Yeah, you’re right, Russia isn’t the only one with troll farms. At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s some based in every country in the world. Not all of them state sponsored, but it’s an effective strategy to disrupt communities and keep people from working together. Edit: though I’ve come to see it as kinda like Kleenex, where the entire phenomenon is referred to as Russian trolling even though not all trolls are Russian brand trolls.

And you’re also right about that last point. I don’t know if there is an effective way to deal with them. Even if someone called out as a troll really is one, just calling them out can alienate others who resonated with what the troll said.

I’m not sure if there even is an effective counter strategy.