The United States on Friday released a U.S. intelligence assessment sent to more than 100 countries that found Moscow is using spies, social media and Russian state-run media to erode public faith in the integrity of democratic elections worldwide.

The United States on Friday released a U.S. intelligence assessment sent to more than 100 countries that found Moscow is using spies, social media and Russian state-run media to erode public faith in the integrity of democratic elections worldwide.

“This is a global phenomenon,” said the assessment. “Our information indicates that senior Russian government officials, including the Kremlin, see value in this type of influence operation and perceive it to be effective.”

A senior State Department official, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity, said that Russia was encouraged to intensify its election influence operations by its success in amplifying disinformation about the 2020 U.S. election and the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • prole@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    122·
    1 year ago

    Whataboutism is like false choice and straw man combined. Not only is the suggestion that one needs to choose between being critical of Russia or US, that it’s either/or, but you’re also then implying that the person you’re replying to is making an argument in support of one of the things. That they can’t possibly believe both things to be bad.

    They are only talking about one BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT THE DISCUSSION IS ABOUT.

    It’s fallacious, so yes, its time is never.

    • Ann Archy@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      1 year ago

      It is called a false dichotomy:

      False Dichotomy is a formal fallacy based on an “either-or” type of argument. Two choices are presented, when more might exist, and the claim is made that one is false and one is true - or one is acceptable and the other is not. Often, there are other alternatives which haven’t been considered, or both choices might be false or true

      • prole@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        I am aware of what a false dichotomy is. Some people use it interchangeably with “false choice/dilemma”.

        Been years since I took a logic course, but here’s a link that talks about the differences:

        You might have heard the terms “false dichotomy” and “false analogy.” Both share similarities with the false dilemma fallacy. In fact, some people don’t make a distinction between a false dilemma and a false dichotomy. Those who make the distinction define a false dilemma as a fallacious argument that presents the two options as the only two options, while a false dichotomy is the misinformed belief that the two options presented are the only two options.

        https://www.grammarly.com/blog/false-dilemma-fallacy/

        • Ann Archy@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          1 year ago

          Oh, yeah no I just dropped that as a general FYI for anyone passing by not as engaging with the argument, I find a lot of people don’t know.

        • TokenBoomer@lemmy.worldEnglish
          36·
          1 year ago

          If this were rational you wouldn’t be giving it so much energy. The whataboutism would have been dismissed and people would have moved on and focused on the article. The fact that the whataboutism worked shows just how irrational this is. It proves that the whataboutism is a valid point.