【Secret Tutoring (2018)】

Sometimes you just have Secret Tutoring (2018)to meet the idiot masses on their level.

That appears to be the thinking of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, a part of the Department of Homeland Security, which took pains to explain foreign interference operations in a way the common dumb-dumb just might be able to maybeunderstand. Namely, with pineapple pizza.

The agency created an infographic, promoted in a pizza-themed July 25 tweet, that reframes the known Russian interference in the 2016 election as a matter of culinary disagreement. In this CISA-provided example, instead of Russians attempting to sow division among Americans by inciting race-based violence, the hypothetical foreign adversary in question wants to make us battle it out over pineapple pizza.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

"To date, we have no evidence of Russia (or any nation) actively carrying out information operations against pizza toppings," reads the document linked in the above tweet. "This infographic is an ILLUSTRATION of how information operations have been carried out in the past to exploit divisions in the United States."

And what an illustration it is! The infographic takes the curious reader on a journey into the depths of just how, exactly, we are set against ourselves.

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

"Foreign influencers are constantly on the lookout for opportunities to inflame hot button issues in the United States," notes the CISA graphic. "They don’t do this to win arguments; they want to see us divided."

Said foreign influence operations, CISA warns, might take to social media to troll U.S. users with comments like: "Being anti-pineapple is un-American! Millennials are ruining pizza! Keep your pineapple off my pizza! What’s wrong with plain old cheese?"

SEE ALSO: No, Incognito mode won't keep your porn habits private. This will.

While the example provided is perhaps dumbed down to suit the likes of the QAnon crowd (or maybe the Pizzagaters?), the larger CISA message is in fact a good one. Essentially, be skeptical of sketchy social media accounts and examine the potential motivations of people stirring up shit.

And then go ahead and enjoy your pizza — pineapple or not.

---

Featured Video For You

---

Russia reportedly made a bigger use of Instagram than Facebook during elections

---

Topics Cybersecurity

• Digital Culture
• Deals
• Tech
• Shopping
• Games
• Life
• Entertainment
• Social Good

• Robin Triumphant
• Nutella quietly changes its beloved recipe
• Google Assistant can now identify almost any song playing near you
• Russian trolls pushed the California and Texas secession movements
• Time to Unite
• Las Vegas and AAA launch a new driverless shuttle service
• Google's Pixel 2 XL update should fix the screen burn issues
• Instagram will notify users when they're not disclosing #ad
• Best robot vacuum deal: Save $140 on roborock Q7 Max Robot Vacuum
• Look up this week to see the moon encounter two star clusters

• What Does an Italo Calvino Look Like as a Building?
• New York City's AI plan: These are the key takeaways
• Max de Radiguès and the Difficult Age
• What causes vaginal dryness?
• Mark Zuckerberg has promised to make your Facebook and Instagram feeds even worse
• NYT's The Mini crossword answers for October 17
• The 15 best and funniest tweets of the week, including space photos, and West Virginia
• Having Trouble Sleeping? Read This Extremely Boring Writing…
• 10 signs it's time to make your side hustle your main gig
• What If Algorithms Made Cities? Daniel Brown’s Dystopian Photos

• SpaceX's Starlink satellite launch in pictures
• Edible glitter lattes are the latest travesty to happen to coffee
• Major internet outage hits the U.S.
• Here's what Android looked like a decade ago
• NYT Strands hints, answers for May 18
• Tiffany & Co. is selling a $9,000 ball of yarn and everything is ridiculous
• Good news: The iPhone X won't bend in your super skinny jeans
• Apple: iPhone X display 'burn in' and 'visual changes' can happen
• I'm a college professor. My advice to young people who feel hooked on tech
• 'Stranger Things' almost killed off Eleven

• Google Pixel Buds Pro 2: $40 off at Amazon
• If you've Instagrammed the Mona Lisa, you might be in this short film
• Apple sees fewer people updating to iOS 11 as bugs persist
• Snap lost $40 million on Spectacles
• Waymo data shows humans are terrible drivers compared to AI
• Here's what it's like to have climate change affect your island home
• Get cheeky at Paris' first naked restaurant, where diners eat escargot in the buff
• Apple: iPhone X display 'burn in' and 'visual changes' can happen
• 10 Tech Predictions for 2017
• Romantic guy takes over a showing of 'Thor: Ragnarok' for a very sweet proposal