Cyber Elves Movement

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= a anti-troll anti-disinformation hacker movement that emerged first in the Baltic States (Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania)

Description

"Weiss reports about his meeting with the founder of the Elves movement: “Mindaugas is an unassuming, 30-something advertising agency director by day, and a ferocious cyber-warrior by night. He started a phenomenon in Lithuania, of countering Kremlin propaganda and disinformation on the Internet. “We needed to call our group something. What to name it? Well, we were fighting Trolls, so I said, ‘Let’s be Elves,’” Mindaugus explained.

There were 20 or 30 at first, when the Trolls began a targeted campaign of leaving nasty comments about the Lithuanian government and society, usually pegged to a hatred of NATO, the European Union, and of course, the United States.

Since then, Elves have proliferated into the hundreds. They’re now scattered about neighboring Latvia and Estonia and have even been spotted as far north as Finland. The Elves pride themselves on clandestine activity and reclusiveness.”

Mindaugas (not his real name, but based on the first known Grand Duke of Lithuania and the only Christian King of Lithuania) says, “Crashing the Troll parties carries the predictable risk that the Elves are being watched and identified, for future harassment—or worse. Fake reporters are filming, making photos of protesters from our side, placing those photos on the internet, and asking for people’s help to identify us. Anonymity is precious to the Elves.”

...

Elves are emerging in the United States to fight back. But the first line of offensive action must come from lawyers and representatives pushing anti-trust legislation to break up the behemoth companies that control the flow of information in this country. The problem is that Facebook, Twitter, and Google can filter alternative viewpoints into the farthest regions of cyberspace, never to be seen. In other words, you can send out your thoughts, but no one will see them.

The gauntlet has been thrown down. It will be little Davids against big Goliaths.

Chris Hedges, writing for Commondreams.org says, “The danger is that we end up with a one-party informational system. There’s going to be approved dialogue and unapproved dialogue that you can only get through certain fringe avenues…. We let these companies get this monopolistic share of the distribution system. Now they’re exercising that power…”

Billionaire tech giant Peter Rex is stepping up. “We need leadership that believes in people,” he said. “Leadership that believes especially in the working class, that wants to protect their freedom of speech, and trusts people to be able to discern the truth when given the opportunity to see various points of view…. We need to build an alternative power structure outside of Silicon Valley and Seattle…where freedom, faith and family are flourishing and are still held as sacred.”

Elves—citizen warriors—emerge out of the universal yearning for freedom of thought and expression common to all people. They are ordinary people like you and me.

Hedges says, “Truth will endure. It will be heard by those who seek it out. It will expose the mendacity of the powerful, however hard it will be to obtain…” (Pardon Julian Assange!!). “…Despots fear the truth. They know it is a mortal threat. If we remain determined to live in truth, no matter the cost, we have a chance.” (https://www.thecanyonchronicle.com/a-time-of-elves-poetry-arts-page.html?mfg_id=347&srt=2a&products_id=1199&cPath=401_417)