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Slides from the Snowden leaks described ways of disrupting online communities. So The US and its allies has possible done it for decades.

https://theintercept.com/2014/02/24/jtrig-manipulation/

this kind of stuff is OLD. much older that you think... it's been getting more and more sophisticated since (at least) the romans, and surely in medieval times.

they only different thing is now it happens online, hence it's all much closer to 'real time' unlike the historical versions

Also, there are PR companies. They have their trolls and bots as well.

Yes, such as Black Cube

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Cube

The U.S. and the U.K., through their collective media empires, AKA Operation Mockingbird, control the most influential PSYOP armies in the world.