Facebook ‘news’ page shares fake stories about Winston-Salem police

essentialsaltes

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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Winston-Salem police say “North Carolina Breaking News” is sharing untrue stories about their department, according to a news release.

After discovering the false posts, police say they reached out to administrators of the “North Carolina Breaking News” Facebook page. The apparent admins responded in Russian.

Officers cited two specific posts on the “North Carolina Breaking News” Facebook page.

The two posts tell stories of law enforcement performing good deeds.

Winston-Salem police say the posts are based on true stories from outside of the state and Winston-Salem police officers were never involved.

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One might wonder, "What do the Russians have to gain by spreading positive news stories about police?"

The answer, I suspect, is that this is the honey part of the setup. Positive (but fake) stories to get likable people to like the page. And then at some point, the disinformation would begin, from a source people trust.

What's special about Winston Salem?

Nothing in particular at all. So think about the Facebook groups you belong to.
 

grasping the after wind

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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Winston-Salem police say “North Carolina Breaking News” is sharing untrue stories about their department, according to a news release.

After discovering the false posts, police say they reached out to administrators of the “North Carolina Breaking News” Facebook page. The apparent admins responded in Russian.

Officers cited two specific posts on the “North Carolina Breaking News” Facebook page.

The two posts tell stories of law enforcement performing good deeds.

Winston-Salem police say the posts are based on true stories from outside of the state and Winston-Salem police officers were never involved.

---

One might wonder, "What do the Russians have to gain by spreading positive news stories about police?"

The answer, I suspect, is that this is the honey part of the setup. Positive (but fake) stories to get likable people to like the page. And then at some point, the disinformation would begin, from a source people trust.

What's special about Winston Salem?

Nothing in particular at all. So think about the Facebook groups you belong to.

Not a worry for me I don't do Facebook. Is Russian disinformation somehow more effective than other disinformation out there? I wouldn't think so.
 
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Ana the Ist

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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Winston-Salem police say “North Carolina Breaking News” is sharing untrue stories about their department, according to a news release.

After discovering the false posts, police say they reached out to administrators of the “North Carolina Breaking News” Facebook page. The apparent admins responded in Russian.

Officers cited two specific posts on the “North Carolina Breaking News” Facebook page.

The two posts tell stories of law enforcement performing good deeds.

Winston-Salem police say the posts are based on true stories from outside of the state and Winston-Salem police officers were never involved.

---

One might wonder, "What do the Russians have to gain by spreading positive news stories about police?"

The answer, I suspect, is that this is the honey part of the setup. Positive (but fake) stories to get likable people to like the page. And then at some point, the disinformation would begin, from a source people trust.

What's special about Winston Salem?

Nothing in particular at all. So think about the Facebook groups you belong to.

I don't belong to any...and frankly, people shouldn't get their news from FB. I don't want to generalize about the sort of folks who do...but I am curious who the target audience is.
 
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Jimmy D

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I don't belong to any...and frankly, people shouldn't get their news from FB. I don't want to generalize about the sort of folks who do.

In my office a few of the ladies do get their news from facebook (I don't wish to generalize either, I'm just relating my personal experience). These are ladies in their 50's and are reasonably intelligent women but they appear to believe any old garbage they read.

I remember last year one of them bought up the "disgusting" behavior of Muslims in a demonstration march on the streets of London, she even showed me the article. After she'd gone I did a quick google as I hadn't seen it on the news and it turned out that the whole thing was completely fabricated, the photos used were several years old.

It's very easy to be taken in and subtly manipulated by these things unless you view everything with a degree of skepticism, and it's only a short step from there to being one a paranoid conspiracy nut :eek:.
 
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mala

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In my office a few of the ladies do get their news from facebook (I don't wish to generalize either, I'm just relating my personal experience). These are ladies in their 50's and are reasonably intelligent women but they appear to believe any old garbage they read.

I remember last year one of them bought up the "disgusting" behavior of Muslims in a demonstration march on the streets of London, she even showed me the article. After she'd gone I did a quick google as I hadn't seen it on the news and it turned out that the whole thing was completely fabricated, the photos used were several years old.

It's very easy to be taken in and subtly manipulated by these things unless you view everything with a degree of skepticism, and it's only a short step from there to being one a paranoid conspiracy nut :eek:.
not very intelligent if they can believe any old garbage.
more than likely they are things that they want to be true and will believe any old swill that comes their way as long as it confirms their world views.
they sound like the same people who though might not be doing the actual lynching would be washing the white sheets of their husbands.
 
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Jimmy D

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not very intelligent if they can believe any old garbage.
more than likely they are things that they want to be true and will believe any old swill that comes their way as long as it confirms their world views.
they sound like the same people who though might not be doing the actual lynching would be washing the white sheets of their husbands.

Agreed.... but I did say "reasonably".
 
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Ana the Ist

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In my office a few of the ladies do get their news from facebook (I don't wish to generalize either, I'm just relating my personal experience). These are ladies in their 50's and are reasonably intelligent women but they appear to believe any old garbage they read.

I remember last year one of them bought up the "disgusting" behavior of Muslims in a demonstration march on the streets of London, she even showed me the article. After she'd gone I did a quick google as I hadn't seen it on the news and it turned out that the whole thing was completely fabricated, the photos used were several years old.

It's very easy to be taken in and subtly manipulated by these things unless you view everything with a degree of skepticism, and it's only a short step from there to being one a paranoid conspiracy nut :eek:.

Here's the thing...it's a social networking site. It's not a news site. When people are on a website where anyone can post anything with no real accountability, perhaps they need to take everything with a grain of salt.
.
That...or you know, start getting their news from news sites.
 
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KCfromNC

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The answer, I suspect, is that this is the honey part of the setup. Positive (but fake) stories to get likable people to like the page. And then at some point, the disinformation would begin, from a source people trust.

What's special about Winston Salem?

North Carolina is a purple state and trending more blue each election. Seems like a place where a bit of misinformation designed to rile up people who are predisposed to law and order type messaging would be useful to groups wishing to keep that party's candidates in power a bit longer.
 
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