The army of social media bots is one strand of hybrid warfare. Having open, democratic (on paper) societies makes them easier to exploit, particularly when so much of western life and arguing debate is conducted on social media platforms.
They’ve been adept at exploiting the weaknesses in these systems more and more in recent years, compounded by our own sides going at it during election and referendum run ins. It’s a toxic mix, but one we’ve essentially allowed to happen due to complacency. The global anarchism of nation states, corporations and incredibly wealthy individuals, all with their own specific agendas, indicates it can only get worse.
If someone had shown me footage of the US from this year ten years ago, I’d have balked at that fact. But here it is. Cambridge A are just the tip of the iceberg - eg it isn’t beyond the realms of possibility that a foreign agency hacked the Iranian defence sector and enabled the shooting down of that Iranian airliner recently. Would be an extremely efficient method of denying liability, exposing the Iranian military as inept and forcing that regime to accept liability in killing its own citizens.
The Beast on all sides is alive, well and sipping the finest cognacs as we type.