Litmus test: Are they suddenly getting widespread positive coverage in western news?
But the real answer is that every protest is on a spectrum between the two. What makes a color revolution so effective is that it redirects legitimate alienation towards reactionary ends
Potential for co-option always blurs the line, too, especially in cases like decentralized Occupy sort of stuff. That sort of leaderless, ad-hoc angle can have perks, but leaves a fundamental opening for bad actors.
Litmus test: Are they suddenly getting widespread positive coverage in western news?
Came here to post this same thing. More to it than that, and there's a lot of great answers here, but that is a shortcut to at least determine if its sus.
Color revolutions:
English signs in a country where nobody speaks English.
Anglo media platforms those protests.
Anglo social media does nothing but talk about them.
Democracy^TM^
Leaders are all cutouts of some Western NGO.
Leaders speak perfect English.
Memes and symbols that come from the protests can always be perfectly translated into English with no cultural context lost.
There's also some dipshit French public intellectual^TM^ who always shows up right when a color revolution is about to commence, but I forgot the dude's name.
::: spoiler colour revolution pics with flags in them
★★★★★
I mean, one big red flag in a color revolution is... uh.. everyone coordinating around a big colored flag.
Can't help but notice a huge fixation on liberal talking points - fixations on "free press" and "free trade" and "no more corruption", particularly absent any tolerance for criticism of western venues. Any time people start waving American / British / French flags, that's a huge warning sign. Insinuations that the current head of state is either a closeted homosexual or secretly about to die are also great signifiers. The hornier the press is for a potential replacement ~~dictator~~ senior executive, the more likely its an Op.
1: lots of signs in English (assuming it's a non-English speaking country)
2: really vague, buzzword based political goals ("democracy" "freedom" "power to the people")
Is a color Revolution just like an astroturf by the fed and private business
Yeah, it's just a Cold War-era term for sabotage via astroturfed counterrevolution.
The amount of English used. English communications are usually for a foreign, likely American or general Western audience.
Obviously this only applies to non English speaking countries, or countries where English is not the lingua franca.
Empty cardboard boxes in israel labeled "BABY FOOD"
Or when Israel has propaganda videos telling Gazans what to do, in English while the internet is cut off in Gaza.
Mild push back here, a lot of pro-palestine stuff is in English even from Palestine.
Are there a bunch of British and American flags being waved by the protestors? Do they have a bunch of signs in english for no reason? Are they asking for foreign intervention from NATO or the US? Is CNN and other bourgeois media reporting on it nonstop, and are they described as freedom fighters by such media? It's always kind of obvious when it's a color revolution.
How the Western media covers it within the 
Yeah this is the best way. Does the USA endorse the protests? Then something's fishy.
When Azov Nazis showed up at the HK protests a few years ago, you just know.
Well most protest movements will be attempted to get co-opted by the us, if they aid the us empires wants, but that's not really answering your question.
If all the signs are in English you might be in a color revolution. If you're demonstrating for vague amaricanized ideals like a general sense of "freedom" you might be in a colour revolution. If you get a lot of attention from us media, despite having a small size, you might be in a color revolution. If your "leaders" seemingly come out of nowhere and all have 
vibes, you just might be in a colour revolution
The protest's endgoal seems to be about opening up the country to increased Western capital.
Support from OSINT
Support from OSINT
Damn, this is so good. Another good criterion.
The thing about spycraft is you you will never really know for sure. However, if it serves western interests it doesn't matter. You have to treat them like it is
In non-English speaking countries: more signs in English than the local language(s). Memes relating to Western popular culture, extensively shared on western media platforms (Instagram, Facebook)
Hlaf agree on this because of the english in signs BUT the simpsons are latin american heritage and you will see memes with them
Yeah definitely, I guess it's an indicator not a smoking gun. Personally I was thinking the Hunger Games/Milktea Alliance stuff in SE Asia, I'm not familiar with latin American memes.
Vincent Bevins wrote a book on protests movements. I recommend reading it: "If we burn". Weirdly pro-HK protests perspective, but salvageable. The internet gave the US a lot of tools to brainfry people by amplyfing the right protests and messages within large protests, along with the western media empires in general, and especially horizontalist movements suffer from it pretty badly, being not able to out-maneuver ngos or having no idea how to wield power, so that the systemic inertia of western imperialism made a lot of things skew towards western interests without any active subjective input.
It's not binary, it's normally messy, politics is very messy
Yeah, US State/CIA don't create these kind of protests out of thin air. They usually insert themselves into legitimate protests movements of people with real issues with their government, but who don't want to overthrow it and become US puppets.
That's what happened at the Tianemen Square protests. The mass of people were socialists students with issues they cared about, but US State backed elements worked their way into coopting it. The Belarus protests from a few years ago is a more recent example.
Another good example of the US co-opting an existing movement (albiet on a larger scale) is how the CIA trained and equipped the Mujahideen to kill the Soviets in Afghanistan.
Exactly. They look for existing movements and conflicts that they can use as a vehicle for their own aims. And then use propaganda to make Westoids believe its good for them too
This post is dedicated to the brave Mujahideen fighters of Afghanistan
Are all the major media channels covering it non stop in the exact same way?
Are US politicians constantly talking about it?
Most likely orders were handed down to show and say exactly what to manufacture consent.
Are they waving the flags of the great Satan and one of the most violent imperialist countries in modern history?
Banned? DM Wmill to appeal.
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