This is a research study shows data they collected. Bots, shill tactics, etc. are already in play...Some of the bots are extremely advanced and use GPT-3 type linguistic interpretation
Conspiracy theories circulated online via social media contribute to a shift in public discourse away from facts and analysis and can contribute to direct public harm. Social media platforms face a difficult technical and policy challenge in trying to mitigate harm from online conspiracy theory language. As part of Google's Jigsaw unit's effort to confront emerging threats and incubate new technology to help create a safer world, RAND researchers conducted a modeling effort to improve machine-learning (ML) technology for detecting conspiracy theory language.
The smarter bots will disengage from the conversation before they go off into tangents or will try to disengage. The biggest issue with the rRAND study isn't the data they collected, but the people who made it- They scream about "innate bias" but are literally unable to see the world from the "other sides" point of view, and assume their "way" is the only logical one. It's a gross oversight, and not one they can fix- rightwing people would justifiably tell them go to fuck themselves.
I used quite a few RAND studies while in grad school; most studies done before 2012 were quite useful. After that, they went off the deep end quickly.
Here are some of their key points:
Engage transparently and empathetically with conspiracists.
Correct conspiracy-related false news.
Engage with moderate members of conspiracy groups.
Address fears and existential threats.
These are the new, official shill tactics for brainwashing us. They finally noticed that screaming insults and demanding that we shut up wasn't working, so instead, they will try the good cop approach.
They'll be nice to us, try to butter us up, concede smaller points, while gradually trying to get us to warm up to discredited institutions like Big Pharma and the media.
That's the key here - they want us to go back to seeing Big Pharma and other corrupt institutions as TRUSTWORTHY. They want to condition us to take their word at face value.
So the next time you see someone gently suggesting that you calm down and be more moderate, know that it's a paid shill.
/polcommenter