Microsoft on Wednesday revealed that a group of Chinese controlled social media bots are attempting to influence the United States elections by targeting Republican lawmakers.
The bots were discovered during a study from Microsoft, and comes as the United States intelligence community warns of increased interference from Russia, China and Iran surrounding U.S. elections. The IC said Iran is trying to stoke discord and undermine confidence in the electoral process, and that China and Russia are trying to “exacerbate” division.
The bots are operated by the Chinese group Taizi Flood, which has been associated in the past with China’s Ministry of Public Security. They have targeted Alabama Rep. Barry Moore, Texas Rep. Michael McCaul, Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, all Republicans, Reuters reported.
The fake accounts have all “parroted antisemitic messages, amplified accusations of corruption and promoted opposition candidates,” according to Microsoft. All of the lawmakers were targeted because they had all denounced Chinese government policies in the past.
Moore was targeted because of his support for Israel. The messages attacking him used antisemitic language. McCaul was accused of engaging in insider trading, Blackburn was accused of taking money from pharmaceutical companies, and Rubio was allegedly part of a financial corruption scheme. […]
— Read More: justthenews.com
Independent Journalism Is Dying
Ever since President Trump’s miraculous victory, we’ve heard an incessant drumbeat about how legacy media is dying. This is true. The people have awakened to the reality that they’re being lied to by the self-proclaimed “Arbiters of Truth” for the sake of political expediency, corporate self-protection, and globalist ambitions.
But even as independent journalism rises to fill the void left by legacy media, there is still a huge challenge. Those at the top of independent media like Joe Rogan, Dan Bongino, and Tucker Carlson are thriving and rightly so. They have earned their audience and the financial rewards that come from it. They’ve taken risks and worked hard to get to where they are.
For “the rest of us,” legacy media and their proxies are making it exceptionally difficult to survive, let alone thrive. They still have a stranglehold over the “fact checkers” who have a dramatic impact on readership and viewership. YouTube, Facebook, and Google still stifle us. The freer speech platforms like Rumble and 𝕏 can only reward so many of their popular content creators. For independent journalists on the outside looking in, our only recourse is to rely on affiliates and sponsors.
But even as it seems nearly impossible to make a living, there are blessings that should not be disregarded. By highlighting strong sponsors who share our America First worldview, we have been able to make lifelong connections and even a bit of revenue to help us along. This is why we enjoy symbiotic relationships with companies like MyPillow, Jase Medical, and Promised Grounds. We help them with our recommendations and they reward us with money when our audience buys from them.
The same can be said about our preparedness sponsor, Prepper All-Naturals. Their long-term storage beef has a 25-year shelf life and is made with one ingredient: All-American Beef.
Even our faith-driven precious metals sponsor helps us tremendously while also helping Americans protect their life’s savings. We are blessed to work with them.
Independent media is the future. In many ways, that future is already here. While the phrase, “the more the merrier,” does not apply to this business because there are still some bad actors in the independent media field, there are many great ones that do not get nearly enough attention. We hope to change that one content creator at a time.
Thank you and God Bless,
JD Rucker
