I’ve opened Lemmy today to lots of anti Canadian sentiment on any recent comments about how messed up 'murica is and it’s constant attacks on Canadian sovereignty.
Don’t get sucked in. Let them yell into a void. The online campaign has begun in earnest on Lemmy and it’s time to point it out and recognise it for what it is.
These are not real people. They are actors trying to affect our decisions as always happens when American exceptionalism is challenged. Our government had the balls to stand up and say no. We have the balls to do the same. They do not like it and will attack you for it.
Don’t fall for the bait.
Don’t fight it, lean into it. Fuck with their heads. But lean into it in a back handed way that fucks with them. They have a prepared Rolodex. Go outside of it and you win
I love Nothmexico!
Only Nazis hate Canadians. Because we are very good at destroying Nazis. It’s our national past time.
We’ve got monuments in Europe for it and everything
I’m guessing whomever/wherever you’re seeing is either defederated or, more likely, blocked by me. In any case, pay them no mind if you do see them.
This guys right, we gotta try not to feed the trolls.
Also don’t be a sucker! https://youtu.be/vGAqYNFQdZ4
No feed them. “Dont feed the trolls” is how the left has been losing so much political and social capital the past decade. People are all conflict adverse they’ve forfeited so much ground online and socially. I can tell you all the talking points on the right, I couldn’t tell you any on the left let alone anyone who is a good source of information because “doing feed the trolls” results in no left leaning voices or spaces that matter. Instead over feed them. The one thing the left has going for it is there are more of us. We need to use that to our advantage. The advantage being if we realized this, we could have 10 messages for everyone of theirs. Which is what the right has done instead for the past decade. They flood every space they can. Hell I still see them on over passes, in the news, on podcasts, in comedy. Take it all back. Stop the mentality that we win when we don’t engage. We don’t. We win when they’re exhausted not us
I enter civil discourse with opposing views all day erryday, but that’s a nice point. We need values but I think the order of operations should be to engage civily, agree to disagree, then finally block so they don’t feel empowered by their position.
Lol wut. I think its bots. Very few people hate Canadians.
Give it a few months. The right wing propaganda machine always finds a way.
I wanted to ask - Where on the fediverse are people seeing this? I took a quick peek at lemmy.world/c/politics and lemmy.world/c/world (in particular https://lemmy.world/post/26969666 ) and I didn’t see anything like what this post is describing there.
A lot of the comments from this post point to examples from Spez’s site or Musk’s site, which would make more sense to me. But lemmy? C’mon…
If I had to guess, it would be hexbear.
As someone who lives in America, I would like to say, please keep it up my Canadian friends! The more the rest of the world buys and builds their own, the more you undermine Lil Donnie’s Fascist Clown Show, and create better options for everyone in the long-term.
Breaking U.S. tech dominance is one of the best ways to put some equality back in the world.
As a Canadian, I’m worried that this stoking of anti-Canadian sentiment among the right wing in the US is a pretext to an invasion to try to make good on the “51st state” promise.
Entirely possible. We’ve seen it before with other countries and now it’s been turned on us. We never should have been so close with the US. Now it’s time to disentangle.
As a fellow American, I have nothing but love for our Canadian neighbors!
Whatever happens the next few years, I can only hope we get the opportunity to have an election and vote some adults back in, and start repairing relationships. Yes, I threw up a little with that. 😒.
Definitely not the case that all USians are following the current mad prez…
Heck, Canada remains a favourite for many from the US still, see https://www.thepinknews.com/2025/03/12/donald-trump-transphobia-us-family-seeking-asylum/ (and good luck to them!)
I’m not seeing a lot of this thankfully — makes me wonder if a lot of these anti-Canada posts are coming from a particular instance I’ve already blocked.
First thing that came across my mind when i read this post, “oh thats what hexbears up to now.”
???
I mean like them or not I don’t think Hexbear users would be doing that. They’d be excited to see the isolation and collapse of the US empire.
Canada’s still part of the West. Therefore, evil and bad according to those folk.
It’s just ramping up on the bot farms, they’re really looking for angles to blame Canada for bird flu and just being rude (irony, I know).
It’s been slow to get traction, most people don’t care and don’t want a political fight this soon after the election.
I don’t think the bot farms will be targeting the six of us on Lemmy who are all relatively technically inclined. Probably aimed at the masses on the larger platforms.
Find a Lemmy app that has user tagging (I use Voyager, and previously Connect) and when you see these users make a note of each one with a red tag so they stand out when you’re browsing.
You’ll start to see the bastards turning up in all kinds of conversations as well as posting ridiculous shit. That’s what I did with the Russian/American trolls/bots during the american election. Very enlightening to see in a political thread who the repeat offender shit-disturbers are so you can down vote, argue with, or report them instead of blocking them and allowing their infection to spread.
Tagging is handy for nice people as well; the community of people around you on Lemmy starts to look more familiar, smaller, and friendlier than you realize, and dick heads become easier to spot.
@cheeseburger @Perhapsjustsniffit Oh thats a good one. Thanks for the tip
seems like a lot more work than blocking them. engagement and arguments is what they want so they get an excuse to say even more of their stupid shit.
Wow, as a computer dunce I had never heard of tagging. Alway, I’ve managed to do it. Very interesting idea. Thank you.
Some kind of crowd-sourced tagging would be a cool anti-troll technique. A lot of less experienced websurfers struggle to spot “inauthentic behaviour” (bots, astroturfing, etc) so it could be beneficial. Reddit has a huge problem with sleeper accounts though, where they build up reputation with low-effort comments over years, then activate when a campaign needs them. The social media marketers seem to sometimes use the same techniques as the state-sponsored troll farms.
Every single social platform has tried to do this and failed. Once a platform reaches critical mass the bits, scammers, etc… move in and start exploiting any “honour” mechanism that might exist.
Probably the best I’ve come across is ycombinator news but that’s pretty niche.
There was a reddit add on that showed when a user had negative karma in certain subs, and you could edit the sub list and karma threshold on your own. Organic downvotes were something that was very difficult for bots and scammers (and nazis) to avoid
I wish that there was a browser plug-in for Lemmy that would replicate the “Mass Tagger” that was available for Reddit.
This does seem handy. Also why doesn’t Voyager remember previously created tags and let you pick them quickly?
I just switched to Voyager (from Jerboa, which did everything I thought I needed, until now), because of this post. I can absolutely see the value of tagging, and I am jumping in, starting with tagging everyone in this thread with a red-and-white “coureur des bois” tag.
How do you use the tagging feature? I’m on Voyager too, when I click on a user profile I don’t see any tagging options. Only block and send message.
Go to Settings->User Tags -> Enable User Tags.
Then you’ll see the option in the user profile.
Hot damn, you’re a gem, thank you!! That’s super useful. :)
Don’t forget to tag yourself!
How’d you tag yourself? After enabling the feature, under my profile I only see “Mod Logs”.
Edit: also thanks for showing that I can separate the vote counts, I clearly haven’t explored the app enough 😅.
I long press a user name to edit and set tags, including my own!
I feel you though, I never used to bother too much with settings and purposefully stuck to defaults unless I had an issue, but since I’ve been using more FOSS apps I’m finding my defaults mantra to be very limiting. Many times I can have a great experience with ten minutes of tinkering I wasn’t willing to do before.
Ahh, I gotcha, now that is a useful shortcut. Thank you!
Hahaha yeah, I’ve been seeing that with FOSS apps too as I’ve been slowly diving into them more. The current climate has really been quite the impetus.
Using Connect rn, can I ask what prompted the switch to Voyager? Connect seems pretty solid so far.
The short version is Voyager will also keep track of how many times I’ve up or down voted someone once user tagging is enabled. That’s killer because it naturally tags users I’ve come into contact with even if I didn’t set a specific tag for them. Then I start to recognize users from my up and down votes and maybe set a specific tag from there.
I still have Connect installed, I used it for my first year here since it was a close experience to Relay For Reddit, and the Dev is Canadian. I like the way Connect looks a little better, and it has a much nicer comment draft/preview system.
After running both together for a while, I found Voyager’s entire user tagging system, with tracking and a summary of all tags and votes I’ve set, to be extremely valuable info. It has a lot of great features like Connect, but it’s FOSS as well, so maybe a higher chance someone will improve the features I use in the future. I have stuck with it now for the last 9 months or so, it’s great.
I personally skipped Connect because it was clear from the post phrasing they had moved from it to Voyager already. I like to learn from others where I can, but have zero exposure to Connect so cannot answer you fully.
Did you get my other comment as a reply to you? I was replying to cheeseburger lol so I’m wondering if it’s my app or yours
Nesting is hard
You can just block/report the bad actors too, if you don’t have the patience to deal with their bullshit. Out of sight, out of mind.
This is a bad idea. It’s what started Reddit going to shit.
Explain how a client-side note that I personally set to remind me of information I learned about someone a bad idea that will ruin Lemmy?
Because politically some people are so adverse to conflict they use client side notes to dig little burrows for themselves. Meanwhile the other groups love conflict, they thrive on it and will invade every burrow they come across like Foxes. What this means is all the good spaces get taken over much quicker when one whole group of afraid prey like people try to avoid mean comments they don’t agree with. It results in this internet red carpet being laid out across these platforms for rapid take over. One of the first things I saw suggested wherever a subreddit would go pro trump was the regular people suggesting apps that let people know not to engage with certain power users. It was like a landing party sent to soften up the local militia
Well, I’m tagging you now…
Yea that doesn’t change what I said. There’s only so many corners left to run to online. There’s a reason for that.
If you’ve given up, I can’t do anything about that. But if you are willing to fight back, I’ll defend your right to be a free voice.
I would also like to know how that works.
This is even more rampant and unchecked on Reddit - the Buy Canadian subreddit is infested with either outright “MURRICA FUKKKIN A BRO” types or the more subtle “concern trolls” — “Won’t you miss this product? What will you do when you can’t afford things anymore? Don’t you realize these companies employ Canadians - why do you want to hurt your neighbours?” Yeah - not here for that noise.
hopefully people will see through it and it’ll backfire and just reinforce people staying strong
Canada gov should ban X, at least for pre-election
X should be banned full stop.
Truth Social as well
Facebook as well
Facebook especially
That is a given, I have never seen it advertised in anyway up here though.
Government should be supporting democracy by providing publicly funded and managed spaces for debate and the release of information, especially government information. Abandoning these spaces to corporations is abdication of responsibility and compromises our democracy. It is not necessary to ban X, but it is not acceptable to require people to use X just to receive information from or communicate with our own public services.
I really like that idea. The government runs Canada Post as a crown corporation. The government could set up a crown corporation to facilitate the online messaging of Canadian citizens without subjecting them to ads and invasive tracking.
Or they could make it part of CBC’s/Radio Canada’s mandate.
I have long believed that the CBC’s role should include making broadcast media accessible to citizens, but perhaps IT and communication services could be a new department. Internet is critical to both state and citizens, and should definitely be a government service! Oh, shit, I just got a cease and desist letter from Bell, Rogers and Telus the moment after I typed that sentence.
Like a USENET server at the very least.
Charlie Angus created a petition for this. https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-5359
Signed!
I have signed that once, maybe twice.
I remember we made a petition to the Canadian government about getting on the fediverse, and it got enough signatures. The response made me think they couldn’t even figure out what that meant.
Unfortunately some of them are real people, I’ve had voice conversations with people who believe the bullshit line that “Canada and Mexico are taking advantage of us” that’s coming out of these figureheads they blindly follow.
They have zero critical thinking abilities, and that means they can’t be reasoned out of their position by showing them facts or asking them to prove their logic.
It’s true - I can remember a year ago, maybe two? Back when he was still on Fox News Tucker Carlson was constantly on about how we were under a tyrannical dictatorship and how Americans should “free” us. This “not viable as a country” thing is just another attempt at justifying their aggression and it’s just as hollow and stupid. The lies and fallacies just cycle through until something sticks, it’s the goals that remain the same.
The truth is, they want us out of the way because our multiculturalism and socialism are threats to their siloed reality. We’re too similar to them, too successful. We’re a living repudiation of everything they believe, of all the lies they need to be true to justify their cruelty and bigotry.
We were never going to be allowed to live in peace, for no other reason than we are a constant reminder of the truth.
The amount of disinformation towards Canada in the red states is insane, and has been going on for a while.
People are literally being brainwashed, it’s downright scary.
Good. Let these idiots be loud. Let every Canadian see what the Fuck Yeah 'Muricans think of us, so that the sting lasts as long as possible. We don’t want to get lulled back into business as usual once Asshole Donny bits the bullet.
Not so sure - yes don’t feed the trolls but we can’t just let them control the narrative. When Elon starts posting made-up polls on Twitter showing Canadians want to join the US, we need to have started the precedent already that that is a lie. I say, don’t give up any space for free.
Oh I agree with not allowing the space to be overrun and go unchecked. I mean for individuals to recognise it for what it is right now. That stirring of the pot.
Good thing as a Canadian I don’t care what Americans THINK of us too much. They value their independence so do we.
Yeah but having the sentiment out there can still harm our own politics by giving rise to the people within Canada who support fascism (indirectly or directly). I don’t know anyone who gives a fuck that Americans might not like us but I know at least a few who think that our government should be following in the footsteps of Americans, and given that I live in a fairly liberal city, I can only imagine it’s much worse in some of the other areas.
This is how it started with trump in America. The social media brigades and odd social networking that just seems illegitimate. It’s sad watching CA Europe getting bombarded with the same methods they used in America. I’m watching it happen to you guys the same way it happened here.
Start planning now. Observe silently and don’t participate in their theater. It’s meant to entice you they are fueled by reaction to it. Observe silently and plan so that you can always be ready. They will always turn any real talk into pointless debate. There is never a way to talk a real conversation with these people and that’s on purpose. I’ve been dealing with these people since 2016. It’s like a full-time job keeping my guard up against the manipulation.
We American don’t value anything but consumerism and escapism so we can remain ignorant to real human life.
Some of them might be real people.
Scapegoating is an extremely successful technique. Instead of dealing with the complexities of the modern world, the supposed strong man can just give people easy and reassuring answers.
Americans problems are not because of unchecked capitalism and the wilful dismantling of the scientific, legal, economic, and political systems designed to help them. It’s because Canada, led by its Mexican Drug Cartels, are taking advantage of them.
Never mind that it’s patently stupid. Never mind that the system of getting access to our raw materials for cheap so they could process them in their countries and their industries was overwhelming as good for them as it was bad for us.
Never mind reality — what matters is that an easy answer was given. It’s not them, they don’t have to confront any harsh truths, or take any painful looks in the mirror, or have to step out of their comfort zone. The Americans were given the answer to their problems by their King, and that answer is Canada.
So the “strong man” strikes at Canada to show how tough they are. And to no one’s surprise, Canada doesn’t take it lying down. We stand up for ourselves and hit back — saying that surely when they see pain they will stop and reflect.
But no, they don’t. Because our hitting back justifies our already-established status as villain. How dare Canada threaten to levy energy exports, says the King. The Canadians have no decency.
And so, feeling the pain we caused, the Americans listen to their King, and they blame us because that is the easy answer. They don’t have to think, they don’t have to pause the sportsball game or the reality tv marathon. It was Canada all along.
So yes — there may be bots and such, but make no mistake that the vocal opposition to Canada will only grow inside America as the trade war escalates.
I agree with you completely. It will become real people if it is not already. It is about controlling the narrative. I just wanted people to be aware mostly that it’s ramped up significantly today. An obvious escalation over what has been happening the past several months. Lots of new (up to a month old) accounts and such that hadn’t posted until yesterday or today.
People don’t have to believe the misinformation they repeat, as long as they believe it justifies some action that will benefit them. For example, the more depleted the Colorado river basin gets, the more British Columbia will turn out to be full of terrorists and cartels, or its leaders plotting to disrupt the Frasier River, or whatever else… It’s not like the details matter.
What matters is that the people in the place with the thing you want are evil now.
I don’t rule out hostilities directed at Canadians on lemmy being something directly fomented by bots or including bot participation. But that’s a rather low-value influence operation. I’d wager at least some is just a side effect of the vector that concerns me more: the faithful spreading a gospel aimed at Americans to manufacture American consent for something.
