Has there been an uptick in politically inflammatory rhetoric being posted online in the leadup to the 2026 midterms?

[u/Turn_Automatic]

[u/AngriestManinWestTX]

Yes.

People were saying that things seemed "calmer" after the attack on the Russian data centers but I honestly saw no change. And even if there was, it was a brief reprieve that has ended. The amount of crazy shit I see on Reddit, Facebook, Threads, and Twitter is staggering. The bot farms/edit: troll farms, disinformation peddlers, paid nutjobs, and morons are working double overtime to sway opinions here in the final lead up to the midterms.

[u/DJShaw86 → u/AngriestManinWestTX]

I strongly suspect that the "bots got quieter" narrative was, in fact, itself Russian info ops.  Consider:

a) Russia is not the only country to run psywar bots.

b) Not all of Russia's bots come from three Yandex datacentres.

c) We do not know what bots Yandex was running.

"Bots got quieter" is simplistic , reductive, and leads people to believe that all of the interactions they see supporting divisive political opinions come from "real" people for that window of time, ironically making them more effective. However, it has concentrated minds on the fact that the internet lives in real infrastructure that you can wallop with a cruise missile, so there is that, I guess?

[u/Klightgrove → u/AngriestManinWestTX]

We say “Russian bots” as a joke but the list is all inclusive:

- Nigeria (where most initial network access comes from and is sold to national state threat actors)

- India, Pakistan, Philippines

- China, Russia, North Korea

and just outsiders in tons of other countries trying to stir the pot. the sad thing is how quickly you realize your communities are overrun and no one cares because the bots say what you like to hear.

[u/Confident_Benefit_11 → u/Klightgrove]

I mean, Russian bots isn't a joke, it is the best and primary user of bots on the world stage. Maga, afd, reform Russian puppet parties across NATO and all the misinformation bullshit comes directly from them over the past decade and world leaders and CEOS have barely spoken about it. It's disgusting

[u/AngriestManinWestTX → u/Klightgrove]

That is true. A lot of accounts aren't full on bots so much as they are paid trolls.

the sad thing is how quickly you realize your communities are overrun and no one cares because the bots say what you like to hear.

Yup. We're all being fed curated information and it's very important to realize that as we form and discuss our opinions regardless of what they are.

[u/sunfisk → u/AngriestManinWestTX]

I saw immense change, but I'm guessing (sorry to stereotype) that a guy in Texas is gonna have a very different algorithm from my queer, trans ass. The almost relentless hate and abuse we face online was so noticeably reduced in MANY (not all) spaces, we were like o shit I guess the literal entire world doesn't want us to suffer then die, good to know.

But that doesn't change how pissed everyone is about politics. The stakes are high, we're peaking in the natural 80 year cycle of social pressure that we see in the world. Cops are all out shooting up and assaulting the populace to protect corporate interest, world leaders are very openly screaming about how eager they are to use literal nukes on everyone else, rapists are being appointed to the highest posts and removing all protections of youths and victims of all types. Russian bots only contributed so much when the world has too many actual reasons to be angry.

[u/Callec254]

Always has been, in every election, since the Internet went mainstream.

[u/LastFightWasCrazy]

Eh, not really. Stirring up drama and shit isn’t really new. 3rd-parties with malicious intent have tried interfering with politics everywhere and they do it all the time. Several countries are essentially proven to have interfered with Britain's Scottish independence referendum as well as Brexit.

[u/StaffShamin → u/LastFightWasCrazy]

Dead internet theory starts looking more real every single day.

[u/Neat-Razzmatazz-5837]

More and more I dismiss problematic points of view as most likely just bots stirring things up.

[u/Feeling-Attention664]

I am seeing more attacks on Democrats on Quora. Anecdotal though. I haven't counted them.

[u/TillPsychological351]

On Reddit? It's just another Tuesday.

[u/satoshisfeverdream]

Must be new here

[u/Super_Mario_Luigi]

It's the same as always. Although the nob is turned up on "women's issues"

[u/PrincessPlusUltra]

Trump has a politically inflammatory speech rally on national TV almost every day as no president has done before

[u/RioutousGull]

I mean, aren't elections the perfect time for everyone on every side to spew inflammatory rhetoric? When else would you expect them to have fun?

[u/Phog_of_War]

Everytime since the invention and subsuquent widespread use of the internet.

[u/troycalm]

About the same as any other election season

[u/rowena_solace]

the AI stuff is what scares me. like 80 percent of the AI ads are coming from one side and some of em are straight up fake. that el sayed one where they faked him laughing at 9/11 cards. thats not a joke thats a whole fake reality being fed to ppl who wont check. and it works bc nobody fact checks a video

[u/Turn_Automatic]

I mostly use reddit, but I feel like over the past few weeks, tons of posts from subreddits I don’t usually see are coming up with very politically charged imagery, and the top comments aren’t the most upvoted ones, but they have pretty inflammatory statements, and without fail when I check they’re private accounts made like 8 days ago.

[u/notaredditer13]

Yes, that's how it works.

[u/VIP_NAIL_SPA]

Depends. Is the sun hot?

[u/Ambitious-Row-3441]

You think?

[u/Confident_Benefit_11]

Not really because pedo dumpy is single handedly forcing the US to suck Putin's cock. I'd say it's an appropriate amount of posts for this event

[u/Both_Lynx_8750]

yes always

[u/44035]

There's an increase before every election

[u/raziridium]

There always is

[u/JeremyTheJimbler]

Absolutely. Chud subs are getting pushed on peoples pages on Reddit. Posts are getting a huge influx of right wing trolls.

[u/Missmessc]

Yes

[u/LunchCautious8781]

Yes.

[u/virtual_human]

People are being openly assaulted and brown shirts in masks are disappearing people of the street, maybe.

[u/jayron32]

In other news, it turns out that things get wet when it rains...

[u/ChikenCherryCola]

Not really. Things have been pretty hot since trumps first term online. Gamer gate was famously kind of like the WW1 of internet meme wars. We have debatably been in perpetual online political conflict since then.

[u/Weary_Capital_1379]

Who knows what online is real, AI generated, coming from abroad?

[u/ACommonMarble]

No. Reddit has consistently been a poltical shithole since I started lurking a decade ago.

[u/titttle23]

Not if your sprinkle in BL manhwa content. It goes away real fast.

[u/Critical_Cat_8162]

Yes. Until Zelensky bombed the shit out of Russia's data centers.

[u/Duangelion]

And a temporary downtick after Ukraine hit a known troll farm.

[u/ri89rc20]

Certainly, that can be said as any election approaches. I think this year is both tragic and comic in that it is a bit entertaining to see politicians try to paint high gas and diesel prices as "good", as well as seeing some republicans try to distance themselves from Trump, but not too far, and take a firm stand on something, only to walk it back because either Trump changed his mind or they very thing they supported blew up in their face. Just go to a political event and ask a republican congressman "So, do you support the building of data centers and the expansion of AI (or SI if you really want to confuse them) because President Trump strongly supports them?"

There is a lot of gymnastics and squirming around going on out there, and rightly so, people are calling them out on it.

[u/Ninevehenian]

I've seen bots grow more intense around the subject of Israel.
I saw a number of necomancing bots leading up to the election, but they've grown silent again.
The GOP bots are there, but not oveerhelming and seemingly not convincing.