Vatnik Soup is a Twitter-based series of threads of Russian disinformation actors that are compiled by Pekka Kallioniemi, a computer lecturer from Tampere University, Finland. [1] [2] The name comes from the pejorative word for a Russian vatnik which refers to the cold-weather army clothes that Russian soldiers wear, but has since recently being used to refer to supporters or fellow travellers of Vladimir Putin or Ruscism. [3]
Since starting in 2022, Kallioniemi has compiled over 200 threads of people and organisations, mainly useful idiots who have been distributing Russian disinformation on social media, especially since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Initially it was local Finnish fellow travellers including Johan Bäckman [4] but now including people such Max Blumenthal and Viktor Orbán, and more controversially public figures seen to have soft stances towards Russia, like Pope Francis. [5] It is now seen as part of the NAFO counter-disinformation network against Russian disinformation.
The 2010s, variously nicknamed "the '10s", "the Tenties", or more rarely "the Teens"), was a decade that began on January 1, 2010, and ended on December 31, 2019.
Tucker Swanson McNear Carlson is an American conservative political commentator and writer who hosted the nightly political talk show Tucker Carlson Tonight on Fox News from 2016 to 2023. Since his contract with Fox News was terminated, he has hosted Tucker on X. An advocate of former U.S. President Donald Trump, Carlson has been described as "perhaps the highest-profile proponent of Trumpism", and as "the most influential voice in right-wing media, without a close second."
The 2016 United States presidential election was the 58th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The Republican ticket, businessman Donald Trump and Indiana governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket of former secretary of state and First Lady of the United States Hillary Clinton and the junior senator from Virginia, Tim Kaine, in what was considered one of the biggest political upsets in American history. It was also the sixth presidential election in which both major party candidates were registered in the same home state; the others have been in 1860, 1904, 1920, 1940, and 1944.
Julian Paul Assange is an Australian editor, publisher and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. He came to wide international attention in 2010 after WikiLeaks published a series of leaks from US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning: footage of a US airstrike in Baghdad, US military logs from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, and US diplomatic cables. Assange has won multiple awards for publishing and journalism.
WikiLeaks began publishing the United States diplomatic cables leak on 28 November 2010. The documents included classified cables that had been sent to the U.S. State Department by its consulates, embassies, and diplomatic missions around the world. The cables were dated between December 1966 and February 2010, and contained assessments of host countries and their officials. The publication of the cables produced varying responses around the world.
A number of politicians, public figures, newspapers and magazines, businesses and other organisations endorsed either the United Kingdom remaining in the EU or the United Kingdom leaving the EU during the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum.
Gab is an American alt-tech microblogging and social networking service known for its far-right userbase. Widely described as a haven for neo-Nazis, racists, white supremacists, white nationalists, antisemites, the alt-right, supporters of Donald Trump, conservatives, right-libertarians, and believers in conspiracy theories such as QAnon, Gab has attracted users and groups who have been banned from other social media platforms and users seeking alternatives to mainstream social media platforms. Founded in 2016 and launched publicly in May 2017, Gab claims to promote free speech, individual liberty, the "free flow of information online", and Christian values. Researchers and journalists have characterized these assertions as an obfuscation of its extremist ecosystem. Antisemitism is prominent in the site's content and the company itself has engaged in antisemitic commentary. Gab CEO Andrew Torba has promoted the white genocide conspiracy theory. Gab is based in Pennsylvania.
Events in 2020 pertaining to politics and government in the United States.
Aaron Maté is a Canadian writer and journalist. He hosts the show Pushback with Aaron Maté on The Grayzone and, as of January 2022, he fills in as a host on the Useful Idiots podcast. Maté has worked as a reporter and producer for Democracy Now!, Vice, The Real News Network, and Al Jazeera, and has contributed to The Nation.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced his campaign for the 2024 United States presidential election on April 19, 2023. An environmental lawyer, writer, and member of the Kennedy family, he is known for advocating anti-vaccine misinformation and public health conspiracy theories. He initially ran for the Democratic Party nomination, but announced on October 9, 2023, that he would run as an independent candidate.