Russian trolls blamed for spreading anti-vaccination propaganda

The same Russian social media trolls accused of meddling in the 2016 US election may be to blame for the deadly measles outbreak across Europe last year, according to a new report.

If true, that would be an impressive demonstration of “asymmetric warfare.” If you can actually talk the stupider/more gullible sections of your  opponents population to damage not only themselves but some other fraction of their nation, using nothing other than some online posts… why *wouldn’t* you? Never mind geopolitics, just consider human nature. We’ve seen cases where Mean Girls will use whisper campaigns and social media to bully another girl into killing herself. Not for political purposes, not for material gain, but just for the lulz. Some people just want to watch the world burn. And anyone who has ever met humans knows that “some people” is just another way of saying “most people.”

Heck, if the CIA had some paid trolls who figured out that they could convince some Chinese sailors to set off scuttling charges in Chinese boomers, you gotta assume that those paid trolls would be reeeeeeeeaaaaaaaallllly tempted to do that just for the hell of it. So if Russian trolls figured out that they can convince European dumbasses to willingly harm themselves and European economies, thus boosting Russian economic prospects… well, the strategy cost approximately nothing.

I would not be surprised to find that many of the problems in the west these days are intentionally created by very small groups with minimal funding. The return of superstition, such as anti-nukers, creationists, magickal thinking, socialism, astrology and whatnot, damages the ability of the US to progress scientifically and technically. And cranking out horoscopes and nuclear fear-mongering is cheap and easy. Are the Chinese behind it? The Russians? The dastardly Canadians? Who can say. Be ever vigilant.