Tumblr: Spring Cleaning When Winter is Here!
Supposedly, Tumblr went on a spring cleaning spree as news about Facebook’s involvement in the massive data leak was just trickling in. Over the weekend, it quietly emailed its users that they had zeroed down on 84 users that were IRA (Internet Research Agency) backed. There have been claims of it being in cahoots with those involved in the Russian Pro-Trump Propaganda Pages. What it means is they were the one who would create ‘Fake News’ and ‘Alternative Facts’ about the Democrats and spread them across various social media portals.
To think that the Russians studied American habits so well, that they could create content out of it, is astounding. To top it all, it also makes one wonder why, one of the biggest democratic countries election process could so easily be swayed with social media posts?
In its email, the Tumblr staff pointed out the steps it had undertaken to notify its users who may have seen and reblogged content from one of these accounts:
Emailing any users that liked, reblogged, replied to or followed any of the IRA-linked accounts. They maintained a public record of usernames linked to the IRA and other state-sponsored disinformation campaigns. They did not automatically delete reblog chains containing content from these accounts, explaining, “We’re letting you decide because the reblog chains contain posts created by real Tumblr users, often challenging or debunking the false and incendiary claims in the IRA-linked original post. Removing those authentic posts without your consent would encroach on your free speech—and there have been enough disruptions to our conversations as it is. ”
Included in the email from the Staff at Tumblr was a detailed list of the user names that were banned by them.
1-800-gloup 4mysquad previously known as: thomascestevez aaddictedtoblackk previously known as: kathyzunigaoverhere, soaddictedtoblackk artautumn awesomelizzyjenningsthings bastardpigeon previously known as: pigeonbastard belindadoingitgood bellaxiao previously known as: blogmadworldlove bellygangstaboo best-usa-today bestofninegag previously known as: apolicethepolicethings black-to-the-bones blackness-by-your-side previously known as: black-galaxy-magic, fullyfurrymiracle, u4guy, ufo-pilot-and-his-sexy-spouse blacknproud previously known as: in-the-mirror-world, indiebirdsblog, no-place-for-homophobia blacktolive bleepthepolice cartnsncreal previously known as: feelmydragonballs chantelreneeblm coldfirefan coolmagnificentbets cybercollectionnerdstuff delroyheater previously known as: delroyheater32, mastercucumber, scrumptiousluminarytimemachine, sexinstructor666, sexintructor destinyrush previously known as: delightfullyghostlysong down-to-venus previously known as: teenageflowerluminary eugeny-a-antonov everydaycutenesstherapy fedupwithlying previously known as: badgyalforyou funkycodex previously known as: craftykryptonitedelusion gentlexnoise previously known as: slakerglitch, superblydopepatrol getaninspiration gogomrbrown previously known as: go-mrbrown, infectedv0ice, todd-la-death gottimechillinaround previously known as: howardhenderson guns4l1fe previously known as: 4lifeme, guns4lifeme, unabashedpolicerunaway honestlyyoungpersona honeyjenna hustleinatrap previously known as: thenaturecanpost, tumblercube ineverstopexploringblog previously known as: charlenefletcher info-mix previously known as: americanstatistics, crazypolitician, girlsagainst, illegalmom, just-stat, rochelbarr itwontbeeasyme jamesjdelvecchio jenningsmiracle joycherryblossom previously known as: joyfullyhappycherryblossom justmarilynadventure previously known as: justmarylinthings kingbeardplayer previously known as: kirksgossplayer, placeofminimalthings kirstenbrownstories lagonegirl lamcbride loveboholiveboho massivelydopepolice massmedear previously known as: massblog021 melanin-diary previously known as: blackjourney2justice, dontshootus, jusslittlestoner missberrianstuff mooseblogtimes morningwoodz previously known as: 5cubes, bangbangempire, empireofweird, gifemprireohh, innerpicsempire, picsempire nadiquitegoodatit previously known as: runlovernad nevaehtyler previously known as: laserenita noteverythingiswhite previously known as: ashleyfsilver poligraphme previously known as: poligraphmy postingwhileblack previously known as: ghettablasta, heygeraldmartinjohanssen, honestinjun, nativewolveshere rebellloudwiththecrowd previously known as: massivelystrangetyrant ricordio rikki-ri sassydreamlandcloud scentedballoonpanda sergpolozov shoutoutworldwide previously known as: blackprideworldwide, krispymentalitycowboy shyshannonstuff skullofjustice previously known as: naughtykermit, ryanbutlersstuff, usnationaldebt skwad55 somestuff4ya previously known as: somestufffoya, unitedposters starling-all-black-all-day stopropaganda sumchckn previously known as: blondeinpolitics, blvckcommunity, classylgbthomie, hwuudoin, politixblondie summerinsomniac superblygun swagintherain previously known as: blacklivesmatterusa, carzwithgirlz the-real-eye-to-see thetrippytrip previously known as: matrixpath, themostpost thingstolovefor previously known as: the-inner-mirror this-truly-brutal-world previously known as: awesomewhitepearl, free-mind-and-soul voteforwest2020 previously known as: mrbadasscat weproudto2black wevanessastewartstuff yanbig
Tumblr also went on to quote, “Democracy requires transparency and an informed electorate, and we take our responsibilities very seriously. We aggressively monitor Tumblr for signs of state-sponsored disinformation campaigns, and take the appropriate action when we uncover anything.”
Too Little Too Late?
We may be convinced into acknowledging the amazing work that Tumblr has accomplished by banning these pages, but, the skeptic in us, takes this discovery with a pinch of salt.
Basically, while this seems like just a tip of the iceberg, there are many ‘White Supremacy’ and ‘Fake News’ pages that have US origins that are still allowed to operate on Tumblr.
So next time think twice before you share a post on any social media application, least it be a Russian Propaganda page that spews ‘Fake News’ and ‘Alt Facts’.
