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It turns out Russian bots and trolls aren’t just obsessed with influencing U.S. elections, they also desire the complete and total control of all perceived opinion of Hollywood blockbusters. 

Case in point: “Star Wars: The Last Jedi”

According to a U.S. academic study at USC, half of all negative tweets about the 2017 movie came from bots, trolls or political activists, some of whom may be Russian.

From Reuters:

“Many lashed out at key roles given to women and actors of color in the movie, while others were dismayed at the apparent death of Skywalker, played by Mark Hamill.

A study by University of Southern California (USC) research fellow Morten Bay, released on Monday, analyzed the language, Twitter handles and IP addresses of more than 1,200 tweets sent to “Last Jedi” director Rian Johnson’s Twitter handle in the seven months after the film’s release.

‘Overall, 50.9 percent of those tweeting negatively was likely politically motivated or not even human,’ Bay wrote. He said they appeared to be using the debate around ‘The Last Jedi’

“to propagate political messages supporting extreme right-wing causes and the discrimination of gender, race or sexuality.”

‘A number of these users appear to be Russian trolls,’ Bay added in the paper, called ‘Weaponizing the Haters: The Last Jedi and the strategic politicization of pop culture through social media manipulation.’”

WIBC host Tony Katz:

“What does the Alt Right have to do with ‘Star Wars’? Is it that they see Disney as a leftist organization, and so therefore, they’re going to screw with them and hurt them in the pocketbook? I suppose it’s possible. I mean it’s no different than NBC lying about Brett Kavanaugh, right?” 

Click the link below to hear Tony’s full commentary: