Steve Townsend ❌👑
@stevetownsend0.bsky.social
Brit in NYC, computer programming lifer.
#SlavaUkraini #StandWithIsrael
Zionist & Bonds Dogs ally, Bluesky fella not for-profit
@pef-moderation.org - subjective labeling of disinfo and hate speech
#SlavaUkraini #StandWithIsrael
Zionist & Bonds Dogs ally, Bluesky fella not for-profit
@pef-moderation.org - subjective labeling of disinfo and hate speech
Pinned
What if instead of trying to deplatform bad actors, #NAFO crowd-moderates them?
NAFO Forum fallacy bot plus shiba horde -> a Labeler for people who want to avoid X-ification
docs.bsky.app/docs/advance...
NAFO Forum fallacy bot plus shiba horde -> a Labeler for people who want to avoid X-ification
docs.bsky.app/docs/advance...
Reposted by Steve Townsend ❌👑
Three things about the Witkoff tapes:
1) It appears Western intelligence services have decided to let Witkoff (and Trump) know they have recordings of their traitorous conversations w/Russia.
2) This Ukraine "deal" was all Witkoff's idea.
3) Congressional leaders should demand he be fired.
1) It appears Western intelligence services have decided to let Witkoff (and Trump) know they have recordings of their traitorous conversations w/Russia.
2) This Ukraine "deal" was all Witkoff's idea.
3) Congressional leaders should demand he be fired.
EXCLUSIVE: US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff advised Russia on how to pitch Ukraine plans to Trump, in audio files reviewed by Bloomberg
Witkoff Advised Russia on How to Pitch Ukraine Plan to Trump
US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff, fresh from the triumph of the Gaza peace deal, held a phone call last month with a senior Kremlin official to suggest they work together on a similar plan for Ukraine — and that Vladimir Putin should raise it with Donald Trump.
bloom.bg
November 25, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Three things about the Witkoff tapes:
1) It appears Western intelligence services have decided to let Witkoff (and Trump) know they have recordings of their traitorous conversations w/Russia.
2) This Ukraine "deal" was all Witkoff's idea.
3) Congressional leaders should demand he be fired.
1) It appears Western intelligence services have decided to let Witkoff (and Trump) know they have recordings of their traitorous conversations w/Russia.
2) This Ukraine "deal" was all Witkoff's idea.
3) Congressional leaders should demand he be fired.
Reposted by Steve Townsend ❌👑
It would be conceptually simpler to think of DOGE as a real government agency with clearly known leadership, employees, legal structure, and mandate. But DOGE is nothing like that and never has been. So, "DOGE is over" headlines are inherently ambiguous to the point of being misleading.
I feel like this has always been the case since day 1, Musk dodged questions about it and gave different replies depending on convenience, any attempt at accountability has been met with “well I’m not responsible for that and I don’t know who is” ect
November 25, 2025 at 7:27 PM
It would be conceptually simpler to think of DOGE as a real government agency with clearly known leadership, employees, legal structure, and mandate. But DOGE is nothing like that and never has been. So, "DOGE is over" headlines are inherently ambiguous to the point of being misleading.
Reposted by Steve Townsend ❌👑
“Larry Ellison discussed axing CNN hosts with White House in takeover bid talks” 11/20/25 … 1/
Larry Ellison discussed axing CNN hosts with White House in takeover bid talks
Exclusive: Senior officials indicated favorability toward Paramount Skydance acquiring Warner Bros Discovery
www.theguardian.com
November 25, 2025 at 6:09 PM
“Larry Ellison discussed axing CNN hosts with White House in takeover bid talks” 11/20/25 … 1/
Reposted by Steve Townsend ❌👑
Ukraine relations get even more chaotic. Two factions - Kushner/Witkoff and Vance/Driscoll - are both freelancing to set US policy: cutting out the State Dept, pushing Ukraine to surrender, then leaking to press to claim they are official. Why? Putin is desperate and has called in his assets. A 🧵 1/
November 25, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Ukraine relations get even more chaotic. Two factions - Kushner/Witkoff and Vance/Driscoll - are both freelancing to set US policy: cutting out the State Dept, pushing Ukraine to surrender, then leaking to press to claim they are official. Why? Putin is desperate and has called in his assets. A 🧵 1/
Reposted by Steve Townsend ❌👑
It didn’t take long for Pavel Durov to go from a mysterious, semi-exiled Russian ’tech genius’ to a Russian anti-West disinformation and conspiracy-theory spreader
November 25, 2025 at 6:18 PM
It didn’t take long for Pavel Durov to go from a mysterious, semi-exiled Russian ’tech genius’ to a Russian anti-West disinformation and conspiracy-theory spreader
Reposted by Steve Townsend ❌👑
If one of the Muslim countries that have a travel-based economy bans an extremist or terrorist group, we need to be looking at that seriously.
It’s not because they’re Islamophobic; we have to be able to talk about this stuff.
It’s not because they’re Islamophobic; we have to be able to talk about this stuff.
November 25, 2025 at 3:44 PM
If one of the Muslim countries that have a travel-based economy bans an extremist or terrorist group, we need to be looking at that seriously.
It’s not because they’re Islamophobic; we have to be able to talk about this stuff.
It’s not because they’re Islamophobic; we have to be able to talk about this stuff.
Reposted by Steve Townsend ❌👑
"Abandon Ukraine to save our powder for China" was always either for cynics or useful idiots.
America’s Heel Turn
Whose side are we on?
lnk.thebulwark.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:30 AM
"Abandon Ukraine to save our powder for China" was always either for cynics or useful idiots.
Reposted by Steve Townsend ❌👑
Reposted by Steve Townsend ❌👑
The "DOGE is gone" articles are clickbait but this one gets it closer to the truth: DOGE is not gone, it just claims to have "no centralized leadership" anymore -- in other words, its leadership is hiding in an attempt to avoid blame.
DOGE no longer has ‘centralized leadership’ under White House tech team, personnel head says
The team that was altered to house DOGE — formerly the U.S. Digital Service — is also still doing its own technology work across agencies.
www.nextgov.com
November 25, 2025 at 3:09 AM
The "DOGE is gone" articles are clickbait but this one gets it closer to the truth: DOGE is not gone, it just claims to have "no centralized leadership" anymore -- in other words, its leadership is hiding in an attempt to avoid blame.
Reposted by Steve Townsend ❌👑
Pro-MAGA X accounts operating secretly from abroad spread 31 significant false claims about U.S. politics, ranging from supposed corruption by Democrats to a phony Ukrainian assassination plot, a NewsGuard review has found.
November 24, 2025 at 11:10 PM
Pro-MAGA X accounts operating secretly from abroad spread 31 significant false claims about U.S. politics, ranging from supposed corruption by Democrats to a phony Ukrainian assassination plot, a NewsGuard review has found.
Reposted by Steve Townsend ❌👑
A new feature on X showed that lots of hugely popular MAGA accounts were secretly based overseas. Donald Trump keeps sharing their posts anyway. from @davidgilbert.bsky.social
Trump Is Boosting MAGA X Accounts Operating Overseas
A new feature on X revealed that many influential MAGA accounts are not actually based in the US. President Donald Trump has continued sharing their posts anyway.
www.wired.com
November 24, 2025 at 9:02 PM
A new feature on X showed that lots of hugely popular MAGA accounts were secretly based overseas. Donald Trump keeps sharing their posts anyway. from @davidgilbert.bsky.social
Reposted by Steve Townsend ❌👑
"Homophobia-teasing Democrats would do well to consider that when it comes to setting up a bigger political tent, humiliation is not as effective as persuasion."
Why Are Democrats Teasing Homophobia in New Attacks on MAGA?
The strategy demeans an important constituency of the party without providing an obvious political gain.
lnk.thebulwark.com
November 24, 2025 at 8:30 PM
"Homophobia-teasing Democrats would do well to consider that when it comes to setting up a bigger political tent, humiliation is not as effective as persuasion."
Reposted by Steve Townsend ❌👑
We are in a bizarre moment of diplomatic history. The purported "peace plan" that appeared a few days ago begins in Russian unreality and American weakness. Demanding everything of Ukraine and nothing of Russia, its purpose is imperialism and profiteering.
snyder.substack.com/p/russian-un...
snyder.substack.com/p/russian-un...
Russian Unreality and American Weakness
Notes from a bizarre moment of diplomatic history
snyder.substack.com
November 24, 2025 at 5:41 PM
We are in a bizarre moment of diplomatic history. The purported "peace plan" that appeared a few days ago begins in Russian unreality and American weakness. Demanding everything of Ukraine and nothing of Russia, its purpose is imperialism and profiteering.
snyder.substack.com/p/russian-un...
snyder.substack.com/p/russian-un...
Reposted by Steve Townsend ❌👑
This is a hugely important story. I wrote about its consequences already in "Road to Unfreedom" and we know much more now. If we want to be a democracy we have to create structures of factuality rather than selling our future to the loudest yeller in another country.
Although the scale of this is still to be assessed, this is the inevitable outcome of the monetization of the algorithm. Rage-bait becomes a personal revenue model. Nothing about this should be a surprise.
NEWS: I spent the past 24 hours going through major MAGA accounts on Twitter, and a bombshell development has become clear: most of the right-wing ecosphere is being fed propaganda from foreign actors.
This impacts elections. This impacts discourse. This is major. Subscribe to support my work:
This impacts elections. This impacts discourse. This is major. Subscribe to support my work:
November 24, 2025 at 5:43 PM
This is a hugely important story. I wrote about its consequences already in "Road to Unfreedom" and we know much more now. If we want to be a democracy we have to create structures of factuality rather than selling our future to the loudest yeller in another country.
Reposted by Steve Townsend ❌👑
Wait so where did you say these patriotic american maga accounts are from again?
November 24, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Wait so where did you say these patriotic american maga accounts are from again?
Reposted by Steve Townsend ❌👑
Reposted by Steve Townsend ❌👑
Most know Kirill Dmitriev as the Russian president’s envoy. But to more than 200 investors in Ukraine, he is known for taking part in a Kyiv real estate project that ended in a fraud and criminal case. Using articles from 2011, I was able to find more details. 🧵Thread:
November 24, 2025 at 10:21 AM
Most know Kirill Dmitriev as the Russian president’s envoy. But to more than 200 investors in Ukraine, he is known for taking part in a Kyiv real estate project that ended in a fraud and criminal case. Using articles from 2011, I was able to find more details. 🧵Thread:
Reposted by Steve Townsend ❌👑
On the other hand, it is a win for white nationalists when @nytimes.com cravenly launders white nationalist tropes and injects them into the broader discourse in easily digestible form
What a strange framing and characterization. How does one describe his blatantly dishonest, racist question about taxes as “press[ing] the Mayor-elect on his policy proposals”? In what way does this lying troll emerge as a “winner“?
November 24, 2025 at 12:57 PM
On the other hand, it is a win for white nationalists when @nytimes.com cravenly launders white nationalist tropes and injects them into the broader discourse in easily digestible form
Reposted by Steve Townsend ❌👑
This is one of the big accounts boosting Tommy Robinson, Farage and Reform and ‘English Patriots’.
It’s Russian.
It’s Russian.
November 24, 2025 at 9:29 AM
This is one of the big accounts boosting Tommy Robinson, Farage and Reform and ‘English Patriots’.
It’s Russian.
It’s Russian.
Reposted by Steve Townsend ❌👑
🔴Nigel Farage’s ‘Project 2029’: The Pro-Trump Lobbyist Pushing His Agenda Into the UK
A Trump-aligned anti-abortion lobbyist who hosted Nigel Farage’s meeting with a 6 January rioter in Florida has been funding and advising him while pushing Project 2025’s hard-right agenda into Britain
A Trump-aligned anti-abortion lobbyist who hosted Nigel Farage’s meeting with a 6 January rioter in Florida has been funding and advising him while pushing Project 2025’s hard-right agenda into Britain
Nigel Farage's 'Project 2029': The Pro-Trump Lobbyist Pushing His Agenda Into the UK
A Trump-aligned anti-abortion lobbyist who hosted Nigel Farage's meeting with a 6 January rioter in Florida has been funding and advising the Reform leader while pushing Project 2025’s hard-right agen...
bylinetimes.com
November 24, 2025 at 11:29 AM
🔴Nigel Farage’s ‘Project 2029’: The Pro-Trump Lobbyist Pushing His Agenda Into the UK
A Trump-aligned anti-abortion lobbyist who hosted Nigel Farage’s meeting with a 6 January rioter in Florida has been funding and advising him while pushing Project 2025’s hard-right agenda into Britain
A Trump-aligned anti-abortion lobbyist who hosted Nigel Farage’s meeting with a 6 January rioter in Florida has been funding and advising him while pushing Project 2025’s hard-right agenda into Britain
Reposted by Steve Townsend ❌👑
A U.S. government cable said that Kremlin-run outlets had scaled up their efforts across Latin America, seeking to turn people against the United States and garner support for Russia. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/w... @nytimes.com
Russian Disinformation Comes to Mexico, Seeking to Rupture U.S. Ties
www.nytimes.com
November 24, 2025 at 12:05 PM
A U.S. government cable said that Kremlin-run outlets had scaled up their efforts across Latin America, seeking to turn people against the United States and garner support for Russia. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/w... @nytimes.com
Reposted by Steve Townsend ❌👑
28 ПУНКТІВ КАПІТУЛЯЦІЇ / 28 Points of Ukraine’s Capitulation (animation)
28 Points of Ukraine’s Capitulation (animation)
YouTube video by Freeonis [ENG SUB]
youtu.be
November 23, 2025 at 1:16 PM
28 ПУНКТІВ КАПІТУЛЯЦІЇ / 28 Points of Ukraine’s Capitulation (animation)
Reposted by Steve Townsend ❌👑
Pro-Brexit are Americans, Scottish leavers are Iranians, Alberta Independence comes from russia. If we can settle it out, maybe it turns out most countries are way better than expected?
So many of the pro-Farage and pro-Brexit accounts turn out to be Americans pretending to be British.
November 23, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Pro-Brexit are Americans, Scottish leavers are Iranians, Alberta Independence comes from russia. If we can settle it out, maybe it turns out most countries are way better than expected?
Reposted by Steve Townsend ❌👑
The long-simmering MAGA Civil War has been heating up. The tensions between the different factions are not new. But they were integrated via escalation and through Trump. As the revolutionary zeal tires out, however, and the frustrations are mounting, this doesn’t seem to be working anymore.
Into the Twilight of the Trump Era
What becomes of MAGA as Trump’s hold over the movement is weakening, his ability to integrate its different factions is waning?
A deep dive into the state of the fever swamp.
New piece:
What becomes of MAGA as Trump’s hold over the movement is weakening, his ability to integrate its different factions is waning?
A deep dive into the state of the fever swamp.
New piece:
Into the Twilight of the Trump Era
What becomes of MAGA as Trump’s hold over the movement is weakening, his ability to integrate its different factions waning? A deep dive into the state of the fever swamp
steady.page
November 23, 2025 at 6:19 PM
The long-simmering MAGA Civil War has been heating up. The tensions between the different factions are not new. But they were integrated via escalation and through Trump. As the revolutionary zeal tires out, however, and the frustrations are mounting, this doesn’t seem to be working anymore.
Reposted by Steve Townsend ❌👑
The reason this is happening is a combination of 1) incentives and 2) supply meeting demand.
There is no more consistent result in studies of monetized propaganda than that the MAGA right is a particularly receptive niche.
There is no more consistent result in studies of monetized propaganda than that the MAGA right is a particularly receptive niche.
I see a lot of Paidchecks on X didn’t realize that a whole lot of people on social media lie about their location to grift off the naïveté of the rage-addled American right.
Turns out this problem is real and it’s a thing those of us who worked on “disinformation” pointed out.
Turns out this problem is real and it’s a thing those of us who worked on “disinformation” pointed out.
November 23, 2025 at 5:23 PM
The reason this is happening is a combination of 1) incentives and 2) supply meeting demand.
There is no more consistent result in studies of monetized propaganda than that the MAGA right is a particularly receptive niche.
There is no more consistent result in studies of monetized propaganda than that the MAGA right is a particularly receptive niche.