I don’t usually reblog twice in a row, but this article by Xena is too important not to share!
In spite of Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell warning Russia to “quit messing around in our elections,” Russians have not stopped. They continue their influence and propaganda. With social media such as Facebook and Twitter taking note and making changes, Russian propagandists have turned to Word Press blogs.
Earlier this year, I received notifications from Word Press for email followers. I didn’t pay much attention to the first one because there are people who follow this blog via email who do not have Word Press accounts to comment. When I received two more notifications on the same day, and they too had Outlook email addresses, I knew that was not usual. I checked a Word Press forum and found that others were experiencing the same and were concerned about it.
A thread in one Word Press forum began in January 2018. Also in January, a blogger named Ray wrote…
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Gosh, Kim! I don’t even know what to say other than I am even more disturbed! Thanks for sharing this.
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Does WP know this is happening ?????
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I believe so. At least some of it. My spam folder was inundated with those “What?” comments for about two weeks, but they finally stopped.
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I ignored then deleted those cpmments . My clue is , they don’t have WP accounts. ( just email addresses )
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Same here. I only approve comments that have WP accounts and are obviously bloggers.
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Yes, Word Press is aware and they fixed the situation with the Outlook email followers and the Gravatar accounts. Since the “What?” comments have not been seen for several weeks now, it seems that Word Press fixed that too. What they cannot fix are the blog infiltrators who have Word Press blogs and are commenting on some blogs that focus on politics.
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I really appreciate the warning Xena. While I’m primarily a book blogger, I do write political posts as well.
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Me too. I checked my e-mail followers on WP site and they had been deleted.
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Thanks for posting this. We really need to stay alert. I had some suspicious comment ‘likes’ last month and didn’t click on the gravatar figuring that’s what they wanted. I contacted WP and they were aware of the issue, so I disabled the comment like feature per their recommendation. I haven’t had the problem since so perhaps WP is thwarting their efforts. I haven’t had any suspicious email followers but now I will be on the watch for that as well!
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Thanks to Xena! I’ve had some suspicious comments, but didn’t know what was going on.
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That is totally crazy. I can remember those “what?” comments but I pretty much ignored them (like you I don’t approve comments that don’t look like bloggers either. It’s really scary that something like this happens though. Thanks for letting us know by reblogging this Kim (and of course thanks to Xena😊
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I knew there was something bizarre about those comments Michel, but I didn’t tie them to Russian hackers.
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No, it almost sounds like a movie. I don’t think anyone knew this, or even imagined it in their wildest dreams😊
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I knew there were problems on social media like Facebook, Twitter, and even Instagram, but WordPress?🤷🏻♀️
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No, I did not know that either. Maybe the Russians are also the cause of that weird comment bug that keeps going around (and yes it’s happening again today…ughh 😢😢).
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Grr. Thankfully I haven’t gotten any of those today.
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I have had it happen about 10 times again today, spread out over several different blogs. It really is starting to seriously annoy me. I can’t keep writing posts about what’s happening to my comments. I just contact akismet (again) and I’m hoping they can do something about it 😊
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I hope Akismet fixes this quickly.😞
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I have had hundreds of those Russian-based Outlook followers, as well as countless attempts to like comments, or add one-word answers. Few people are as cynical and suspicious as I am, but in all honesty, I actually believe them to be ‘sex’ sites.
In the original article, the writer talked about them engaging on posts, and leaving comments like ‘Murdered by the government’. I have never had that happen. I delete the followers, and any comments they try to add.
I don’t feel that I am being manipulated by Russian propaganda, but I am reminded of the old saying. “Just because I’m paranoid doesn’t mean they are not out to get me”. 🙂
To be frank, if I was an American at the moment, I would be much more concerned about ‘the enemy within’, than the Russians…
Best wishes, Pete.
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I remember the post you wrote not too long ago about all the spam you were getting Pete. I’ve had some suspicious ones, but the most prevalent were those “What?” comments. I had a ton of them for a couple of weeks.
I have to admit, I am concerned about Putin’s hacking and interference in the upcoming midterm elections. Especially as we have a president who’s basically extending an open invitation.
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I got the What’s? too, bonkers lot these Russkies.
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Right?!🤷🏻♀️
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Wow I remember a number number of those events. The world has gone bloody mad
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It’s insane!
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Thanks for the reblog. We Word Press bloggers have fantastic communities. If we see anything else that is suspicious, let’s blog about it.
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Thank you for writing about this Xena. And absolutely, we need to look out for each other.
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Thank you so much for reblogging this!
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You’re entirely welcome Charles. As I said to Xena, we have to look out for each other.
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My guess Kim is whoever is sending these messages is ‘fishing’ for email addresses, who knows? Will WordPress have to change in ways similar to Facebook? Perhaps, but the two platforms are intrinsically different, one is a place to be creative, the other who’s only function is to get ALL your personal details onto the web……. you know what people upload to FB……. names of friends, their accounts, what you do for a job, where you go on holiday and tons of personal photos and as for Twitter?
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I suspect you’re right Andrew. And as for Facebook, I’ve never thought it was a good idea to upload so much personal information.
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I had strange stuff going on with my WP blog consistent with what the article mentioned, including many e-mail follows and the “what?” comment. Never imagined it could be tied to all of this!!
Thanks for reblogging this informative post.
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Same here Laurie. 🤷🏻♀️
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Thanks for sharing this post, Kim!
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It was too important not to.
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At out of respect for those not raised in Irish/Military families, I will censor my comment: mother******* god***** no good, lying, pieces of smelly **** eaters! WHEN WILL PEOPLE REALIZE THAT EVERY CYBER ATTACK HAS BEEN AN ACT OF WAR?!??!?
Sons of low life scum sucking pissfaced bitches!
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I understand your fury Cass.
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I’m ready for a revolution Kim.
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Mama Cass,
Why don’t you tell us how you really feel? 🙂
I can relate.
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Let’s just say I am pissed off and outraged.
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Thank you for reblogging this post – I too was wondering what was going on….and why I kept getting these strange What comments.
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It’s totally bizarre.🙇🏻♀️
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It’s also interesting because I’m like – are they just blanketing everyone’s blog on wordpress?
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I know they’re targeting blogs that have political posts, but I believe they’re going after others as well.
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It’s funny how they judge political blogs too….I wonder if there’s a standard they use….
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🤷🏻♀️
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