memes

As am I. I'm a bit curious as to which viewpoint they're discussing.

I don't think it's bad for people to be somewhat suspicious of bots/misinformation campaigns that occur online. We do know they occur.

That said, I believe we should still try to communicate on the various media platforms in the event that there is in fact a human behind the screen.

They are either lying or deeply overexposed to only one portion of the platform lol. While a lot of it has to do with US electoral stuff, that is far from the only context I have seen bot accusations thrown around. Seen it on some gaming-related communities, some vegan places for some reason? It might be fair to say the mindset stems from the anger of the political subs but that’s just a guess. (:

If I were Russia or China and I had the ability to influence US elections, I would try to stabilize the country. I'd want someone predictable who I can negotiate with and reasonably expect to have agreements last more than 4 years. This is what Putin said to Tucker, by the way, explaining why he'd prefer Biden over Trump, so that he can negotiate a lasting treaty. China, with all its economic ties to the US, would likely feel the same (though with all of Biden's jingoism and saber-rattling, I don't know that there's much difference from that perspective).

Geopolitics is not a zero-sum game, and the world is more complex than moustache-twirling cartoon villains. Destabilizing the US means the most militarized country in the world acting completely unpredictably and lashing out randomly to distract from problems at home.

Also, like, it's easy to make a bot but it's harder to make a bot that actually sounds like a human being and is able to make coherent arguments. Throwing around accusations based purely on a person's stance, even when the format isn't bot-like at all, is pure paranoia. It's just a way to categorically dismiss everything you disagree with without consideration.

Also also, what about the US intelligence community? Surely they'd have both means and motive to influence political discussions, moreso on both than foreign governments. Why aren't you concerned about that? Or what about the possibility of corporations hiring people to say stuff? Wouldn't it be way easier for entities that are based on America who could hire Americans directly?

It's really a nonsense belief that falls apart under scrutiny. But what it really is is a symbolic belief. It's obviously not true but by saying it you can performatively demonstrate your loyalty to the US government and hatred of the Other. There's no evidence for it and it's unfalsifiable.