新闻周刊:俄罗斯对美国的冷战战略(4)

When Starbird and her team went back into their data from 2016, they found that IRA internet trolls had set up parallel operations that worked in close concert, allowing them to play both sides of the fence. They adopted the personas of online activists¹, infiltrating² communities, and mimicking³ the sentiments of other participants, and then, when the opportunity struck, acting⁴ as influencers, subtly and not so subtly shaping the conversations. Some adopted relatively⁵ mild personas, sticking with the pack, building a trusted brand. Others were bomb throwers, adopting caricatures of US political identities and fanning the flames of dissent⁶. "They targeted both Black Lives Matter conversations on the left, and then online conservative activism on the right," she says.

当斯塔伯德和她的团队回顾2016年的数据时，他们发现俄罗斯互联网研究机构的网络喷子们已经建立了并行的操作，并且紧密合作，使其能够两面兼顾。他们采用在线活动人士的角色，渗透到社区中，模仿其他参与者的情绪，然后，当机会来临时，扮演有影响力的人，巧妙而又不漏痕迹地塑造对话。一些人选择了相对温和的角色，坚持包装，打造一个值得信赖的品牌。其他人则是投掷炸弹者，他们的漫画模仿美国政治身份，煽动异见。她说:“其目标是左翼的“黑人的生命也很重要”对话，以及右翼的在线保守主义活动。”

"So on the left and in the pro⁷ Black Lives Matter group, you could have accounts like 'bleep the police' who are calling police pigs and advocating for violence against police, and some of the IRA trolls are saying some of the worst things in that kind of vein," Starbird says. "And then on the right they are using racial epithets⁸ and saying some of the nastier things. In some cases, you have their troll on one side arguing with their troll on the other side just to say nasty things to each other."

“所以左翼和‘黑人的生命也很重要’支持者，你可以有像‘XX警察’这样的账号, 这个账号把警察叫做猪，提倡对警察使用暴力，而俄罗斯互联网研究机构的一些喷子用这种方式说了一些最糟糕的话，”斯塔伯德说道。而右翼使用种族主义的绰号，说一些更难听的话。在某些情况下，两边的喷子争吵，只是为了互相说些难听的话。”

In 2016, Russian online personas would put in a good word for Trump⁹ on the right and denigrate¹⁰ and try to get people not to vote for Hillary on the left. In 2020, Starbird expects these same trolls to ramp¹¹ up their efforts to "divide the left." With a crowded field of candidates vying¹² for attention, trolls may adopt personas aligned¹³ with specific candidates, infiltrate¹⁴ discussions and then, whenever possible, use their positions to attack other Democratic candidates (likely supported by other personas created by the trolls in the cubicles¹⁵ next to them) and depress the eventual¹⁶ vote.

2016年，俄罗斯的网络人物会为右翼的特朗普说好话，诋毁他，并试图让左翼的人们不要投票给希拉里。在2020年，斯塔伯德预计同样的喷子会加大“分裂左派”的努力。由于候选人竞争激烈，喷子们可能会选择与特定候选人一致的角色，渗透到讨论中，然后，只要有可能，利用立场攻击其他民主党候选人(可能是由他们旁边隔间里喷子创造的其他人物支持)，并压制最终的投票。

"You'll see them mimicking regularly the "resist" and other sorts of Democratic personas, and start denigrating¹⁷ the other candidates," she says. "And especially once the Democrats¹⁸ choose a candidate, they'll denigrate the chosen candidate, and say, 'Oh this person doesn't represent us. We can't vote for them. Therefore, I'm not going to vote'."

她说:“你会看到他们经常模仿‘抵抗’和其他民主党人的角色，并开始诋毁其他候选人。”她说。“尤其是一旦民主党人选择了一位候选人，他们就会诋毁这位候选人，说，‘哦，这个人不代表我们。我们不能给他们投票。因此，我不会投票。’”

1 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 infiltrating   

v.（使）渗透，（指思想）渗入人的心中( infiltrate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Be vigilant against the danger of enemy agents infiltrating the government and boring from within. 要警惕敌特渗入政府内部进行暗中破坏。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The metastatic melanoma is seen here to be infiltrating into the myocardium. 图示转移性黑色素瘤浸润到心肌。 来自互联网

3 mimicking   

v.（尤指为了逗乐而）模仿( mimic的现在分词 )；酷似

参考例句：

• She's always mimicking the teachers. 她总喜欢模仿老师的言谈举止。
• The boy made us all laugh by mimicking the teacher's voice. 这男孩模仿老师的声音，逗得我们大家都笑了。 来自辞典例句

4 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

5 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

6 dissent   

n./v.不同意，持异议

参考例句：

• It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
• He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。

7 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？

8 epithets   

n.（表示性质、特征等的）词语( epithet的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He insulted me, using rude epithets. 他用粗话诅咒我。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He cursed me, using a lot of rude epithets. 他用上许多粗鲁的修饰词来诅咒我。 来自辞典例句

9 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

10 denigrate   

v.诬蔑，诽谤

参考例句：

• It was unkind to denigrate her achievement.贬低她的成就是刻薄的。
• To assert this is to denigrate the effectiveness of the police.坚持这一点就是贬低警方的办事能力。

11 ramp   

n.暴怒，斜坡，坡道；vi.作恐吓姿势，暴怒，加速；vt.加速

参考例句：

• That driver drove the car up the ramp.那司机将车开上了斜坡。
• The factory don't have that capacity to ramp up.这家工厂没有能力加速生产。

12 vying   

adj.竞争的；比赛的

参考例句：

• California is vying with other states to capture a piece of the growing communications market.为了在日渐扩大的通讯市场分得一杯羹，加利福尼亚正在和其他州展开竞争。
• Four rescue plans are vying to save the zoo.4个拯救动物园的方案正争得不可开交。

13 aligned   

adj.对齐的，均衡的

参考例句：

• Make sure the shelf is aligned with the top of the cupboard.务必使搁架与橱柜顶端对齐。

14 infiltrate   

vt./vi.渗入，透过；浸润

参考例句：

• The teacher tried to infiltrate her ideas into the children's minds.老师设法把她的思想渗透到孩子们的心中。
• It can infiltrate as much as 100 kilometers into enemy territory at night.可以在夜间深入敌领土100千米。

15 cubicles   

n.小卧室，斗室( cubicle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Security guards, operating inside bullet-proof glass cubicles, and speaking through microphones, scrutinized every arrival and departure. 警卫们在装有防弹玻璃的小室里值勤，通过麦克风细致盘问每一个进出的人。 来自辞典例句
• I guess they thought me content to stay in cubicles. 我猜他们认为我愿意呆在小房间里。 来自互联网

16 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

17 denigrating   

v.诋毁，诽谤( denigrate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• They bristled at his denigrating description of their activities. 听到他在污蔑他们的活动，他们都怒发冲冠。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The KGB pigeonholed his report and reprimanded him for denigrating a brother officer. 克格勃把他的调查报告扔在一边，不闻不问，反而说他往同志脸上抹黑。 来自辞典例句

18 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》