Posted on 09/01/2014 5:21:49 AM PDT by Kaslin
There is a new form of cyberbullying out there and it is scary, because it could derail the professional career of any conservative - even those working in apolitical jobs. Slimy folks like “Busta Troll” are hijacking Facebook pages of conservatives, replacing the content with goats and anti-conservative messages. Some believe a goat is used because it is a Satanic symbol; many of the conservatives are targeted because of their Christian or Jewish views.
The conservative Citizens’ Post page on Facebook was hijacked by the “Goatz Alliance,” which also goes by the name “Busta Troll,” by pretending to be from a conservative organization called Freedom Alliance. The bullies also set up several fake conservative Facebook groups to give themselves credibility. Once they cajoled the owner into giving them admin privileges, the hijackers posted anti-conservative propaganda all over the page. On one of their fake Facebook pages, a cyber thug claims to be paid by George Soros.
Another conservative Facebook page, “America, the Next Generation,” was hijacked not just once but twice by the cyber thugs, who pretended to offer help fixing a rude post about Obama, but then posted goats. R.W. Burgin, who runs a Facebook page called The Seditionist, told The Examiner that liberal cyber thugs copied photos from his page and photoshopped them into parody pages and videos, including alongside pornography. He was called a pedophile and his employer was contacted, in order to try and get him fired.
The cyber thugs are clever and have a lot of time on their hands. The main thug, Busta Troll, apparently gave an anonymous interview to the Atlanta Conservative Examiner, boasting that he had “goated” 17 Facebook pages. Then he supposedly set up an elaborate scheme where he pretended that a conservative named Kevin Kopper had his Facebook page hijacked, so Kopper offered $1,000 to anyone who could out Busta Troll. Kopper claimed he found someone for $1,000 who identified Busta Troll as Christopher Lyman. Busta Troll explains the scheme on his website and how all the names involved are fake. It looks like Busta Troll’s identity may have finally been discovered. Fortunately, Facebook appears to be cracking down on Busta Troll, at least for the most part.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. There are even more disturbing ways cyber thugs are going after conservative activists. Donna Cruse, a vocal Tea Party activist, had one of these hateful people photoshop her Facebook page to make it look like she said something racist related to her credit union employer and how they give out loans. The screenshot was then posted publicly by Americans Against the Tea Party, and the credit union was contacted to complain about her.
The problem? They should have contacted the credit union first. The bank told the anonymous coward that she hadn’t been employed there since 2010! Her alleged comment makes no sense in 2014. Unfortunately, her current employer watched as the cyber storm occurred on the credit union’s site, and due to the frenzied public reaction to this hoax, she was immediately suspended and has been placed on indefinite, unpaid suspension. She is nowreceiving death threats. Her previous co-workers are afraid to associate with her, possibly out of fear for their jobs. Even more outrageous, Donna has many black friends - who I happened to notice in photos with her on her Facebook page - and last year, she shaved all her hair off her head to show her support for an ethnic friend who was undergoing chemotherapy for cancer.
Nevertheless, her current employer launched an investigation into her and found what they believed to be another Facebook profile of hers, but it was actually a dormant account of a leftist troll who simply changed the name and added a stolen photo, causing further investigation into her personally. In other words, Donna has become “the criminal” in the story. This is how they terrorize people on the right to the point of suicide.
I am fairly good with photoshopping, and know how simple it would be to superimpose a fake comment onto a screenshot of someone’s Facebook page. I photoshopped a screenshot of Barack Obama’s Facebook page to say he was becoming a Republican in less than two minutes. How this tactic could be used to take out conservatives is frankly terrifying. The best way to prevent it is to spread the word and explain how the photoshopping works. Someone loves Hitler? Someone wants to kill Obama? Someone is a white supremacist? Someone hates gays? Photoshopped sex photos? The possibilities are endless. The left is excellent at making this kind of thing go viral and getting activists to call and make complaints.
Progressives and their comrades in the media are always trying to claim there is a link between right-wing conservatives and offensive viewpoints - even though the truth is abhorrent viewpoints are more closely connected to the left - so some employers may believe the anonymous thugs over a Tea Party member. Especially if they pile it on by having a few more anonymous people post comments after the article claiming the person has made offensive comments in the past (even though they have no proof), and bang! It begins to sound convincing.
One little two-minute photoshopping incident and your entire career aspirations could be over - forever. Anyone who Googles you for the rest of your life will likely find the abhorrent things about you. And it’s not just what someone said about you - it’s what YOU supposedly said so it’s even tougher to dispute.
Wikipedia is another forum conservatives need to take on, since it has become the number one source for encyclopedia-like, general information. Trolls - probably mostly unemployed criminals living in their parents’ basements - have taken over much of it, posting horrendous things about conservative people and conservative organizations. Unless someone has a lot of money to pay someone to clean up their reputation, or time to spend hours learning how to maneuver the complexities of editing Wikipedia, this site can significantly hurt their credibility.
Hopefully, entities like Facebook will address this in the future, perhaps by setting up a department to deal with requests for records in order to prove the photoshopping is false. A spammer took my photo and started a fake Facebook profile with it recently; I complained to Facebook and they wouldn’t remove it (fortunately it has since disappeared). Another solution is to set up a website where these incidents can be exposed and debunked. If anyone is looking for a new venture to help conservatives, this would be a very valuable project. Otherwise, expect to see many more conservatives destroyed over false accusations - including some big names.
It is time to go after these cyberbullies for slander.
I thought it was funny, anyway.
Nice thought...but....anyone can create a FB account for you.
I just saw that . . . rated as a “mixture of true and false information.” To the barricades?
Or you could just chuckle at their superciliousness.
Those involved with, and using social media, need their head examined.
A potential client won’t give a flip what your idiot sister posts. We all have silly friends and relatives.
It’s what YOU post that counts. And you can lock your page down so that no one but your “Friends” can see anything more than the most basic info.
You, not being my “Friend,” could search for my page today (if you knew my name), and you wouldn’t know anything about me that I didn’t allow you to see. Which is basically nothing.
My Facebook Friends can’t even see who else I’m Friends with. None of their business. I can also restrict or hide anything I want to on my Timeline. And I do.
The problem is that most people don’t use the Privacy tools. They don’t restrict access but do accept people as “Friends” who aren’t. Then they post waaayy too much personal stuff, even silly things like “having breakfast at Dennys with Sally.” I’m continually amazed at people who don’t lock down their pages, but post photos as they travel afar. Open invitation to burglars.
Sorry. Moral to this too-long post is to live smart, and it’s entirely possible to enjoy Facebook if you do.
Sorry, I don’t see rating some random email as a “mixture of true and false information” to be that controversial.
Neither am I scandalized if you like to use Snopes. Knock yourself out.
This requires a faceboot account? Well then go for it, you can’t hack what doesn’t exist. Social media is for needy, people that have to constantly let everyone know what they are doing. I just don’t care.
The trolls need to have their pages hijacked. Simple.
You are SO RIGHT about Snopes.
Those that can't see that are in the "forest for the trees" gang which has a substantial membership.
>>>I am pretty much resigned to the fact that eventually, my employer and my family will eventually have access to all that I’ve ever said here over the past 17 years.<<<
Same here.
Every comment I’ve ever written online is filtered through the thought that someday, somewhere, someone might want to use it against me. That’s not paranoia - it’s simply an understanding that posting something online is like standing in the middle of the road and waving at passing motorists. It’s a public place. Writing something here is like speaking with a bullhorn in the public square. This is something that I warn my students and my son about as well. Some listen; most don’t.
The other thing I have shared with my students is my guess that a growth industry will be those who scour the Internet to clean up reputations. In some cases, it’ll be a good living.
If I want something to be private, I write it on paper or speak to the person directly. That’s not perfect, either (and never was), but at least it’s not an idiot shouting from the rooftops.
“Nice thought...but....anyone can create a FB account for you.”
Just like anyone can get a credit card in YOUR name. It is called ID theft.
OK, so technically there are legal ramifications for what these progressive ilk are doing...
1. Slander
2. ID theft
What other laws are they violating in their effort to destroy conservatives?
Violation of your Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion? What “right” do they have to terrorize you personally and publically? How is this really any different than when innocent people were hauled into the town square to be persecuted?
They poked fun at me over there.
Who cares?
Anyone who is concerned about this site mocking us over here think about it this way....
we discuss a lot of important issues over here that don’t get covered much anywhere else. Wichita Horror type things , ISIS, black on white prejudice and violence like the knockout game and the general hypocrisy of the left snd the overreaching of the nanny state.
some people are bound to get curious and wander over here.
Some will open their eyes some will reject our ideas.
But at least some of what’s happening will be seen by more people
Even the people who are awake have no idea just how bad it all is
I suppose if they are close minded enough they will dismiss it as hateful right wing rhetoric or urban legend but some people will start to see and learn
Please pardon spelling and grammar heavily medicated after oral surgery here
“Retreat??? Hell, we just got here!”
If someone's going to create a fake facebook account for you, what's the difference anyhow?
Snopes withered and dithered for YEARS to avoid calling Hillary Clinton a liar about being named after Sir Edmund Hillary. Their last dodge was to claim that her mama lied to her.
Finally they came out with the admission that even a staffer said it was made up.
More often, they take a true statement but hedge in the synopsis phrase so they can call it “innacurate” (yellow).
Also, they salt some truth with lies (like the list proclaiming that Obama went to Islamic classes, was listed as a muslim on school papers, etc. with the erroneous claim that he was sworn in on a koran).
Target hedged on reasons for turning away certain charities (I think one was a touring Vietnam Memorial and another was the Salvation Army).
Snopes ain’t worth much. The urban legend sections that made up much of their initial content were all stolen from Jan Brunvand’s well researched books on the subject.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.