#Misinformation#FactChecking#Disinformation#Propaganda#News#Media#Democracy: "If you think people are gullible, misinformation is rampant, and misinformation is the leading cause of troubling beliefs and behaviour in society, it makes sense to try to design interventions that teach people to be more paranoid about misinformation. However, if you think—as seems to be the case—that people are already highly suspicious of manipulation and low-quality misinformation is relatively rare in their information diet, you will realise there is a high chance such interventions will backfire, exacerbating problems of distrust that lie at the root of many profound epistemic problems in society.
It also illustrates why it is appropriate to hold misinformation researchers and misinformation interventions to very high standards. Even if expert classifications and research are not being used to censor, there is a risk that faulty and highly subjective assumptions will shape popular, well-funded interventions that either achieve little of value or worsen the problems they aim to fix."
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton recently attacked Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) over his support for the $95 billion supplemental foreign aid package that passed the US Senate.
Cornyn didn't let the attack stand without firing off a pithy response of his own.
Earlier, 22 Senate Republicans joined 48 Democrats and independents in voting to pass a bill to provide additional funding to US allies overseas after a long weekend of debates and amendments.
Cornyn — one of the highest-ranking Republicans — joined Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) and a score of other more moderate GOP senators in supporting it.
This prompted Paxton to accuse Cornyn of "stay[ing] up all night to defend other countries' borders, but not America."
In response, Cornyn quote-tweeted Paxton's post, writing,
"Ken, your criminal defense lawyers are calling to suggest you 🔥spend less time pushing #Russian#propaganda and 🔥more time defending longstanding #felony#charges against you in Houston, as well as ongoing federal grand jury proceedings in San Antonio that will probably result in further criminal charges."🔥
Interview with Max Blumenthal of The Grayzone.
So, the Washington Post for the second time this year has been slating The Grayzone, as well as other independent investigative media, for shining a light on what actually happened on Oct 7th. They got personal and accused them of being funded by Iran and Russia. US corporate media really getting desperate.
Plus some analysis of the latest ceasefire proposal.
A report by the New York Times revealed that Israel's Ministry of Diaspora Affairs funded a $2 million covert influence campaign to target U.S. lawmakers and the public during the Gaza conflict.
The campaign, executed by Tel Aviv-based Stoic, a political marketing firm, targeted the American public and members of Congress through hundreds of fake accounts on X, #Facebook, and #Instagram to advocate for continued military funding.
In the process, three fake English-language news sites were set up to support the campaign and bolster support for Israel's actions in #Gaza.
putin said to many news outlets that "Russia did not attack Ukraine, but defended itself" (TASS) I guess by invading Ukraine which somehow is not an attack. It's not even a good lie.
He also said "Former US President Donald Trump is being persecuted for political reasons, and this fact destroys Washington’s imaginary leadership in the sphere of democracy" (TASS). Mr. putin, is the imaginary leadership in the room with us?
A 2nd #Trump admin could #weaponize existing government agencies to dismantle democracy itself.
This article is part of “Project 2025: The Plot Against #America,” a Nation special issue devoted to unpacking the right’s vast & chilling program for a 2nd Trump term.
managing elections to benefit himself & his #Republican allies; gutting public broadcasting & constraining #press#freedom; & undermining civil society. #Trump, who…demanded that the results of #Georgia’s 2020…[election] be “recalculated” to give him a win, wants the trappings of #democracy w/o the reality of electoral consequences. That’s what #propaganda experts Edward Herman & Frank Brodhead described as “demonstration elections,” in which…wins are assured for the #authoritarians….
'Israel organized and paid for an influence campaign last year targeting U.S. lawmakers and the American public with pro-Israel messaging, as it aimed to foster support for its actions in the war with Gaza, according to officials involved in the effort and documents related to the operation.'
Their billionaire owners don’t want Biden’s #WealthTax
Before you take anything the Journal says seriously, remember that #RupertMurdoch owns the rag and is doing everything he can to flood the zone with pro-#MAGA#propaganda
Epoch Times Executive Accused of Laundering $67 Million
Weidong Guan was charged with three counts in a scheme that the Justice Department said caused revenue to surge for the company, which has promoted Donald Trump and conspiracy theories.
Weidong "Bill" Guan, CFO of far-right Epoch Times, arrested in the US for his part in conspiracy to launder a massive $67 million in fraudulent proceeds.
Curiously, no reports currently on Epoch Times outlets. 😂
This trial exposed how much David Pecker helped Trump by constantly putting fake negative news about his opponents on every grocery store aisle in America. Pecker freely admitted it. I wonder if that exposure has done anything to change the minds of people who believed those stories. Or whether these people might view future tabloid headlines with a more skeptical eye. Probably not.
US State Department official resigns, says US report on #Gaza inaccurate
A U.S. State Department official who quit this week said on Thursday her resignation was precipitated by an administration report to #Congress that she said falsely stated #Israel was not blocking #humanitarian aid to Gaza, prompting her to resign in protest of President Joe #Biden's Israel policy.
Stacy Gilbert, who served in the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, was a subject matter expert working on the report.
"There is so clearly a right and wrong, and what is in that report is wrong," Gilbert said in an interview.
#OpenAI removed accounts associated w/well-known #propaganda ops in #Russia, #China & #Iran; an #Israeli political campaign firm; & a previously unknown group originating in Russia that the company’s researchers dubbed “#BadGrammar.” The groups used OpenAI’s #tech to write posts, translate them into various languages & build software that helped them automatically post to #SocialMedia.
Each page yesterday took him just a little more than a minute, so this will take >30 mins.
Between that & the testimony readbacks, also expected to take >30 mins, there will likely be >1 hour this morning w/the jury in the courtroom, not actively deliberating.
#Trump leaves for his waiting room (an empty courtroom w/security), w/his entourage.
Trump, in the hallway outside the courtroom, falsely blames the #GagOrder as he refuses to answer reporters, telling them “I’d like to answer all of your questions, they’re very easy to answer.”
The questions shouted at him — including whether he worried about potential prison time — have nothing to do w/issues covered by the order.
From the title you wouldn’t guess South Korea sends balloons with propaganda pendrives encouraging people to take down their government and this was a trolling reply.
Sure they join TV shows to look cool, food and medicine to imply the other ones are starving which isn’t really the case since the 90s when the Soviet Union fell and left the country totally isolated with the same western embargo as Cuba for decades.
A judge who swore to uphold the law is instead deliberately destroying the law. She is a loyal soldier in a violent insurrection, and a deliberate accomplice in the worst crimes committed against the United States since our first civil war.
The New York Times describes her as "industrious but inexperienced and often insecure."
This is why democracy is dying: Because the New York Times is killing it.
Russia may launch psychological operation about opening new front from Belarus
Defense Council Center for Countering #Disinformation forecast launch of a new #Russian#psychological operation about opening a new front aiming to stir up mass panic in Ukrainian society
We expect a series of provocative statements by the top leadership of Russia and #Belarus#threatening#Ukraine soon
Active measures is a term used to describe political #warfare conducted by the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation. The term, which dates back to the 1920s, includes operations such as espionage, propaganda, sabotage and assassination, based on foreign policy objectives of the Soviet and Russian governments against the United States and democratic western countries. Active measures have continued to be used by Vladimir Putin to control US politics through disinformation that enable controlling the Republican party.
Republican and russian disinformation warfare or active measures.
Disinformation, psychological warfare "PsyOp" will continue to increase for the next six months to influence the #2024election.
It's literally impossible to contend with all the stupid. These propagandists won't stop. It's about volume. Every second of every day it will be some new conspiracy theory.. Their goal is to shred the judiciary and elevate the unitary executive. They're fascists. Vote for democrats.
Abgesehen davon, dass ich TikTok nicht mag weil ich deren Zweck nicht einsehe, nutzen es sehr viele und vor allem sehr junge Menschen und dies auch kommerziell. Wie eben YouTube & Co. und eigentlich nicht viel anders aber auch als politische Propaganda eine Konkurenz zusätzlich.
🧵 …deswegen macht es TikTok in der USA nicht besser oder gar sicherer. Es bleibt auch wenn verändert, keine wahre Kommunikation, sondern plumpe Propaganda vorallem an Kindern und Jugendlichen (siehe oben).
»Netzpolitik – TikTok bereitet US-Kopie von Algorithmus vor:
Mögliches Verbot des Video-Service in den USA zwingt den chinesischen Mutterkonzern Bytedance erfinderisch zu werden«
This is your reminder that the Epoch Times is a trash Chinese rag written by far right, pro-Trump freakshows so vehemently against the PRC govt, that they've decided American fascists are superior to Chinese fascists & advocate for them.
Oh, and they want you to go see their affiliated human circus, Shen Yun, which they want you to know presents free market capitalism, originating from before Communists took over China because MAGA.