Unleash the trolls: the worrying way Mukhtar Ablyazov deals with fellow activists

Mukhtar Ablyazov Mukhtar Ablyazov

There are people who do not tolerate any competition. In a declared ‘fight for democracy’ certain politicians neglect the very basic principles of democracy itself. Such is the case of Mukhtar Ablyazov, the oligarch that wants to monopolize the opposition and rule it single-handedly, Assay News concludes. Without any alternatives or choice, as democracy demands.

Troll farms and internet trolls are generally associated with certain governments’ attempt to skew the elections, referendums, values and social beliefs of the adverse countries. Could the troll farming confined to such tasks never develop to such a flourishing business. In fact most trolls are employed by minor politicians and activists to pursue their own agenda. One of such employers is Kazakh fugitive Mukhtar Ablyazov. He gives a job to an adorable army of the trolls.

Mukhtar Ablyazov employs a commercial internet troll farm in Russia. In exchange the fake ‘supporters’ ensure that Ablyazov is viewed as ‘the main opposition figure’ in Kazakhstan, at least online. Any critics of Mukhtar Ablyazov are immediately attacked by hundreds of angry commenters. Almost all of them are paid by the oligarch on the run. The trolls are not the best of their kind but they are numerous.

We’ve spotted the coordinated fake user activity long ago. Now is the best time to expose it. Let’s dive into the intricate troll anatomy for a while.

How to spot Mukhtar Ablyazov’s [or any other] internet troll

  • Trolls are untidy. They do not have avatar images, their profiles are empty and they have no or very little subscribers. They do not post any content except the comments.
  • Trolls do not lurk over the posts: they come only to the post they are paid for. Thus, sudden spike of interest in a certain post may indicate the presence of trolls.
  • Trolls do not try to add something important to the discussion. They just type in comment and re-login to another account to throw in another. They rarely answer to other threads. They virtually never engage themselves in the discussion.
  • Trolls are immune to any critique. And most of them post very simple, idiotic comments like “Glory to the leader!”, “Glory to Mukhtar Ablyazov!”, “Long live DVK [Ablyazov’s political movement – edit.]”. Once confronted they yell at the opponent that he/she is a troll. Insults are common.
Screenshot of a typical Ablyazov’s trolls’ activity.

The case study: Aidos Sadykov criticizes Mukhtar Ablyazov

Aidos Sadykov is a prominent Kazakhstani blogger residing in Kyiv. With 742K subscribers he is the most popular political blogger in the local Youtube. Aidos Sadykov is in opposition to Nazarbayev and the current establishment of Kazakhstan. Despite having the common enemy – the regime in Kazakhstan – Aidos Sadykov and Mukhtar Ablyazov do not enjoy a friendly relationship. Mukhtar Ablyazov, the oligarch and former statesman views grassroot activist Aidos Sadykov as an adversary. Aidos Sadykov considers Mukhtar Ablyazov just using democratic ideas to take the place of Nazarbayev himself. Sadykov supposes that Mukhtar Ablyazov easily switches sides and pretends to be opposition only to secure his refugee status in France. The views that we share, by the way.

The empty profiles are common for low quality trolls Mukhtar Ablyazov employs:

After sharing of a critical post Sadykov was overrun with troll attacks by hired bots of the very low quality, known as Ablyazov’s army. In fact it yields nothing for Mukhtar Ablyazov, but with billions in pockets he enjoys this roadside show just for fun. It gives him the illusion of power. By employing the trolls to suppress critique Mukhtar Ablyazov comes close to the authoritarian rulers he pretends to fight with.

You may proceed to discussion, turn on the Google translator and enjoy the show. It’s truly vital to the understanding of trolling techniques.