The FT post on 'Why online propaganda mobs are an investment red flag' (in reference to financial markets, not politics).
The article is quite long, but well worth reading in full if you can access it (link here, FT is gated).
It notes the tactics used by 'online mobs' to discredit valid arguments (thus making them transparent to informed investors), using Tesla and Ripple as examples. It concludes (this is the gist of it):
- it's arguably not in anyone's interests to over-regulate such mobs or deprive them of their right to misinform. Instead, their very presence should be considered a financial indicator. A good investment can withstand scrutiny and do so without needing to draw on the services of online cheerleaders. But a brigading mob on social media promoting a venture or a scheme is a clear-cut sign of its inability to gain traction on merits alone.
- If and when corporate executives understand this, online propaganda mobs will become corporate liabilities that they themselves will want to regulate and tone down.
