# Technique T0010: Cultivate ignorant agents

* **Summary**: Cultivate propagandists for a cause, the goals of which are not fully comprehended, and who are used cynically by the leaders of the cause. Independent actors use social media and specialised web sites to strategically reinforce and spread messages compatible with their own. Their networks are infiltrated and used by state media disinformation organisations to amplify the state’s own disinformation strategies against target populations. Many are traffickers in conspiracy theories or hoaxes, unified by a suspicion of Western governments and mainstream media. Their narratives, which appeal to leftists hostile to globalism and military intervention and nationalists against immigration, are frequently infiltrated and shaped by state-controlled trolls and altered news items from agencies such as RT and Sputnik. Also know as "useful idiots" or "unwitting agents".

* **Belongs to tactic stage**: TA04


| Incident | Descriptions given for this incident |
| -------- | -------------------- |
| [I00005 Brexit vote](../generated_pages/incidents/I00005.md) | cultivate, manipulate, exploit useful idiots |
| [I00007 Incirlik terrorists](../generated_pages/incidents/I00007.md) | cultivate, manipulate, exploit useful idiots (in the case Paul Manafort) |
| [I00010 ParklandTeens](../generated_pages/incidents/I00010.md) | cultivate, manipulate, exploit useful idiots (Alex Jones... drives conspiracy theories; false flags, crisis actors) |
| [I00017 US presidential elections](../generated_pages/incidents/I00017.md) | cultivate, manipulate, exploit useful idiots |
| [I00029 MH17 investigation](../generated_pages/incidents/I00029.md) | cultivate, manipulate, exploit useful idiots |
| [I00032 Kavanaugh](../generated_pages/incidents/I00032.md) | cultivate, manipulate, exploit useful idiots (Alex Jones... drives conspiracy theories) |
| [I00044 JadeHelm exercise](../generated_pages/incidents/I00044.md) | cultivate, manipulate, exploit useful idiots (Alex Jones... drives conspiracy theories) |
| [I00049 White Helmets: Chemical Weapons](../generated_pages/incidents/I00049.md) | cultivate, manipulate, exploit useful idiots (Roger Waters; Venessa Beeley...) |
| [I00050 #HandsOffVenezuela](../generated_pages/incidents/I00050.md) | cultivate, manipulate, exploit useful idiots (Roger Waters) |
| [I00051 Integrity Initiative](../generated_pages/incidents/I00051.md) | cultivate, manipulate, exploit useful idiots |
| [I00063 Olympic Doping Scandal](../generated_pages/incidents/I00063.md) | cultivate, manipulate, exploit useful idiots  |



| Counters | Response types |
| -------- | -------------- |
| [C00009 Educate high profile influencers on best practices](../generated_pages/counters/C00009.md) | D02 |
| [C00036 Infiltrate the in-group to discredit leaders (divide)](../generated_pages/counters/C00036.md) | D02 |
| [C00046 Marginalise and discredit extremist groups](../generated_pages/counters/C00046.md) | D04 |
| [C00048 Name and Shame Influencers](../generated_pages/counters/C00048.md) | D07 |
| [C00051 Counter social engineering training](../generated_pages/counters/C00051.md) | D02 |
| [C00072 Remove non-relevant content from special interest groups - not recommended](../generated_pages/counters/C00072.md) | D02 |
| [C00073 Inoculate populations through media literacy training](../generated_pages/counters/C00073.md) | D02 |
| [C00092 Establish a truth teller reputation score for influencers](../generated_pages/counters/C00092.md) | D07 |
| [C00093 Influencer code of conduct](../generated_pages/counters/C00093.md) | D07 |
| [C00111 Reduce polarisation by connecting and presenting sympathetic renditions of opposite views](../generated_pages/counters/C00111.md) | D04 |
| [C00125 Prebunking](../generated_pages/counters/C00125.md) | D03 |
| [C00126 Social media amber alert](../generated_pages/counters/C00126.md) | D03 |
| [C00130 Mentorship: elders, youth, credit. Learn vicariously.](../generated_pages/counters/C00130.md) | D07 |
| [C00136 Microtarget most likely targets then send them countermessages](../generated_pages/counters/C00136.md) | D03 |
| [C00156 Better tell your country or organization story](../generated_pages/counters/C00156.md) | D03 |
| [C00160 find and train influencers](../generated_pages/counters/C00160.md) | D02 |
| [C00162 Unravel/target the Potemkin villages](../generated_pages/counters/C00162.md) | D03 |
| [C00169 develop a creative content hub](../generated_pages/counters/C00169.md) | D03 |
| [C00174 Create a healthier news environment](../generated_pages/counters/C00174.md) | D02 |
| [C00176 Improve Coordination amongst stakeholders: public and private](../generated_pages/counters/C00176.md) | D07 |
| [C00184 Media exposure](../generated_pages/counters/C00184.md) | D04 |
| [C00188 Newsroom/Journalist training to counter influence moves](../generated_pages/counters/C00188.md) | D03 |
| [C00190 open engagement with civil society](../generated_pages/counters/C00190.md) | D03 |
| [C00195 Redirect searches away from disinformation or extremist content ](../generated_pages/counters/C00195.md) | D02 |
| [C00200 Respected figure (influencer) disavows misinfo](../generated_pages/counters/C00200.md) | D03 |
| [C00203 Stop offering press credentials to propaganda outlets](../generated_pages/counters/C00203.md) | D03 |
| [C00212 build public resilience by making civil society more vibrant](../generated_pages/counters/C00212.md) | D03 |


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