Megaphone: Undeniable Proof of Israeli Propaganda on Forums like ATS

Originally posted by lpowell0627
I think people should be a little more careful when calling out members that registered today and automatically, because they participated in an Israel thread, suddenly a pro-Israel Megaphone plant. This has the potential to taint some new members unfairly. I'm not saying that the possibility that they are doesn't exist, I'm just saying it may not be warranted in all cases and it's a pretty wide brush to be painting with....

I think we would all agree that we value the opinions of individuals here- distinct, thoughtful and expressive people. If some clown registers here to post pro-Israel slop he will, hopefully, either (1) Drop away over time, or (2) Evolve over time to express himself as an individual, ie stop relaying someone else's opinion or using a program to muck up the boards. This person may become someone we would want to have discourse with, once he drops his stupid program.

In my opinion, the pertinent portion of the T&C is as follows:

2d.) Forum Gangs: You will not engaged in an organized collaboration with other members to disrupt thread topics or interrupt the flow of normal collaborative discussion.

Would not such activity here constitute a breach of that condition?

That said, I feel compelled to reiterate that without proof that any member is doing so, we cannot and should not begin a witch hunt or "drumhead"-like vigilantism against consistently pro-Israel posts. People have the right to express their opinions and thoughts on ATS, and I hope that never changes. I also again reiterate that in my opinion it is not the individual opinions, but any potential for disproportionate or overwhelming influence of those opinions being facilitated by the program in question, which is the threat.

We must distinguish between individual posters coming to ATS to express their views and any possible influx of users whose sole purpose is not to express viewpoints, but to influence public opinion under the auspices of some other organization. We should respond to this in the same way we would if a group of lobbyists started posting on ATS in other words, and not in a knee jerk or presumptive fashion, in my opinion. If we do not, then we very gravely risk curtailing members' rights here unfairly in my opinion. We cannot simply assume that people with pro-Israel views are "agents." This kind of omnidirectional, general paranoia can only lead to chaos in my view.

And we must also acknowledge the very real possibility that distinguishing between the two might be nearly impossible, and in that case, an insufficient response that protects users' rights is preferable to an overzealous response that might, even potentially, limit users' rights in my opinion.

[edit on 6/1/2010 by AceWombat04]

Haha, here's a little nugget of info that makes me smile. I'm a member of a very small, very random forum that I will not name. It's basically a small collection (small as in a few dozen) of some of the nastiest trolls I've ever come across. I was lucky enough to gain membership there quite a few years ago because I was interested in the forum's intended topic (a topic which is very rarely discussed there these days). Anyway, these guys basically take turns practicing their craft (posting things specifically meant to piss people off) on each other, and naturally there are a few anti-Israel 'characters.' Trolls who, even on their most good-natured days, make the worst ATS trolls look like pussycats. Posting the most hateful, outlandish, anti-Israel things imaginable. I would absolutely LOVE to see how many times this certain forum pops up on this Megaphone software's searches.

Here's the part that makes me smile: there is no open registration, in fact there is no registration at all there right now; it's next to impossible to gain membership/posting abilities. I'd love to see the reactions of the people behind this software if/when they see that site pop up and come to the realization that it's one of the few places on the net that they'll never be able to get to, no matter how hard they try

If nothing else, take comfort in my story.

Originally posted by greatpiino
Haha, here's a little nugget of info that makes me smile. I'm a member of a very small, very random forum that I will not name. It's basically a small collection (small as in a few dozen) of some of the nastiest trolls I've ever come across. I was lucky enough to gain membership there quite a few years ago because I was interested in the forum's intended topic (a topic which is very rarely discussed there these days).

Interesting how that happens. ATS is as much about politics as it is the original purpose these days. People with vision have just got to go with the flow. Let me guess: your forum used to be all about comic books?

The rhetoric and finger pointing in this thread is just disturbing to say the least. Makes me wonder who has gotten to all those spewing the vitriol about people with honest opinions who are just looking for the TRUTH.

Makes me wonder about orgs. like Media Matters and their daily talking points memos and about moves to silence sites like ATS and to silence opposing viewpoints on Talk Radio.

What in the hell is going on here? I am already getting this megaphone crapola in one my threads.

This should be really fun.

reply to post by D.E.M.


Could this software be use on a site such as this? Take a look, you may find this one interesting: Israel VS Palestine POLL

I hope people here realize that there are anti Jew, and anti - Whatever, groups and they do purposefully propagandize other sites.

See the "Stormfront" "Ideology" forum - they often discuss ways to "Take Over Other Boards, WN Style"

reply to post by signal2noise


It's not propaganda when it is the truth.


reply to post by DimensionalDetective


What you say doesn't make any sense. If it would make sense, all Forum Subject Matter Expert's should be banned permanently.

Just because you have a favorite subject doesn't mean that you're pushing propaganda if your opinion only rests on one side of that subject.

If a person only has a small amount of time for ATS, it's natural to spend that time in the forums that person likes.

The same way goes with the opinions. People have unique views of the world. If someone doesn't like violence, it's logical that the opinions expressed by that person will, most likely, go against the military, and so on...

I just hope this doesn't become some sort of ATS cliché...

I’m just a simple guy looking at the evidence. Your emotions are getting a hold of you so much that you cannot reserve yourself to sound judgment. I saw the vids of the Soldiers coming on board and I would have done the same of worse. As always Israel is in a land surrounded by enemies who want nothing but her inhalation/removal off the planet. And I will remain strong as a friend of Israel. The propaganda goes both ways as well.

The OP's avatar looks like a KKK costume.

And yes it IS Propaganda.

You people even post chain emails on here. Beyond ridiculous. Then you get your buddies to flag it.

I know your plans - I read about them on Stormfront.

Pretty simplistic anyway - anyone can see through it.

reply to post by Whiffer Nippets


I resent your insinuation that I, a long standing and dedicated member of ATS, have created this thread to shill the membership here and bait people into a topic. You, good sir, know nothing about me or my motives.

KKK Costume? It looks like a monks robe, a simple archivists attire from the dark ages.

Take your trolling elsewhere, I do not appreciate it here. This thread is for denying ignorance, not propagating it.

EDIT: Ah, looking at your post history I see that your only occupation here on ATS is to bait and flame the decent members of the forum, you've never even posted a thread yourself. I'll ignore your tripe henceforth, now that the truth is out.

[edit on 1-6-2010 by D.E.M.]

Originally posted by D.E.M.

That is not the point. The point is that we have, right here, a national government creating and distributing software with the sole purpose of pushing it's propaganda across multiple sources, and using software exploits to manipulate those sources into showing only their viewpoint.

I totally agree with your point.

But, I also accept that this is the world we live in. Times change. As do the weapons of war. Blogs and RSS feeds didn't exist back when George the First went balls-to-the-wall into Kuwait. If Facebook has been around when Hitler invaded Poland, you can bet he would have had half of America screaming for Stalin's head by the time he reached Leningrad.

Take for instance any American war since Korea. It's been pure methodical public opinion manipulation from the government that's brought us into skirmish after skirmish. Propaganda to push Capitalistic Imperialism under the guise of "Democracy" and "Freedom". The only difference is that it's been so well hidden. The Last Great President tried to warn us of this impending war machine in his farewell address. But, no one listened. And so this is what we end up with: a country that pushes bank-breaking war as it's gross domestic export.

Orwellian indeed.

Little brother seems to have picked up on the message of controlling the masses. They seem to manage quit well for themselves in the middle east for a country that's no bigger than they are. They can't export a product like Uncle Sam across the pond, but they sure can stock their shelves and impose their will in their own backyard because they know big brother's got their back. It doesn't surprise me Israel has picked up most, if not all of America's agenda propagating techniques ... it even appears they may be ahead of big brother in some departments.

[edit on 1-6-2010 by tyranny22]

Today I posted this

"A top Navy officer said that in the future, the Navy will be more aggressive and treat such ships like they were coming for “war.”

When you look at this from an unbiased perspective this makes sense. From the commanders point of view, you are not going to lead your soldiers into a situation which they are not prepared for. You are responsible for your soldiers lives and they put their trust in you. If you know that the ships your soldiers are going to board have people who are going to act in a hostile manner, then it is your responsibility to prepare accordingly.

I wish I got paid to post the things I do. I was in the US military for a period of my life. I guess that's why I can see things from this perspective. If any of you know how to hook me up with a job for posting this kind of information then send me the links.

Added the quote

[edit on 1-6-2010 by Styki]

reply to post by JohnnyElohim


It's actually a martial arts forum. Never been into comic books myself.

reply to post by captiva
Could leetspeak make it harder for pr0-1$R@E1 supporters to use these softwares to get a head start to bomb and drown new threads?

Free Speech is best left alone whether it entails hate speech or propaganda within it or not. When you start to determine who may speak and how they may speak you open a Pandora's Box you may not be able to close.

The pro Israel crowd would silence the pro Hamas crowd. The pro Hamas crowd would silence the pro Israel crowd.

The anti Religion crowd would silence all Religions.

Israel has handled Gaza badly. Hamas has committed many Terrorist acts and have actually killed more Palestinians than the Israelis have. There is plenty of blame to go around. The Palestinian rights group made a horrible decision by refusing to let the ships be quickly searched instead of forcing a confrontation.

How about everyone be allowed to speak. Not just those approved by certain groups or individuals? I like it when everyone is allowed to speak at will. If I don't agree with you or anyone else, so what? We all get the opportunity to speak is what matters.

I have confidence ATS will side with free speech for all sides of all issues as they have in the past.

Censorship is the real devil here. Side with censorship and you are the Devil.

The Chinese do this same thing whenever Tibet blows up. They were trying to be a bit more sneaky, and would claim to be average Americans, with terribly broken english, who support China and would drop all kinds of official Chinese government facts and statistics. Israel is now doing it here, and just about every other board discussing this incident. It really does cast them in a bad light...

Hello I'm clocking in to talk about projew propaganda. I get paid per hour, but the pay is really horrible, I swear my bosses don't like to pay.

lol anyhow, it's called trolling just to stir up trouble for laughs. Most of it is coming from encyclopediadramatica.com... 4chan, and somethingawful for "lulz"

people that allow themself to get angry online tend to get laughed at as falling for the trolls since they have done their job. Which is to try and make someone look foolish by raging on the internet.

Don't take things so serious and that every rock has a conspiracy hiding under it. Discuss what ya want, debate as ya wish, but trying to label every damn thing as some uber conspiracy movement is getting a bit overboard and really turning into the next net 'meme'

Just enjoy the debates, ignore the trolls, and have fun.

There is no way you can stop the software itself, it does not automate any posts. The crawler can be easily circumvented using other tools.

Its simply informing its members where to go the same way a phone call or conversation would.

It works very much like a botnet so its actually easy to stop.

Sites that allow anonymous polls or posts are the most at risk.

The best way is for a site to create an actual community ( like ATS). That way new posters flooding threads would be a very obvious sign.

Allow only members with x amount of posts or x amount of time ( karms, points, stars, whatever) to vote in polls or post in certain areas.

This sort of internet mass flux has been going on forever, most sites have very decent tools to prevent bots, new users mobs, 4chan, etc, from ruining what they have built.

reply to post by DimensionalDetective

The motive behind this is intimidation. This intimidation serves to stifle open discussion or questioning of events, by silencing the members through ridicule. Straight out of the CIA playbook. Disgusting.

And they try to provoke too, with idiotic trolling that stays just onside of the
TOS. I remember one long time poster that got banned because of one these provocateurs.
The guy was a educated professional architect too.

I think long time posters need to be granted at least some level of tenure against new posters that provoke because they just very well could be propaganda agents.