Desinformación rusa y otras cosas que no son para tanto

He empezado a leerme Network Propaganda, un estudio académico en formato libro que estudia las técnicas de desinformación y propaganda que rodearon las elecciones de 2016 en Estados Unidos.

Aún estoy en el capítulo introductorio, pero leo estas cosas y me dan ganas de coger a los autores y darles un abrazo:

Chapter 8 addresses Russian propaganda more generally. We describe the existing sources of evidence that overwhelmingly support the proposition that Russia mounted sustained and significant information operations in the United States. We do not raise doubts as to the fact that the efforts occurred and continue. We do, however outline a series of questions about how important the Russian interference really was. Repeatedly, when we assess the concrete allegations made, we suggest reasons to think that these were likely of marginal significance, and mostly jumped on a bandwagon already hurtling down whatever path it was taking rather than giving that bandwagon the shove that got it going. Understanding not only that Russian propaganda efforts happened, but also how effective they were is, we think, critical to putting those efforts in context. Critically, if the biggest win for Russian information operations is to disorient American political communications, in the way we define the term here, then overstating the impact of those efforts actually helps consolidate their success.

[...] Chapter 9 looks at the three major Facebook-based culprits—fake news entrepreneurs, behavioral manipulation by Cambridge Analytica, and plain old Facebook microtargeted advertising. We review the work of others, and complement it to some extent with our own data, to explain why we are skeptical of the importance of clickbait fabricators or Cambridge Analytica.

Esto es algo que he dicho yo ya otras veces: que echarle la culpa de todo (o de casi todo) a los rusos, a Cambridge Analytica o al malo de turno no es más que vender una historia: tenemos un sistema de puta madre, y que cualquier intento más o menos radical¹ por cambiarlo que tenga éxito necesita el apoyo de actores externos. Nadie votaría por el Brexit / Trump racionalmente. Así que ha tenido que ser Natasha posteando en Facebook.