美駐京大使館：人們想問卻又不敢問的有關「網絡巨魔」的事實真相

在俄羅斯聖彼得堡(St. Petersburg)一個很不起眼的大樓里，數以百計的工作人員在‌‌「網際網路研究機構‌‌」(Internet Research Agency)中不分晝夜地倒班，每班工作12小時。但與其名稱恰恰相反，這裡所從事的主要是造假而非研究――在這裡，他們秘密地設置了數以千計的偽造的推特(Twitter)、臉書(Facebook)以及其他社交媒體帳戶，以蠱惑公眾輿論來反對西方。

現在，這個網絡巨魔(trolls)的巢穴早已成為頭條新聞。一位記者繪製了它的推特自動程序(Twitter-bots)，而另一位則通過按照地理位置來研究谷歌的搜索字詞而發現了其他一些潛在的‌‌「工廠‌‌」。還有一位記者揭示了與該機構有關聯的網絡巨魔是如何編造複雜的網上騙局的，其中包括所謂化學品泄漏、伊波拉(Ebola)爆發以及在美國發生的謀殺案[]。最近，聖彼得堡的這家機構被一名前雇員起訴罰款一個盧布――她用這種象徵性的舉動來揭示這一惡行的存在。

據自由電台(Radio Liberty)，這一晝夜不停地運作的機構是通過一家由俄羅斯總統普京(Vladimir Putin)的‌‌「私人廚師‌‌」葉夫根尼·普利扎金(Evgeny Prigozhin)掌管的控股公司資助的。它的目的究竟是什麼？

在BuzzFeed於2014年6月所的一份泄露的件中，一位項目負責人寫：‌‌「主要的問題是，俄羅斯的支持者和反對者在國外網際網路社區中的比例分別約為20/80。‌‌」

一些網絡巨魔站了出來並講了真話。前職業巨魔馬拉特·布克哈德(Marat Burkhard)在出於個人意願離開網際網路研究機構後，將他的一些經歷告訴了自由電台[]。他描述說，如果有新聞記者出現的話，大樓裡面的窗簾就會拉上。員工們被禁止上街。

任何員工遲到一分鐘就會被罰款500盧布（大約合9美元）。布克哈德說：‌‌「你必須坐在那兒不停地敲鍵盤，永無盡頭。‌‌」

培養網絡巨魔

以下是布克哈德和其他一些前網絡巨魔所講述的一些情況：

布克哈德說，該機構中的有些成員是‌‌「狂熱分子‌‌」，但大多數人‌‌「都是一些只是想要賺錢的年輕人‌‌」。他說，‌‌「他們在政治上是如此無知以至於普京和歐巴馬……對他們來說都沒有什麼區別‌‌」。

他們所申的工作通常聽起來都是些正當職業，職稱包括社交媒體專員、網際網路操作員和撰稿人。

布克哈德說，‌‌「起初，他們會讓你寫一些比較中性的東西――像《素食主義：優點和缺點》之類‌‌」。然後，‌‌「為了加強政治內容，他們會派一個人來談談當天的主題，這樣至少會使員工對這個主題有一點背景方面的了解。但派來的人對主題的理解水平極低，所以一切看起來都很荒謬。‌‌」

他說，他們會用一些簡短的考試來考核員工的信念。‌‌「如果答錯幾題的話就必須重考‌‌」，而且那些一直考得不好的員工會被解僱。

伎倆：‌‌「惡人，圖片，連結‌‌」

據國廣播公司(BBC)，在一些社交媒體帳戶上，這些網絡巨魔經常扮作家庭主婦和‌‌「心懷不滿的美國公民‌‌」。但欺騙行為遠遠不止這些。布克哈德說，他的部門負責在俄羅斯社區論壇中對新聞發表評論，這個部門專事製造對話的錯覺。

他說：‌‌「我們的做法是分成三組，其中一個人充當‌‌『惡人』，他就是那個與論壇持不同意並批評當局的人，這樣做是為了給我們的工作增加一種真實感。另外兩個人加入進來與他展開爭論――‌‌『不，你是錯的；這裡所有的一切都是完全正確的。』其中一個會提供某些與此相關的圖片或圖像，而另外一個則會發布一個連結，在那裡可以找到支持他觀點的一些內容。你明白了嗎？這就是惡人，圖片，連結。‌‌」

這種伎倆是對人們施加影響的一種綜合策略的一部分。政策專家安德魯·威爾遜(Andrew Wilson)曾寫，克里姆林宮‌‌「習慣於各方通吃‌‌」。他說：‌‌「在俄羅斯，克里姆林宮試圖指揮政治棋盤上的所有棋子；黑白兩方都包括在內。而且它還對棋盤四邊強行管制，決定誰可以走棋，雖說借用了下棋這個比喻，但與真正的下棋規則相去甚遠。‌‌」

發送信息

柳德米拉·薩烏徹克(Lyudmila Savchuk)告訴法新社(Agence France Presse)，‌‌「普京了不起‌‌」、‌‌「烏克蘭人是法西斯分子‌‌」，還有‌‌「歐洲腐朽墮落‌‌」，這些都是她被授意在網際網路論壇上散布的信息[]。‌‌「我們的工作是寫親政府的內容，以美化政府政策和普京個人形象的方式來對所有事件進行解釋。‌‌」

薩烏徹克控告這一神秘機構並要求處以一盧布罰款，以便引起人們對這一惡行的注意。她對《每日電訊》(Telegraph)表示：‌‌「我希望讓它關閉‌‌」。[俄]她說：‌‌「這些人在使用宣傳機構摧毀客觀性，並使人們懷疑任何公民抗議的動機。最糟糕的是，他們假冒成我們――俄羅斯的公民――來這樣做。‌‌」雖然法庭以勝訴象徵性地判給了她一個盧布，但這個機構還在繼續運作。

帳戶多，定額高

布克哈德說，他大約每五分鐘必須至少寫一條200字以上的評論，即在每班12小時內寫出135條評論。每一個帖子都需要包括精確的關鍵字和標籤，以供搜尋引擎使用。

泄露的件還揭示出一些其他要求：網絡巨魔平均每個工作日要對新聞跟貼50次。每個博客寫手都要開6個臉書帳戶，每天至少發三個帖，並且至少在群內進行兩次新聞討論。在工作人員上班後第一個月月底，每個人都應該有500個訂戶，並且每天的每一個帖子都應該至少有5個跟帖。博客寫手在推特上要至少管理10個帳戶，並且要每天發推50條信息。

一支‌‌「網絡巨魔軍團‌‌」

布克哈德說，網際網路研究機構的部門――其中包括新聞、視頻、‌‌「打壓人心‌‌」(demotivators)以及社區論壇――之間從不來往，但講語的部門扮演著一個特殊的角色。那裡的人員‌‌「炮轟CNN和BBC的網站。他們有自己的目標――《紐約時》（New York Times）。‌‌」

BuzzFeed以及眾多媒體都已對這支百萬美金‌‌「網絡巨魔軍團‌‌」的設置進行了披露[]。網絡巨魔大軍的猖獗迫使許多俄羅斯紙以及俄羅斯局勢的外語媒體關閉了他們的評論版塊[]。

數位化戰場

在利用網絡巨魔大軍的攻勢扶植海外不同政的同時，俄羅斯卻在採取措施扼殺自己國家的網際網路自由。根據《紐約時》2014年的，克里姆林宮已經屏蔽了反對派領袖的一些網站。

普京於去年表達了他對網際網路的疑慮，他將其稱為一個‌‌「中央情局(CIA)的項目‌‌」，這一評論得到了《莫斯科時》(Moscow Times)的。（全球資訊網（World Wide Web）的發明者在路透社(Reuters)發表章糾正了他的說法。）

人權倡導人士帕維爾·契可夫(Pavel Chikov)對BuzzFeed表示：‌‌「網際網路已成為主要威脅――這不是一個由克里姆林宮控制的領域。這就是為什麼他們對此窮追不捨。‌‌」

Everything you wanted to know about trolls but were afraid to ask

Hundreds of people work12-hour shifts day and night at the Internet Research Agency，an unassuming building in St. Petersburg，Russia. But contrary to its name，more fabrication than research happens there—thousands of fake Twitter，Facebook and other social media accounts have been created in a once-secret attempt to sway public opinion against the West.

By now，this den of trolls has long been in the headlines. One journalist mapped its Twitter-bots，while another discovered other potential‌‌「factories‌‌」by studying Google search terms by geographic location. A third reporter showed how trolls linked to the agency created elaborate online hoaxes about supposed chemical spills，outbreaks of Ebola and murders in the United States. The St. Petersburg agency was recently sued by a former employee for one ruble—a symbolic move to highlight the operation‌『s existence.

The round-the-clock operation is financed through a holding company headed by President Vladimir Putin’s‌‌「personal chef，‌‌」Evgeny Prigozhin，reports Radio Liberty. What was the idea behind it？

‌‌「The main problem is that in the foreign Internet community，the ratio of supporters and opponents of Russia is about20/80 respectively，‌‌」one project leader writes in a leaked document reported in June2014 by BuzzFeed.

Some trolls have come forward to tell all. Former professional troll Marat Burkhard，who left Internet Research Agency of his own accord，told Radio Liberty about his experience. He described how the building‌『s curtains are drawn if a journalist shows up. Employees are forbidden from going out on the street.

Any employee who arrives a minute late faces a500 ruble fine(about US$9).‌‌「You just have to sit there and type and type，endlessly，‌‌」Burkhard said.

Grooming trolls

Here’s more of what Burkhard and other former trolls said：

Some of the agency‌『s trolls are‌‌「fanatics，‌‌」but most‌‌「are just young people who want to make money. They’re so politically illiterate that Putin，Obama…they don‌『t know the difference，‌‌」said Burkhard.

The jobs they apply for often sound innocent，with titles such as social media specialists，Internet operators and copywriters.

‌‌「First they make you write about something neutral—Vegetarianism：Pros and Cons，‌‌」Burkhard said. Later，‌‌「to plump up the political content，they send in a guy to talk about the topic of the day，so that at least the employees have a little background on the topic. But the guy himself has an extremely low level of understanding，so it all looks completely absurd.‌‌」

(©Shutterstock)

Short exams test employees』beliefs，he said.‌‌「Anyone who makes a couple of mistakes has to retake it，‌‌」and those who continue to underperform get fired.

Technique：‌‌『Villain，picture，link』

According to the BBC，in social media accounts，the trolls often pose as housewives and‌‌「disappointed U.S. citizens.‌‌」But the deception doesn‌『t stop there. Burkhard said his department，which commented on news in Russian community forums，specialized in creating the illusion of conversation.

‌‌「We did it by dividing into teams of three，‌‌」he said.‌‌「One of us would be the‌』villain，‌『the person who disagrees with the forum and criticizes the authorities，in order to bring a feeling of authenticity to what we’re doing. The other two enter into a debate with him—‌‌『No，you’re not right；everything here is totally correct.‌『One of them should provide some kind of graphic or image that fits in the context，and the other has to post a link to some content that supports his argument. You see？Villain，picture，link.‌‌」

This technique fits into a broader strategy of influencing people. The Kremlin‌‌「is used to playing all sides，‌‌」writes policy expert Andrew Wilson.‌‌「In Russia，the Kremlin sought to direct all the pieces on the political chess board；both sides—black and white. And，to undermine the metaphor of how chess is actually played，it also policed the edge of the board and determined who could actually play.‌‌」

Messaging

‌‌「Putin is great，‌‌」‌‌「Ukrainians are fascists，‌‌」and‌‌「Europe is decadent‌‌」were the main messages Lyudmila Savchuk told Agence France Presse that she was instructed to spread on Internet forums.‌‌「Our job was to write in a pro-government way，to interpret all events in a way that glorifies the government’s politics and Putin personally.‌‌」

Savchuk sued the secretive agency for one ruble to draw attention to its practices.‌‌「I want to get it closed down，‌‌」she told the Telegraph.‌‌「These people are using propaganda to destroy objectivity and make people doubt the motives of any civil protest. Worst of all，they‌『re doing it by pretending to be us，the citizens of Russia.‌‌」Though a court awarded her the symbolic ruble，the agency continues to operate.

Multiple accounts，big quotas

Burkhard said he had to write at least one comment of200 characters or more about every five minutes，or135 comments in a12-hour shift. Each post needed to include precise keywords and tags for search engines.

Leaked documents reveal other requirements：Trolls should post on news articles50 times in an average workday. Each blogger should maintain six Facebook accounts，publishing at least three posts a day and discussing the news in groups at least twice a day. By the end of the worker’s first month，he or she should have500 subscribers and get at least five posts on each item a day. On Twitter，the bloggers should manage10 accounts and tweet50 times a day.

A‌‌『troll army』

Among the Internet Research Agency‌『s departments—which include news，video，‌‌「demotivators‌‌」and community forums that Burkhard said never fraternize—the English-speaking division plays a special role. People there will‌‌「bombard the websites of CNN and the BBC. They have their own types of targets—the New York Times，‌‌」he said.

Efforts to create a million-dollar‌‌「troll army‌‌」have been revealed by BuzzFeed and the press at large. The torrent of trolls has caused many Russian newspapers and foreign-language outlets reporting on Russian events to close their comments sections.

Digital battlefield

While fostering dissent overseas through its onslaught of trolls，Russia is taking steps to stifle Internet freedom in its own country. In2014，the New York Times reported that the Kremlin has blocked the websites of opposition leaders.

Putin made his skepticism of the Internet known in2014 when he called it a‌‌「CIA project，‌‌」a comment the Moscow Times picked up on.(The inventor of the World Wide Web corrected him in a Reuters article.)

‌‌「The Internet has become the main threat—a sphere that isn’t controlled by the Kremlin，‌‌」human rights advocate Pavel Chikov told BuzzFeed.‌‌「That‌『s why they’re going after it.‌‌」