Tumblr Deletes 84 Fake Russian Accounts

Fandom. The unknown dark entity. It is one of the most mysterious places since Bermuda Triangle or even the inside of Monica Geller’s Cleaning supply closet. For this fandom to operate and ‘Squee’ about their shows and OTPs (One True Pairings) Tumblr was the place to go. Teen girls have grown up into young adults while continuing to use Tumblr as their go to site for their creative and fandom related posts. So, you can guess the shock and surprise when, last weekend they received an email from the Tumblr staff claiming they had reblogged a post on their timeline from a Russian Propaganda Page!

Tumblr: Spring Cleaning When Winter is Here!

Supposedly, Tumblr went on a spring cleaning spree as news about Facebook’s involvement in the massive data leak was just trickling in. Over the weekend, it quietly emailed its users that they had zeroed down on 84 users that were IRA (Internet Research Agency) backed. There have been claims of it being in cahoots with those involved in the Russian Pro-Trump Propaganda Pages. What it means is they were the one who would create ‘Fake News’ and ‘Alternative Facts’ about the Democrats and spread them across various social media portals.

To think that the Russians studied American habits so well, that they could create content out of it, is astounding. To top it all, it also makes one wonder why, one of the biggest democratic countries election process could so easily be swayed with social media posts?

In its email, the Tumblr staff pointed out the steps it had undertaken to notify its users who may have seen and reblogged content from one of these accounts:

• Emailing any users that liked, reblogged, replied to or followed any of the IRA-linked accounts.
• They maintained a public record of usernames linked to the IRA and other state-sponsored disinformation campaigns.
• They did not automatically delete reblog chains containing content from these accounts, explaining, “We’re letting you decide because the reblog chains contain posts created by real Tumblr users, often challenging or debunking the false and incendiary claims in the IRA-linked original post. Removing those authentic posts without your consent would encroach on your free speech—and there have been enough disruptions to our conversations as it is.”

Included in the email from the Staff at Tumblr was a detailed list of the user names that were banned by them.

1. 1-800-gloup
2. 4mysquad previously known as: thomascestevez
3. aaddictedtoblackk previously known as: kathyzunigaoverhere, soaddictedtoblackk
4. artautumn
5. awesomelizzyjenningsthings
6. bastardpigeon previously known as: pigeonbastard
7. belindadoingitgood
8. bellaxiao previously known as: blogmadworldlove
9. bellygangstaboo
10. best-usa-today
11. bestofninegag previously known as: apolicethepolicethings
12. black-to-the-bones
13. blackness-by-your-side previously known as: black-galaxy-magic, fullyfurrymiracle, u4guy, ufo-pilot-and-his-sexy-spouse
14. blacknproud previously known as: in-the-mirror-world, indiebirdsblog, no-place-for-homophobia
15. blacktolive
16. bleepthepolice
17. cartnsncreal previously known as: feelmydragonballs
18. chantelreneeblm
19. coldfirefan
20. coolmagnificentbets
21. cybercollectionnerdstuff
22. delroyheater previously known as: delroyheater32, mastercucumber, scrumptiousluminarytimemachine, sexinstructor666, sexintructor
23. destinyrush previously known as: delightfullyghostlysong
24. down-to-venus previously known as: teenageflowerluminary
25. eugeny-a-antonov
26. everydaycutenesstherapy
27. fedupwithlying previously known as: badgyalforyou
28. funkycodex previously known as: craftykryptonitedelusion
29. gentlexnoise previously known as: slakerglitch, superblydopepatrol
30. getaninspiration
31. gogomrbrown previously known as: go-mrbrown, infectedv0ice, todd-la-death
32. gottimechillinaround previously known as: howardhenderson
33. guns4l1fe previously known as: 4lifeme, guns4lifeme, unabashedpolicerunaway
34. honestlyyoungpersona
35. honeyjenna
36. hustleinatrap previously known as: thenaturecanpost, tumblercube
37. ineverstopexploringblog previously known as: charlenefletcher
38. info-mix previously known as: americanstatistics, crazypolitician, girlsagainst, illegalmom, just-stat, rochelbarr
39. itwontbeeasyme
40. jamesjdelvecchio
41. jenningsmiracle
42. joycherryblossom previously known as: joyfullyhappycherryblossom
43. justmarilynadventure previously known as: justmarylinthings
44. kingbeardplayer previously known as: kirksgossplayer, placeofminimalthings
45. kirstenbrownstories
46. lagonegirl
47. lamcbride
48. loveboholiveboho
49. massivelydopepolice
50. massmedear previously known as: massblog021
51. melanin-diary previously known as: blackjourney2justice, dontshootus, jusslittlestoner
52. missberrianstuff
53. mooseblogtimes
54. morningwoodz previously known as: 5cubes, bangbangempire, empireofweird, gifemprireohh, innerpicsempire, picsempire
55. nadiquitegoodatit previously known as: runlovernad
56. nevaehtyler previously known as: laserenita
57. noteverythingiswhite previously known as: ashleyfsilver
58. poligraphme previously known as: poligraphmy
59. postingwhileblack previously known as: ghettablasta, heygeraldmartinjohanssen, honestinjun, nativewolveshere
60. rebellloudwiththecrowd previously known as: massivelystrangetyrant
61. ricordio
62. rikki-ri
63. sassydreamlandcloud
64. scentedballoonpanda
65. sergpolozov
66. shoutoutworldwide previously known as: blackprideworldwide, krispymentalitycowboy
67. shyshannonstuff
68. skullofjustice previously known as: naughtykermit, ryanbutlersstuff, usnationaldebt
69. skwad55
70. somestuff4ya previously known as: somestufffoya, unitedposters
71. starling-all-black-all-day
72. stopropaganda
73. sumchckn previously known as: blondeinpolitics, blvckcommunity, classylgbthomie, hwuudoin, politixblondie
74. summerinsomniac
75. superblygun
76. swagintherain previously known as: blacklivesmatterusa, carzwithgirlz
77. the-real-eye-to-see
78. thetrippytrip previously known as: matrixpath, themostpost
79. thingstolovefor previously known as: the-inner-mirror
80. this-truly-brutal-world previously known as: awesomewhitepearl, free-mind-and-soul
81. voteforwest2020 previously known as: mrbadasscat
82. weproudto2black
83. wevanessastewartstuff
84. yanbig

Tumblr also went on to quote, “Democracy requires transparency and an informed electorate, and we take our responsibilities very seriously. We aggressively monitor Tumblr for signs of state-sponsored disinformation campaigns, and take the appropriate action when we uncover anything.”

Too Little Too Late?

We may be convinced into acknowledging the amazing work that Tumblr has accomplished by banning these pages, but, the skeptic in us, takes this discovery with a pinch of salt.

Basically, while this seems like just a tip of the iceberg, there are many ‘White Supremacy’ and ‘Fake News’ pages that have US origins that are still allowed to operate on Tumblr.

So next time think twice before you share a post on any social media application, least it be a Russian Propaganda page that spews ‘Fake News’ and ‘Alt Facts’.