AMITT/techniques/T0010.md

Technique T0010: Cultivate ignorant agents

• Summary: Cultivate propagandists for a cause, the goals of which are not fully comprehended, and who are used cynically by the leaders of the cause. Independent actors use social media and specialised web sites to strategically reinforce and spread messages compatible with their own. Their networks are infiltrated and used by state media disinformation organisations to amplify the state’s own disinformation strategies against target populations. Many are traffickers in conspiracy theories or hoaxes, unified by a suspicion of Western governments and mainstream media. Their narratives, which appeal to leftists hostile to globalism and military intervention and nationalists against immigration, are frequently infiltrated and shaped by state-controlled trolls and altered news items from agencies such as RT and Sputnik. Also know as "useful idiots" or "unwitting agents".

• Belongs to tactic stage: TA04

Incident	Descriptions given for this incident
I00005 Brexit vote	cultivate, manipulate, exploit useful idiots
I00007 Incirlik terrorists	cultivate, manipulate, exploit useful idiots (in the case Paul Manafort)
I00010 ParklandTeens	cultivate, manipulate, exploit useful idiots (Alex Jones... drives conspiracy theories; false flags, crisis actors)
I00017 US presidential elections	cultivate, manipulate, exploit useful idiots
I00029 MH17 investigation	cultivate, manipulate, exploit useful idiots
I00032 Kavanaugh	cultivate, manipulate, exploit useful idiots (Alex Jones... drives conspiracy theories)
I00044 JadeHelm exercise	cultivate, manipulate, exploit useful idiots (Alex Jones... drives conspiracy theories)
I00049 White Helmets: Chemical Weapons	cultivate, manipulate, exploit useful idiots (Roger Waters; Venessa Beeley...)
I00050 #HandsOffVenezuela	cultivate, manipulate, exploit useful idiots (Roger Waters)
I00051 Integrity Initiative	cultivate, manipulate, exploit useful idiots
I00063 Olympic Doping Scandal	cultivate, manipulate, exploit useful idiots

Counters	Response types
C00009 Educate high profile influencers on best practices	D2 Deny
C00072 Remove non-relevant content from special interest groups – not recommended	D2 Deny
C00073 Inoculate populations through media literacy training	D2 Deny
C00092 Establish a truth teller reputation score for influencers	D7 Deter
C00093 Influencer code of conduct	D7 Deter
C00111 Reduce polarisation by connecting and presenting sympathetic renditions of opposite views	D4 Degrade
C00125 Prebunking	D3 Disrupt
C00126 Social media amber alert	D3 Disrupt
C00130 Mentorship: elders, youth, credit. Learn vicariously.	D7 Deter
C00136 Microtarget most likely targets then send them countermessages	D3 Disrupt
C00156 Better tell your country or organization story	D3 Disrupt
C00160 find and train influencers	D2 Deny
C00162 Unravel/target the Potemkin villages	D3 Disrupt
C00169 develop a creative content hub	D3 Disrupt
C00174 Create a healthier news environment	D2 Deny
C00176 Improve Coordination amongst stakeholders: public and private	D7 Deter
C00184 Media exposure	D4 Degrade
C00188 Newsroom/Journalist training to counter influence moves	D3 Disrupt
C00190 open engagement with civil society	D3 Disrupt
C00195 Redirect searches away from disinformation or extremist content	D2 Deny
C00200 Respected figure (influencer) disavows misinfo	D3 Disrupt
C00203 Stop offering press credentials to propaganda outlets	D3 Disrupt
C00212 build public resilience by making civil society more vibrant	D3 Disrupt

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