Mastodawn

A story is spreading across social media that Trump has dismissed 12 generals for refusing a ground invasion of Iran.

If true, this would be headlines on all major news sites in the U.S., but it is not.

The graphic fueling the story (picture 1) was first shared by TechTimes, which is a Facebook page with a million followers.

The Facebook page claims to be sharing gadget news, but is somehow filling a million people's feeds with false stories about politics.

1/2

Show thread

Randahl Fink 2d ago

While it is true, that a large number of generals and officers have been fired during the first 15 months of Trump's term, this is not a one day mass firing event happening now.

As shown, the story has been shared widely on Threads, Bluesky, and X.

The story was shared as breaking news as early as April 3, and often uses the same graphics design while claiming to be from different sources.

This design appears in many pro-kremlin fake news sites, and I suspect Putin's regime is behind it.

2/2

Show thread

Bezekium 🐕 🎮 🎵 🎓 ⚽ 🚲2d ago

@randahl then again, what would Putin gain from this? It's hard to imagine a more pro-Russian US president. Maybe disinformation by Iran?

Show thread

Randahl Fink 2d ago

@bezekium fuming the flames of a U.S. in chaos, I suppose.

TDay 1d ago

Show thread

Token Sane Person

@randahl @bezekium Indeed. #Putin's strategy WRT the US is not to make anything specific happen, but rather to sow chaos, confusion, and distrust. He supported #Trump, not because he expected Trump to follow his orders, but because he assessed that Trump was the worst viable candidate for the job.