Is Y!Answers being used as a soap box for Islamic propagandists?

Question

And if it were, how would it affect your views of the issues being discussed ?

Consider that we have at least one poster ("erudite": http://answers.yahoo.com/my/profile;_ylt=Ah5G7cTCsm96TkpI8RYgVFQezKIX?show=6931a8d973e2a0c7f37954ef3a68a4c7aa) who PRESENTS HIMSELF AS A VETERAN OF THE US MILITARY, and yet posts at least 5 - 10 messages per day trumpeting ignominious defeat for the US in Iraq, expressing admiration for Hezbollah, often while using flagrantly made-up news stories about "crying Marines".

Further consider that he posts those messages at hours more consistent with the Middle East than the American mid-west, and in a writing style that was never cultivated in a US public school, using slang ("eating shame" ??) more appropriate to Shakespeare than the Army.

If it were proved that person were a paid agent, would it make a difference to how you view the war ?

If there were an organized campaign to use open forums to broadcast propaganda, should it be stopped? If so, how?

Y! won't allow me to link to the person's profile, however, you can view one of his questions ("Is this a nice letter to the military ?" here: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ak0w0VeGeal9xdc8mwgVLDzsy6IX?qid=20060826090136AAKsA1A

UPDATE - to amgo

"Islamic" in the title line is actually a typo - what I meant was "Islamist", in the sense of people and organizations who support radical terrorist actions in the name of Islam, rather than actual Muslims.

Its a problem with the vocabulary - the two words (Islamic and Islamist) are too close together for comfort... if I had a better word, I'd use it.

Thank you for your post, and your point.

Mike H

:) In 10 years of travel to 5 continents and 13 countries, no one has ever before accused me of being an ignorant American. You have the honor of being the first.

If you look at the details of the question, you will see that I am not asking about whether people with ideas that I don't agree with (even terrorist sympathisers) should be allowed to express their opinions *as individuals*.

I conjectured that some posts (such as those by erudite) may be the result of larger organizations using this and other forums as a launch pad for grass roots propaganda and disinformation campaigns designed to sway public opinion in America.

This isn't science fiction. It is the essence of asymmetrical warfare - the enemy can influence my population, but he blocks (ref. internet policies in countries like Iran) my access to his.

If you don't think it works, look at the respondents to erudite who answer "Yes, we should be ashamed".

In this case, would your answer still be "do nothing" ?

Answer 1

I wish I could be in the mood to answer this. I'm tired and I'm hitting the sack early. ( Michigan time....Not middle East Time ) We shall talk later. This old Vietnam Veteran is tired. ( Also tired of the lies by the all powerful USA Government ) Later all. And thank you all for the nice and not so nice replies.

Answer 2

Its being used as a soapbox for extreme christians, liberals, republicans, black people, white people, everybody in between, and any body who has access to the internet. The example you cite is the first example I've seen of an "islamic propagandist" though (and its got nothing to do with being islamic, ALL ISLAMIC PEOPLE ARE NOT TERRORISTS, he may be a 'terrorist sympathizer' but not an islamic propagandist).

Why don't you step outside the box and look at the situation from all angles instead of being another ignorant american. There are people who don't like us, and they have the same right to use yahoo as we do. Be thankful that this board is completely free and open to all types of people. Just because someone said something you don't want to hear doesn't mean we should silence them. Don't you dare try and take away the last truly free form of communication (the internet).

And no there is not an organized campaign to use open forums to broadcast propaganda, think about it logically. Propaganda only reinforces a prexisting belief and makes people more extreme in that belief. You can't convince someone like you or I that "the american infidels must die" since WE ARE AMERICANS OURSELVES. Do you see any responses to his questions saying- "your absolutely right, I agree" ? Nope.

If your so worried about propaganda, why not stop listening to the bush administration and 24 hour news channels.

Answer 3

GREAT QUESTION.
I've read some of "erudite's" questions as well and wondered the same thing.
1st of all the name "erudite" according to Websters comes from the Latin eruditus, from past participle of erudire to instruct, possessing or displaying erudition : LEARNED
My thought was this individual was trying to "educate" all of us ignorant Westerners with his supposed questions.
I'm not necessarily opposed to that as the Internet should be all about freedom of speech (that's why its being cracked down on so much in places like Iran & China) but if thats the goal, I'm not sure this is the forum. I also think its sort of spineless to spew forth propaganda in that manner.

Answer 4

I think Y! Answers has turned into a soap box for alot of issues. It's no longer just a question and answer area. I find myself replying to some of this propaganda in the say way it's posted. It just irritates me to no end. Yet you see people agreeing with either side, no matter what it is. It's all bogus and has no facts to back it up. The people that post this stuff are either totally in another world or in desperate need of attention. Look at Erudite. No matter how stupid his post is, he gets lots of replies to it. It's filled with anything from agreement to calling him names. People like that don't care if it's positive or negative, they just want attention. I don't know how to feel about it any more, but I think it's alot more than freedom of speech. It's more like freedom of the idiots to spew crap. Propaganda is broadcast everyday.....look at our news. There's unfortunately nothing we can do to stop it. They sure can't control it in an area like this.

Answer 5

I think AmericanDreamer's point went under the radar here...

Sure, there are all kind of creeps on Y! from harmless weirdos to pedophiles that need to be put behind bars. Also we have paid marketing folks who try to convince people that their life would be much better if they switch from Pepsi to Coke.

That wasn't her point, bear in mind she raises it on this forum:

"If it were proved that person were a paid agent, would it make a difference to how you view the war ? "

Its not about some dude with a mortgage, car loan and a 9 to 5 job talking about soft drinks.

The same people who express themselves by crashing planes or bombing their fellow men in mosques decided that Y! is a good medium to send their message, get attention, stir emotions (or bore the more discerning readers to death as the case may be). On the other hand, while I can look a way and diss it, they never really counted on me anyway. The counted on the dozens of readers that do answer and get all worked up about it, and the ones that are sitting on the fence and are waiting to be swayed by a "neutral" opinion. They also count on people like myself and AmericanDreamer to say "whatever" and ignore them.

That achievement does bother me, and I would want to put a dent in it.

IMO, it is a bit hard to expect Y! to exercises censorship here. It is up to us to keep our place clean. We can do it the same way we keep net ethic. Almost no one replies (or even reads) messages written all in upper case because that is considered shouting. (Even low-lives like erudite know better than that)
Same should go for the case at hand.
I applaud AmericanDreamer for the way she exposed erudite. She didn't take sides, she just pointed out that his posts are inconsistent with who he claims to be and called his bluff.

I am sure that erudite will re-appear here on a different name. Also his style will get better. On the other hand, if we keep pressing on shmucks like him and wait for them on every turn, it will form a new culture of net-ethic. So by the time erudite would understand what erudite actually means (i think he got that from a mislabeled snack bar or something), public attitude on Y! would make him work a lot harder to get any reply.
Maybe he one day be able to initiate an intelligent discussion. And I would be more than happy to participate in that, though i am not counting on that....

Cheers,

Rozk

Answer 6

first of all the link doesnt work , it gives me my own page !

second : i saw the page of that guy , he speakes about politics not religion . how do you know if is even a muslim ?

third : Despite i am a muslim and arabic, i would be very sorry if he was an arabian or a muslim and use Yanswers in such way .

but finally i wanna tell you dont judge it fast as a sterio typical dirty islamic or arabic way , no , because it wasn't us who begain this , if he is really from us ..... listen to this ; when i first checked into Yanswers , i was into answering ordinary questions , and ask in everything ... but i discovered by coencidence that there are group of people who devote themselves just to attack islam in a very insulting and offending way , so i decided to answer them all (i dont ask questions everyday)

from them one called "beloved_islam" who put his avatar as a picture of the Koran ( the islamic bible) this guy was doing that thing you mentiouned : post 5 to 10 questions everyday all insulting , and not like you said , what you said are about politics , but beloved islam discuss the ditailes of islam , the life of prophit Mohammad , everything offending about islam

of course he never choose me a best answer :)

i checked for him now to send his address but i found he was suspended from yahoo answers , anyway you can check my own answers in category religion , you will find most of them answering his questions

another one called peace of mind , well he quit , but here is his page :
http://answers.yahoo.com/my/profile;_ylt=AtlYsg0mge3AoXMYw11Nfl3sy6IX?show=AA12211407

finally, when you log in yahoo answers in the following categories : military , politics , religion , be ready for offending , because many use this for showing their (sometimes) sick ideas ... think about someone posts five questions daily , what kind of a person he could be? psycho of course
(once i told beloved_islam are you a human ? because you act like a robot programed to attack islam) so dont bother yourself by answering him , or you can answer but i mean dont expect to convince him , ... also report abuse when nessessary , that helps

i forgot to say that you can consider that some of his questions are showing a right facts you dont know , because the american people are misleaded about middle east : i once saw a question about why not nuking iran and syria , just that simple ... another question what would happen if tel aviv was nuked , one of the answers was "Mecca" will be next ...etc

Answer 7

Oh you noticed? Yes, there are quite a few Islamic apologist, and propagandist who are in Yahoo! Answers. I tend to give 'em a hard way to go when I spot 'em, but I don't catch 'em all. In a conventional declared war Y!A could be held accountable for aiding the enemy. However, now, in this era, we don't seem to be able to get that point through to the Corporate Masters. Propaganda is a tool of war.

Answer 8

It's a soap-box for a lot of people who want to scream and shout and attract a lot of attention, regardless of what they claim to be supporting or opposing.

The only common threat for these folks is they are only interested in hearing themselves froth at the mouth, and don't care what anyone else says or thinks.

At least, they've never given any indication that they care, nor ever answered questions as to what else they may be trying to accomplish. Their rants are meaningless. Ignore them.

Answer 9

American's get fooled by watching the same "victim" being loaded into an ambulance after different bombing raids in Lebanon so why would they be smart enough to see through the Islame-o-facists propoganda elsewhere?

Good you found what you did though and pointed it out to people.

That sort of heads-up watching will help in this war on Islame-o-facism. They build their strategy around the assumed lethargy of the American public.

Answer 10

Everyone has the same opportunities to use this site to ask questions. The "soap box" is open to all so quit complaining. This is what the United States of America is all about, free speech.