We’re all grappling with the influence that state-sponsored disinformation campaigns can have on our political conversations—and how wide-spread that interference turned out to be. So please take a moment to read this, think about it, and talk about it.
Last fall, we uncovered 84 Tumblr accounts linked to the Russian government through the Internet Research Agency, or IRA. These accounts were being used as part of a disinformation campaign leading up to the 2016 U.S. election. After uncovering the activity, we notified law enforcement, terminated the accounts, and deleted their original posts. Behind the scenes, we worked with the Department of Justice, and the information we provided helped indict 13 people who worked for the IRA.
Now that the investigations are done, we want to let you know how we’re going to help protect Tumblr in the future and what you can do to help.
Here’s what we know about these accounts
The IRA employs more than 1,000 people who engage in electronic disinformation and propaganda campaigns around the world using phony social media accounts. Their goal is to sow division and discontent in the countries they target. What makes them so difficult to spot is that they’re not spambots. They’re real people who get trained and paid to spread propaganda.
As far as we can tell, the IRA-linked accounts were only focused on spreading disinformation in the U.S., and they only posted organic content. We didn’t find any indication that they ran ads.
Remember, the IRA and other state-sponsored disinformation campaigns play off our zero-sum politics. They want to drive a wedge between us so that we spend our time fighting with each other instead of building towards the future. We’ll be watching for signs of future activity, but the best defense is knowing how they operate and how to judge the content you see.
What we’re doing in response to the interference
First, we’ll be emailing anyone who liked, reblogged, replied to, or followed an IRA-linked account with the list of usernames they engaged with.
Second, we’re going to start keeping a public record of usernames we’ve linked to the IRA or other state-sponsored disinformation campaigns. We’re committed to transparency and want you to know everything that we know.
We’ve decided to leave up any reblog chains that might be on your Tumblrs—you can choose to leave them or delete them. We’re letting you decide because the reblog chains contain posts created by real Tumblr users, often challenging or debunking the false and incideniary 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.
What we’re doing to stop future disinformation campaigns
You’ve probably read that U.S. intelligence officials expect foreign agents to try similar propaganda campaigns in the future. We’ll be monitoring Tumblr for signs of state-sponsored disinformation campaigns, and if we see anything we will…
Terminate the accounts and remove their original posts.
Notify you if we determine that you’ve liked, reblogged, replied to, or followed a propaganda account.
There are also things you can do to help stop the spread of disinformation and propaganda.
Be aware that people want to manipulate the conversation. Knowing that disinformation and propaganda accounts are out there makes it harder for them to operate. The News Literacy Project has this handy checklist for spotting their tricks.
Be skeptical of things you read. Disinformation campaigns work because they know people don’t fact check. Look for reliable sources, and double-check that the source really says the same thing as the post. You can also check Snopes and Politifact. Both are award-winning resources and usually have the latest viral claim fact checked on the front page.
Correct the record. When you see people spreading misinformation—even unintentionally—politely say something in a reblog or reply. If it’s your friend, send them a message to let them know.
One last note: Please vote.
Transparency won’t mean a thing if we don’t participate in the process. Whatever your political stance, voting ensures a government that represents your interests. For our U.S. users: You can register online or by mail, and many states are holding primaries right now.
in before nazis twist this around and say we’re being intolerant
I read an interesting article once that said that in a tolerant society, the only way to keep it working was to become intolerant to intolerance if that makes sense.
It’s called the irony of tolerance or something like that. And it was written in the 1940’s. Give you one guess as to what inspired that article.
I’m assuming she says the words “I love you” and that’s why you think she loves you;
my dad claimed he stayed in this country for me, that he “loved” me
but he made me cry pretty much every day, he wouldn’t listen to me,
he said he would take care of my needs, I just had to ask, but when I did
he always laughed at me and wouldn’t do it, he gave me no privacy,
I wasn’t allowed to leave the house,
He laughed at everything I did and called me fat, thought I was a failure
People who love you don’t do these things,
People who love you show you with their actions not just their words;
They think about your needs, they don’t go through your stuff, they respect when you need alone time,
and ask about your interests
“What music are you listening to?”
And smile as you ramble on about your favorite band or a new song you just discovered
they will buy your favorite ice cream because you have a test coming up and they know it soothes you,
They’ll buy a shirt they see just because it’s your favorite color
People who love you let you cry on their shoulders and hug you when you’re sad,
Give you chocolate because they know you’re on your period,
they will draw a silly stick drawing of you and them and then give it to you with a smile,
They compliment how hard you’re trying at whatever it is you’re trying,
They go to your band concerts and clap if you have a solo,
They go to your sporting events and make cookies for after a game
They’re proud of you for making honor roll because you’re proud of making it,
Not because it makes them look good
They never hit you or raise a knife at you while they’re yelling
They tuck you in and turn off the lights when they notice you’ve fallen asleep while trying to read
And gently place a bookmark in the book so you don’t lose your place
They let you go out with friends and know that you’re allowed to have other people in your life
People who love you don’t hurt you, they want you to succeed,
They teach you how to cook and clean and how to manage money
So one day you can live on your own
And invite them back over when you have a grandchild
People who love you treat you well,
People who love you show you they care
the worst part about fandom discourse on tumblr is that liking a character has lost meaning. everyone seems to think that if you like a character that means you think they are a good person, not a genuinely well written functional character
i thought my artist friends would appreciate this omfg
omg, as a clean-up artist for animations, this happens all the time! If I wasn’t here to clean it up, your animated segments would have no smooth lines or consistency it would be all sketches and scribbles! Animators make the timing and the general movement, I create the final appearance.
Click here, for complete recipe and directions of my five signature colour-free, sugar-free and bpa plastic free alkaline vitamin waters or get inspired to make your own combinations.
Recovery – This vitamin water is ideal for recovery post-workout or after a large bout of physical activity. Blackberries and Cherries aid in replenishing oxygen in the blood while pomegranate and glutamine help to restore and repair muscle tissue damage
C*Power – This vitamin water gives you a boost of anti-viral and anti-inflammatory vitamin C. With natural citrus fruits and camu camu powder, c*power is ideal for boosting your immunity after an illness or just keeping your body empowered. This is an excellent combination for weight loss
Stressless – This is my favourite combination, the blend of watermelon and rosemary is divine. This vitamin water is ideal for helping you balance stress on a mental and physiological level. With the addition of B vitamins, hydrating watermelon and calming rosemary this combination is best used during times of stress or intensity
Digest It – Excellent for aiding in digestion and stimulating the colon and digestive tract. With the combination of pineapple’s digestive enzymes, soothing, cooling mint and warming ginger, stimulating lemongrass, immunizing lychee and probiotics this water will aid in internal balance
Detox – Purify your blood and body with this awesome vitamin water! Detox is ideal for the morning after a night out or when you are cleansing. Created with hydrating coconut water, and fresh cucumber, nutrient rich coconut meat, detoxifying milk thistle and anti-oxidant loaded raspberries and blueberries, this combination will cleanse your body from the inside out
It simple, cheap and easy way to get your vitamins in a delicious and hydrating way.
I hope he gets the justice he deserves. This is fucking terrible
As a queer man of color whose father’s family still live in Jamaicq, I was asked never to come back to the island by my many cousins. I have next to no contact from any of them and for good reason, one of them even threatened to come up here to the stastes and kill me himself. Contrary to popular belief life in Jamaica isn’t like the sandals all inclusive resort shows you. This man’s death is a reality for many queer men and women in Jamaica. I just pray he rests in power, and the hearts he touched will be stronger for his death and continue his legacy.
Jamaica is extremely homophobic, it is sad to say but they’ll brush his death off.
Honestly, I think yes sometimes there is a way to do magick ‘wrong’ but that would be when it relates to either harming yourself or ignoring medical situations (such as bleeding or illness) or doing absolutely nothing at all other than want something. yes intent is important but you still have to make some effort to get that intent out there. But, telling people doing things that are aesthetic based or who are spoonie/new witches who don’t have the experience or energy to do gigantic rituals as being ‘fake witches’ is absolutely disgusting.
this blog is a bully, plain and simple. yes sometimes you won’t agree with people on what they do, I don’t use emoji spells personally not because I don’t like them but because I don’t use emojis in real life other than hearts. So I have no real connection to them, but I do use sigils all the time! And sigils are just symbols filled with intent so why can’t emojis work?
I think, the only way as I said above to do magick wrong is to either not actually do anything at all or doing things that are a danger to yourself (using herbs without research, ignoring medical advice or not seeking it, self harm, etc). Other than that, everyone will have a different experience with magick and the craft. Every. Single. Person. Is. Different. No one will have the same experiences. We all have our successes and failures, and we can advise each other on things but we cannot speak or command people how to do their craft.
All in all, anon, keep doing you. Keep doing what you are doing, you are new to this. Everyone at some point was new to witchcraft, we all started somewhere. If your magick is ‘simple’ there’s nothing wrong with that. My first experiences with magick was tea spells and tarot. Thats all I did for a good two years simply because I was learning, I didn’t have extra income to get herbs or candles, and I was still in school. That is where I started.
Now I do all sorts of things including pop culture magick (which this blog seems to love to hate on as well) because pop culture is what inspired me to do a lot of things. I am an art major who specializes in media arts and animation, animated tv shows is what inspired me to do that. So of course I’m going to take inspiration from them and use them to inspire my own craft.
Do what is right for you anon, don’t let this bully get to you. Block them and ignore them. They aren’t worth your time.
Here’s a casual reminder that the repeal of Net Neutrality officially goes into affect on April 23rd. We still have time to do something, we only need ONE more vote from the Senate to restore Net Neutrality, so please keep calling your representatives and put pressure on them to vote against the FCC’s repeal
the blog (this-isn’t-magic) just recently popped up around the time that the latest Emoji Spell debacle started up again. The blog likes to take screenshots of witchcraft posts that they don’t agree with and label it as “Occupational therapy” or other things. That blog is run by elitists known as Gate Keepers who feel that unless you do everything by the grimoire then you can’t possibly be a real witch.
Basically they’re just toxic so please block and move on.
Sudan is the last male northern white rhino on earth. He is under armed guard 24 hours a day at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Laikipia, Kenya, to protect him from poachers. In 2018, he developed an infection in his leg and due to his age, it’s been difficult for him to recover despite 24 hour care.
While Sudan’s time on earth may unfortunately possibly be coming to an end, you can still donate to support his care and IVF research that could see northern white rhinos roam in their natural habitat once again. To donate to the Ol Pejeta Conservancy click here.
when you weathered the onceler storm of ‘12 and you can see the bendynoodle cucumberpatch grinch wildfire on the horizon of 2018 but you follow a select group of blogs whose judgement you trust
Scientists invented fabric that makes
electricity from motion and sunlight.
To create the fabric, researchers at
Georgia Tech wove together solar
cell fibers with materials that generate
power from movement. It could be
used in “tents, curtains, or wearable
garments,” meaning we’d virtually
never be without power. Source
Y’all are fucking idiots. Clean energy will NEVER be enough to replace the energy we have now. We’d have to tear down DOZENS of forests just to fit enough windmills and solar panels to get even a QUARTER (probably less, tbh) of the energy we can produce now.
Yeah, sure, when they’ve already calculated that a few square miles of panels in the empty ass Arizona desert could power the whole nation. But ok, fracking and the diminishing petroleum supply is worlds better.
Nevermind that windmills are often most efficient off the coast. There they take up no land, impact no trees, don’t pollute the water, and are conveniently located where winds are often strongest anyway.
And solar panels can literally be built into roofs of buildings and in empty areas like deserts. The sun strikes the Earth with the same amount of energy in an hour that our civilization uses in a year.
But yeah, it would be impossible for us to ever have enough energy from clean sources.
Durr hurr technology is bad and I would rather light shit on fire than have clean energy
I can also testify to the Arizona desert being empty ass. And the California desert. And the Nevada desert.
The fact that anyone can believe a limited amount of dinosaur oil is more plentiful and efficient than moving air or fucking sunlight is proof that entire populations can be completely brainwashed.
also, even if we can’t get ALL our energy from renewables (at least not immediately as there is a large initial investment required), even a partial replacement of the vast amount of fossil fuels we use would be a fantastic place to start reducing impacts. just because you can’t do everything immediately doesn’t mean there is no reason to start. the real reason that fossil fuels aren’t being replaced with renewables right now is so that the oil companies and shit can still make profits. its disgusting
And I mean, Australia doesn’t have literal HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of square kilometres of dessert that’s too hot and dry for trees to grow, and gets sun pretty much all year round, which could house more than enough solar panels to power our entire country.
it is super annoying when people try to enforce orthodoxy/orthopraxy within witchcraft, which is not even a religion let alone a hierarchical one with a centralized authority empowered to pronounce dogma.
No one has the power to say “this isn’t magic” about someone else’s spiritual disciplines because that’s literally not how any of this works.
There’s no witchcraft Pope. And even if there was it wouldn’t be some punk ass children on tumblr who have nothing better to do than make an anonymous bullying blog on tumblr.com
EVERY TIME SOMEONE BRINGS UP THE LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA I GET SO ANGRY.
but why
Because it got burned. All of that knowledge, lost forever.
The library was destroyed over 1000’s of years ago. The library consisted of thousands of scrolls and books about mathematics, engineering, physiology, geography, blueprints, medicine, plays, & important scriptures. Thinkers from all over the Mediterranean used to come to Alexandria to study.Most of the major work of civilization up until that point was lost. If the library still survived till this day, society may have been more advanced and we would sure know more about the ancient world.
That graphic grinds my gears every time I see it
romans.
Julius Caesar to be precise
Remember this when you’re conquering. Keep the books.
THIS HURTS MY HEART SO MUCH EVERY TIME ITS BROUGHT UP
Ok but I love how people are starting to call it the Christian Dark Ages, not just the Dark Ages bc loads of shit was going on all around the world, just not in a lot of Christian parts.
does anybody have that one comic of a stick person driving home and suddenly thinking “penis” and making a face that looks like
I KNEW I HAD THIS SOMEWHERE AND THIS IS THE FIRST POST I FOUND EVEN RELATED TO IT ON GOOGLE. AFTER LIKE AN HOUR OF DIGGING THROUGH VINTAGE MEMES I FOUND IT.
instead of wheel of the year im using wheel of witchblr discourse that makes the rounds every few months to tell time and figure out when to plant and harvest my crops.
my new sabbat list includes:
someone doesnt understand the 3fold law is only a wiccan thing and starts curse-shaming non-wiccans for cursing
the “blessed be” debacle happens again, creepy invasiveness be damned
people conflating wicca with witchcraft / gatekeeping other people’s crafts
cultural appropriation in droves so we have to bring out the afterschool special ^tm posts (special addition, appropriating person says “i was that race, but like,,in a past life”)
someone wants to shame people who like aesthetics, calls them “fluffy bunnies”
TEH BURNING TYMES WERE REAL AYE TELL YEA AND I SAW GOODY PROCTOR WITH TEH DEVIL
“witchcraft is only for cis womyn uwu✿
” bullshit, sometimes even brought back by terfs that dont even practice witchcraft ??¿?
someone has a problem with other people using emoji spells, despite no one forcing this rando to use emoji spells.
“love spells are basically rape” discourse happens about the same as a blue moon
this shit happens like clockwork man im telling ya
You mean report them for it? Yeah you can! I actually did and everyone who has had their content posted there should def report them for copyright violation. I actually just reblogged something with the steps for it 💛
hey y’all do yourselves a favor and block @this-isnt-magic ( yes, i’m tagging you directly. i’m not scared of backlash like you are. i’m not going to hide from you. ) . in their own words, “ we feature the worst of the worst from witchblr, from nonfunctional glitter jar spells to astral pregnancy.” and that they’re doing this because “there’s a severe lack of callouts for the abysmal magic community on tumblr”. ( which is a fancy way of saying they bully people because they feel like it ) some of their tagging systems consist of #imaginary friends, #occupational therapy ( mines under this one !!!! c: ), and #citation needed.
What if there were women’s cleanliness products that were marketed the way Old Spice stuff is? Like they had names like “Lioness” and “Sycamore” and “Wildfire” and “Hunter’s Moon” and they were touted as making you smell like a warrior queen who does not suffer fools and conquers all she beholds
HELLO LADIES
have you felt the primal call of the unmerciful sea calling you to strike down those who would defy you? no? well if you stopped using overpriced flower-scented body wash and switched to SEA HAG, you might.
look down.
back up. where are you? you’re a siren, bare-breasted and shrieking as you lure the unwary to their doom on the rocks below. and you smell amazing.
what’s in your hand? back at me. it’s a vial of skin-nourishing ingredients, derived from the seaweed you used to strangle a hated foe. it does wonders for your skin tone and resilience, and we all can agree that we will need that resilience in the coming war.
look again: the seaweed is now a formal apology from the last man who unnecessarily tried to explain something to you.
anything is possible when you smell like a vengeful sea witch and embrace your own rage. i’m on a narwhal.
Good news, everyone! We’re right here waiting for you, whenever you’re ready, and we do not suffer fools.
This trio is a good starter pack for hags, scolds, warrior queens, and Nasty Women of both land and sea:
Black fig and patchouli, filthy bourbon vanilla, honeyed amber oud, and loukhoum. (Proceeds will be split between Planned Parenthood and EMILY’s list.)
Named in honor of the most notorious female pirate to ever set sail. Wicked, cruel, beautiful, intelligent, resourceful and dangerous: a true role model. A blend of Indonesian red patchouli, red sandalwood, and frankincense.
Just a friendly reminder that everyone practices witchcraft in their own way, and there is no right or wrong way to do it. Do what makes you feel comfortable, you and your practice are valid. 🔮✨
Obviously, some magick is like totally fake and needs to be called out (*cough* @this-isnt-magic *cough*). This spell is designed to repel “fake” magick, help you see “real” magick, and only perform “correct” spells.
Gather | NO SUBSTITUTIONS
🤯 ½ cup of bullshit – only real bull’s shit is allowed.
🤯 2 real wands with real magick that I crafted in my real witch temple.
🤯 1 magick eraser – my books said these are the only real magickal erasers.
🤯 4 Tumblr tears – because I’m #edgy
🤯 1 Road salt – much more potent and harder to collect. Don’t complain.
Process | DON’T BE LAZY
Mix the tumblr tears with the road salt, stirring at a 45 degree angle with your two wands. The wands should be held exactly 2mm apart and traveling at .25 mph around your bowl. NO EXCEPTIONS.
Add your ½ cup of bullshit. Just do it.
Now say the incantation, “I’m a real witch. Like a REAL witch. Not like those fakers.”
Rub the eraser against your forehead to erase all the bad tumblr posts that were “forced” onto you.
Moving Forward
Surprise, you aren’t actually better than anyone else.
Um??? Obviously it’s not witchcraft if you dont include at least 4 pounds of ableism!! or at least a healthy dose of home grown classism???
Buddy, pal, gurl, muh dude,
How could you possibly forget that ¼ pound of racism and the 1/3 cup sexism? It’s subtle but it’s SOOO important
my favorite thing about what’s been happening with the thisinstmagic issue is that a lot of the posts they’ve been screencapping and making fun of are being reblogged unironically by other witches who feel the sincerity and positivity of their messages – and each post being made fun of is getting more notes than anything posted on that rotten blog.
keep spreading the love witchblr, spread new and unique ideas that will go on to inspire others 💕
My personal interpretation: Either you’re on a new medication that causes vivid dreams, or your subconscious is really trying to work something out and bring it to your attention.
Dream Witch here!
If its not medication (or change in diet) that is causing the dream, it could very well be something your subconscious is trying to bring your attention to.
Generally a note in a dream, especially one that holds your attention means that there is something you need to bring attention to and often relates to honesty. Most of the time its emotional honesty but it can also mean you need to accept something or tell someone the truth after keeping it hidden for a while. The word on the note very well could be the “key” to what you need to bring attention to.
Feel free to IM me if you are every interested in deciphering more! I adore dream interpretation
Willow Wisp's Witching Corner 