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Comment by abc123abc123 | Hacker News Reader

WTF? How are you attacked by russian accounts? This childish notion of thinking that only "true" thoughts are allowed under free speech, and the rest must be eradicated needs to die.

If you don't like the risk of russian accounts, don't follow them, and follow accounts that you like. It's as easy as that.

You have news, government news sites, journalists, newspapers, it's never been easier to find sources to trust and compare them against each other.

Screaming murder because Sergei6778 says that Ukraine is evil is just stupid. Take responsibility for your own reading and mind, and stop using the law as a hamfisted tool to stop free speech. Take the bad with the good, or else there won't be any good left in the future.

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While I agree with your sentiment, it's more and more clear to me that reality doesn't reflect it. Many people are extremely easily influenced by easy to digest soundbites.

I'm often baffled by the level of superficial and binary thinking even in "intellectuals" (as in people who hold degrees and you'd expect to have at least a modicum of critical thinking). More often than not it seems based on emotions.

Now have these people spend most of their waking hours doomscrolling some echo chamber on tiktok, and I can see why some may be worried about the influence of some "bad actor".

Given this, and the highly polarized political scene (and I'm in Europe!), I have to say I'm quite worried as to how things will unfold. Hell, there's no need for Sergei and his friends! Just the local politicians' popularity contest is enough.

We don't have freedom of speech for its own sake because of some inherent good. We have it because it's a useful tool to get other peoples perspectives and allows us come to more realistic conclusions where most feel included. People paid by the chinese or russian government are in complete opposition to that spirit.

Note that it's always a claim of Russian (or maybe Chinese) propaganda. Never middle-eastern propaganda.

The level of radicalisation over Israel/Gaza really doesn't look organic, when compared to the reaction to other conflicts.

I don't like the risk of the mouth-breather next door reading Russian propaganda, it's not myself I'm concerned about.

In a democracy, most people are unfortunately stupid and easily manipulable. We can't let the Russians (or the Americans!) use them as their proxy.

So you want to censor what other people read? I don't think your neighbor would appreciate such patronizing attitude.

I don't appreciate my neighbors letting themselves be manipulated to do me harm. I think it's time we do something about it.

How are they doing you harm?

Mostly by voting in extremists that destroy the institutions that we built and offer us as a prize to their foreign masters.

Maybe they think that the current politicians are the ones who are destroying the Europe and it's you who is voting the wrong way?

The part about "foreign masters" doesn't make sense to me.

Well yes of course they do - because they've been manipulated by said propaganda!

Maybe the part about foreign masters makes more sense with this context:

https://www.krone.at/3350333

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/14/jd-vance-ali...

You mean your politicians have created the migrant crisis because they were manipulated by Russian propaganda?

I still don't understand the "foreign masters" part. You mean other parties don't talk to foreigners?

Your politicians have created the migrant crisis by fucking up the middle east - as part of the same hybrid warfare on our institutions as said propaganda.

Other parties don't have friendship treaties with Putins party.

The US with accomplices invaded Iraq in 2003, NATO bombed Libya in 2011. Western politicians and mass media encouraged Arab Spring insurrections. All that led to the rise of ISIS among other things.

And yet oddly you blame Russia for "fucking up the middle east". Why? Have you considered the possibility that it's you who is a victim of propaganda?

>Other parties don't have friendship treaties with Putins party.

I'm sure other parties have friendships with the parties or institutions in countries other than Russia.

Apologies, I thought you were American.

Then let me correct myself: Your government's American proxies messed up the Middle East.

You mean Bush Jr and Obama were proxies of Russian government?

100%.

The European migrant crisis is mostly driven by Syria and the Sahel countries. Syria and Sahel are direct results of Russian military intervention, same with Lybia.

So you force a a migrant crisis and the spread information about the failings of liberal democracy... it's KGB basic training.

>Syria and Sahel are direct results of Russian military intervention, same with Lybia.

Just curious, where did you get that idea? Free and independent Western media, I suppose?

Apparently, it's KGB who removed any mention of Russia from the Wikipedia article on Libyan crisis and added links to NATO bombing campaign.[0]

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyan_crisis

I don't want them unknowingly consuming foreign propaganda campaign content and maximally politically divisive conversation. Having spaces where identities are confirmed is really important for honest and open debate. Screaming at each other in Reddit and Facebook comments amongst society-fracturing influence campaigns isn't free speech. And if someone wants to leave the identity confirmed space and go yell in the anonymous sea of voices they can but we need other options.

>I don't want them unknowingly consuming foreign propaganda campaign content and maximally politically divisive conversation.

Good point.

That's what Putin's "foreign agents" law addresses.

The law is much criticized by Western media and "NGOs" for some reason.

As a matter of fact, it marginalizes any recipient of foreign money even if they do something genuinely good for Russian people, but I doubt it is why the West doesn't like this law.

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