The warriors guide to social media warfare

The following is an introduction to what I call social media warfare. information operations, cyber war, PSYOPS, digital marketing.. These things are all connected, much as we are all connected in the information space. Social Media Warfare consists of all these things. In today's 5th generation war fighting environment, social media warfare is very much a requisite to kinetic warfare.

As we have often and have recently seen here in the United States, misinformation, disinformation, intentionally incendiary rhetoric, results in violence. The enemies of the free world weaponize social media to justify and motivate war, murder and torture. They use it to attack us all in the cognitive space. To attack support for Ukraine and all that is good in the world.

This is why I'm thankful the IT Army of Ukraine has created the world's first tool intended to counter and destroy harmful activity on social media while helping supportive communities grow.

Reporting TOS violations

An important part of countering harmful information operations or general activity on social media is reporting TOS violations. Each platform has terms of services we all must agree to in order to use the service. A large part of enemy activity on social media involves trolls.

We have all heard about "russian troll farms" .. such efforts would not be effective, without harassment, insults, and endless other violations of the rules. If nobody reports the violations, there is no action taken by the platform. Even when one person files a report, AI and automated review procedures make action unlikely. It takes an Army to destroy a troll account. It takes strategy to counter and destroy an army of trolls.

Report TOS violations in silence and let the #TangoDown speak for you

Do not engage the trolls directly. Just like we hunt their accounts, we can be hunted. And a big part of what these trolls do ... is bait supportive accounts, trigger them into breaking the rules... then report them.

those are the more organized trolls. There are many types and motivations. You can learn more about this from our latest video "The Psychopathy of Trolls"

The worst, in my opinion, has to be the mental degenerate type. There is zero point in engaging these individuals. There can be no "debate" as is often their bait, without both sides having something to contribute.

Never play chess with a pigeon.. even when you are winning, they will just strut all over the chess board, shit all over the place, knock over all the pieces, and act like it won.

This is why we work from a distance and do so in silence. If done correctly, the troll will never know you were there nor why they lost another account.

It's hard for the enemy.. to punch a sniper in the face with his fist.. when the sniper is very far away and is not visible.

The troll is the target .. we are the cyber snipers. #ActivenessSocial is the artillery barrage. Just like in kinetic warfare and actual military ranks, we all have a part in this fight. "Every paperclip."

From the rifles on the front line to the cyber warriors participating here.. and the soldiers that observe and send targets to the gun crew.. or to #ActivenessSocial

We all have a place, and each is important to victory.

Concentrated fire and maximum force of ... non violence.

If one were to imagine 10 beer cans lined up in a row. Before them, a distance away, 10 rifles.

If each gunner shoots at the beer can in front of them, some may miss, others will barely hit it, and a few will get a direct hit.

But if each gunner shoots at the first can in the line, it will take many hits. If the gunners focus on one target at a time and fire on it until it is destroyed, then move on to the next until it is destroyed.. there will be no more targets. Rather than 10 cans with a few holes in them.

Same thing for reporting TOS violations. The harmful content in violation of the rules represents the primary target. The account posting it is the secondary and main target.

To destroy the harmful account, you must destroy the harmful content. We do this by reporting content in violation of platform TOS.

This content can easily be found on X as the example, and a confirmed #TangoDown is easy enough to achieve by visiting an account's replies or media sections.. then reporting as many TOS violations as possible.

With the russian z trolls, often one can simply destroy the accounts by playing a game of smash the swastika. Visit the accounts media section, report all swastikas as hateful images.. and the locks will fall like rain.

Many reports = locked account
Many locks = permanent suspension

This is the way.

The Machine Gun Metaphor

Just like any activity on social media, too much is seen as bad by the platform. Spam. Reporting TOS violations is no exception. It's important to resist the urge to carpet bomb a trolls account and go with the slow and steady method.

Think of your account as a machine gun. A machine gunner must fire in short bursts to prevent weapon failure due to overheating. The friction and heat generated by many bullets traveling down the weapons barrel can cause it to melt.

Rather than pew pew pew pew pew ...
Pew pew pew ... short break ... pew pew pew.

For us on social media, fire off a few reports.. then go do normal social stuff. Then, drop a few more reports. Rinse and repeat.

This will prevent negative action on your account, ghost ban, or worse.

Submitting Targets to Activeness.Social

Keep it simple, silly! When submitting work for the IT Army of Ukraine, you are presented with a number of options regarding the task to be completed. Choose the one most appropriate, or as I often do, you can describe the task in more detail by choosing the "Other, will add below" option and request assistance below in the blank box!

When doing so, keep in mind that the dedicated social media cyber warrior faces many tasks and a large volume of work. This is why it is important to keep requests for assistance short and to the point.

More to read, and think about a task, represents more work and greater difficulty. Too much work can reduce the effectiveness of any fighting force and cause "burnout".

Using X and a good game of smash the swastika as the example:

• Find images of swastikas used to push the war in Ukraine.
• Copy the link
• Paste link in target box provided
• Choose "Other, will add below" from the options given.
• And simply drop the suspected TOS violation and what to do in the box!

"Please report for hate > hateful images"

It's very important for participants to study and learn the rules of each platform they hunt. For one to be able to hunt a rabbit, they first must know what a rabbit looks like, then where to find it, then where to place the shot for a guaranteed take down.

If you don't agree with a target or it is something you are unable to complete for any reason... just skip it!

The Blunted Sword

Please do not abuse the tool or attempt to use it for personal matters.

If a warrior has a sword... and they use it to chop wood, smash rocks, or any other action for which his weapon was not intended. The sword will become blunted, broken, and dull. Then, when it is needed in battle, it will be ineffective.

The Way It Should Be

The easily weaponized nature of social media is largely due to a lack of effort or resources invested into solving these problems by the platforms themselves. It is likely because hate can easily generate a reaction. Hate gets clicks. Clicks are currency and are exactly the type of information that is sold to marketing firms and advertisers.

It should not take an army to deal with a harmful social media account. One report filed against harassment should result in action by the platform. Unfortunately, this is not the case and exactly why we are needed.

We are the volunteer janitors of the internet. It's an ugly, often thankless job. But if we do not address and counter the problem, people will continue to be harassed, manipulated, and misled... and support for Ukraine on social media will continue to be eroded until nothing is left.

So to those of you standing against the tide of hate, for those unable to thank you.. Let me personally express my gratitude to each and every one of you for fighting beside me and standing with Ukraine.

Elon... fix yo' shit.

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Much more to come.