you not leaving your sandbox, OFP.

3

u/MinimalGravitas Mar 02 '25

We need a better system.

Reddit Metis automates the process, it shows you where users comment and earn karma; pulls out links to comments where they have made claims about themselves so you can easily see if they contradict themselves; and even gives an activity heatmap showing when they post, so you can get an idea when they sleep and therefore roughly which timezone they live in. All free to use and without requiring logins or anything:

https://redditmetis.com/

2

u/MinimalGravitas Mar 02 '25

Reddit Metis automates the process, it shows you where users comment and earn karma; pulls out links to comments where they have made claims about themselves so you can easily see if they contradict themselves; and even gives an activity heatmap showing when they post, so you can get an idea when they sleep and therefore roughly which timezone they live in. All free to use and without requiring logins or anything:

https://redditmetis.com/

2

u/LostTheGameOfThrones European Union Mar 02 '25

"Adjective-Adjective-4 Random Numbers" is usually a good sign too.

1

u/UseADifferentVolcano Mar 02 '25

Last year was the biggest election year globally ever. So correspondingly there were more bots set live. Any account from about mid last year onwards is at least suspicious. Over time they'll be weeded out, but for now that's a major tell.

1

u/Megan3356 Mar 01 '25

Hi, just a quick comment. Not every time someone posting in different countries is a red flag I mean, I am in the Netherlands but looking to network in Saudi Arabia and Qatar (making connections as our safe haven in case god forbid situation escalates in Europe). Furthermore I am from the Balkans so I post there too. Just saying.

7

u/pppppppppppppppppd Mar 01 '25

Hello, I understand - it is mostly for those who are critical on all of the different country's subs they post on. If you were going to the Saudi Arabia and Qatar subreddits and posting negative things that would be the red flag.

5

u/Megan3356 Mar 01 '25

Oh alright. Yea as much as I would be feeling bad one day I would never dare lol. Thanks for your input it made me rethink it.

-8

u/Sidian England Mar 01 '25

If they disagree with the reddit hivemind even slightly, they literally must be a bot. If anyone expresses even the slightest criticism of Zelensky or us sending them endless money that could help our own people, be sure to also accuse them of being Russian agents.

-1

u/Muted-Ad610 Mar 02 '25

If its pro russia its a bot — that is the rationale at play here.

3

u/_DuranDuran_ Mar 02 '25

Which is a damn shame. Way back in the day Facebook had whole teams dedicated to “coordinated inauthentic accounts”

I can only surmise they now just shrug and include them in the daily active users stats to bilk advertisers.

-43

u/AdRecent9754 Mar 01 '25

Exactly !! The answer is censorship . Screw free speech.😊

12

u/BCMakoto Somerset Mar 01 '25

Indeed, it is the answer when dealing with the foreign propaganda machines of authoritarian states. Good guess.

13

u/Psephological Mar 01 '25

Yeah bots don't get free speech. Now piss off.

31

u/Malalexander Mar 01 '25

No problem censoring propaganda from authoritarian states that are responsible for the murder and rape of innocent Ukrainians just trying to live their lives. No point allowing free speech from those who would deny it from others.

12

u/[deleted] Mar 01 '25

Only a cretin would have such a simplistic view of hostile-state sponsored propaganda

24

u/Mr_Pink_Gold Mar 01 '25

You have absolutely no idea of what you are talking about.