Jared Holt, a left-wing researcher on extremism, and someone not generally disposed to praise the likes of Elon Musk, had this to say about the new X policy that has unmasked thousands of "MAGA" and Pro-Gaza" accounts as originating from somewhere besides America or Gaza:
“Honest to god, Elon Musk letting people see what country accounts are based in is one of the few good things he has done with this platform. ‘Culture war’ clickbait is mass-produced by people overseas. It’s always been that way. It’s low-effort, hateful content. Easy money!”
Indeed, the monetization of hate doesn't have to be some grand conspiracy originating in Moscow, Tehran, or Beijing. Small enterprises in impoverished nations like Bangladesh, Pakistan, or Nigeria can make substantial amounts of American dollars, knowing which American buttons to push on the right and left to boost their audience on X and create viral content.
"Easy money," indeed.
The Free Press's River Page points out, "There’s an ‘America First’ account that’s based in Bangladesh. There’s an Ivanka Trump stan account with a million followers that’s based in Nigeria."
"Why are people in Pakistan, India, Qatar, Bangladesh, and elsewhere trying to sell us division and racism? Why are people who hate each other trying to convince us — Americans — that we also hate each other? Why are they trying to inflict upon U.S. political discourse a crude and inauthentic racial and religious hatred?" asks Reason.com's Robby Soave in The Hill.
The answer is self-apparent: Because they want America to fail. They want us to weaken. They want us to descend into infighting. They want us to start pointing fingers and scream in each other’s faces. They want us to fall behind.
And it’s not just about culture. There’s an organization called Americans for Responsible Innovation that tries to sabotage U.S. tech developments by supporting regulations that would ensure that China wins the AI race. Well, guess what? That account is based in Germany.
Maybe we should stop taking advice from foreign powers, on what our tech policy should be? Just a thought.
MAGA appears to be a major target of the shambots. Perhaps it's because the left is predisposed to believe anything evil about MAGA members, including that they're racist or antisemitic. Any posts quoting Nick Fuentas get a large amount of play on X.
Or maybe it's because so many leftists have departed X for Bluesky and other, friendlier outlets.
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Are Americans simply easy marks, or is it just too easy to make money off our eagerness to engage in cultural combat?
Since July 2023, it has been possible to make money by tweeting. Initially, users with X premium accounts (which cost about $8 per month) were paid based on how many ads were placed in the comments of their tweets. (So basically, the more comments, likes, and retweets your posts get, the more money you earn.) But in November 2024, that changed. Nowadays, premium accounts are paid based on the amount of engagement their tweets receive specifically from other X premium accounts. So, the more viral your content goes—among paying users—the more money you make.
Some users on the platform, even with relatively small accounts, are able to make several hundred dollars a month just by posting. That might not be enough of an incentive for an American to put a lot of time and effort into pretending to be a neo-Nazi, AI-generated OnlyFans girl, or oppressed white Muslim convert online. But it’s enough for someone in Bangladesh living on five bucks a day. And imagine if you’re managing dozens of these accounts at a time. You could start making a decent living.
No doubt, some of the foreign anti-MAGA, anti-semitic accounts are managed as part of a disinformation campaign run by Moscow or Islamists. But it's clear from the wide geographic area where the accounts originate that most of them are foreigners looking to make a buck off the fact that we despise Americans who aren't part of our tribe.
In that sense, it really is "easy money."
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