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: TA15

Incident	Descriptions given for this incident

Counters	Response types
C00009 Educate high profile influencers on best practices	D02
C00046 Marginalise and discredit extremist groups	D04
C00048 Name and Shame Influencers	D07
C00051 Counter social engineering training	D02
C00111 Reduce polarisation by connecting and presenting sympathetic renditions of opposite views	D04
C00130 Mentorship: elders, youth, credit. Learn vicariously.	D07
C00162 Unravel/target the Potemkin villages	D03
C00169 develop a creative content hub	D03
C00195 Redirect searches away from disinformation or extremist content	D02
C00200 Respected figure (influencer) disavows misinfo	D03
C00203 Stop offering press credentials to propaganda outlets	D03

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