It doesn’t surprise me that you would write someone off as a conspiracy theorist, so I don’t take much issues with your opinion on that.

There is most certainly foreign issues imposing their will on the US, some are successful some are not. this is no different than another country, it’s how Geo-politics works.

When Trump meets with putin, both sides will try to impose there policies on each other.

Then there is the darker side of this with foreign propaganda being injected into things like social media to influence the opinion of the general public.

Removed by mod

How so?

There isnt any reason why it can’t be both, and in my opinion it very much is.

So i see this alot and i understand it but at least in my country (canada) i have been torrenting for well over 15 years with out a vpn. The worst case is a 5k fine total but not before a letter from the isp forwarded to me on behalf of the copyright holder. Which i can ignore with out any issue since they have no idea who i am.

Issues will arise if you reply to them.

So is vpn required?

it depends on where you live and your confort with your risk.