"Over the weekend, Elon Musk's X revealed the location of every account on the site, and the results were eye-opening. Viral MAGA influencers ranting about "my tax dollars" funding foreign wars were exposed as Pakistani or Russian. Thirst traps of attractive Israeli soldiers turned out to be run by Indians. Heartbreaking stories of Gazan suffering were found to be posted from Europe. And many overtly racist accounts championing Nick Fuentes, the young white supremacist and Hitler aficionado, were revealed to be foreign-run."
"The notion that American anti-Semitism is an outside influence operation rather than a homegrown menace is a comforting story. Unfortunately, it's not true. Fuentes followers punch above their weight in American discourse because they are young and disproportionately online; some foreigners no doubt found this far-right niche useful for generating engagement and revenue. But the rise of American anti-Semitism is not a foreign phenomenon, and it is not an online illusion."
Musk's X data revealed many accounts posing as MAGA influencers, Israeli soldiers, and Gaza victims were tied to Pakistan, Russia, India, and Europe. Some observers concluded that apparent anti-Semitic activity was a foreign-operated psyop meant to discredit American conservatives. Many foreign operators did adopt far-right personas to generate engagement and revenue. Fuentes's followers remain influential because they are young and heavily present online. The growth of anti-Semitic sentiment in the United States reflects domestic trends and real adherents, rather than being solely an imported or purely artificial phenomenon manufactured by foreign actors.
Read at The Atlantic
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