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Open in TheBrain

disinfo2 bak

6 23 estb

1/22 see main (orig Russian but now refers to any organized campaign to deceive) [later big swing back to rooskies w/ ukraine]

see Facebook

see social media

see misinfo

see meddling

see useful idiots

see RT sputnik

see soc media bias BS as excuse to continue

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(Misinformation, it’s said by academics, is when someone unwittingly spreads false rumours, while disinformation is intentionally starting or spreading those false rumours, maliciously.)

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an 4 24

a panel on MSNBC’s Morning Joe Thursday highlighted the role right-wing misinformation is playing in distorting perceptions about the state of the economy and the rate of inflation, which a majority of Americans incorrectly believe is headed in the wrong direction.

:{:{Wall Street Journal economic reporter Greg Ip drew attention to the enormous disparity between perception and reality when it comes to consumer sentiment about the economy in an April 4 article, titled “What’s Wrong With the Economy? It’s You, Not the Data.”}: Ip pointed to public opinion data showing that a vast majority of respondents incorrectly believed inflation has gone up in the past year, when indeed it has fallen significantly and stabilized in the nearly two years since peaking in June 2022.

Furthermore, Ip highlighted a survey showing that by 40-to-60 point margins, respondents think the overall U.S. economy is getting worse while their own state economy is getting better. He also cited data indicating that by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, a majority of Americans wrongly believe the economy — which has enjoyed robust job creation and GDP growth — has gotten worse over the past year.}:

Ip's article spurred a conversation on the set of MSNBC's Morning Joe, where co-hosts Mika Brzenski and Joe Scarborough and New York Times columnist and CNBC anchor Andrew Ross Sorkin keyed in on the role played by the partisan misinformation ecosystem in fomenting pessimism and distorting reality.

“The misinformation that’s been put out across the country about this issue is so shocking, because of the way people feel versus the actual reality of the numbers,” said Sorkin. “It’s hard to tell people that you shouldn't feel one way, and I know that is true, but the numbers are directionally, shockingly, going in a good place.”

NBC News national affairs analyst John Heilemann chimed in that while the economy has improved, the tapering of inflation happened slowly, and that from a political standpoint for the Biden White House, “You cannot argue people out of their feelings,” with Heilemann recommending a different approach.

“You have to figure out a way to say to them, hey, we know that prices are still too high, we know you're still feeling it in your pocketbook now, but look at all the progress we've made,” Heilemann said. “Give us some more time, because you know it's just going to be worse with Donald Trump. He's not on your side. We're on your side, we fixed a lot of stuff. This thing still, we need some work, we've made some progress, but not enough.”

Indeed, liberal and conservative economists agree that Trump’s policies would make inflation worse — but mainstream media outlets have barely covered this.

Scarborough then contrasted the poll findings that people thought their own state economies were doing well while the rest of the country was doing badly, then turned the question back to the sheer volume of right-wing media misinformation.

“I'm sorry but, you know, if you looked at certain cable news channels you would think we were in the middle of a Great Depression, that illegal immigrants were racing through schools across America stabbing people in the face, and that leprosy is going to be spread by migrants going across the border, and that trans athletes are coming to your middle school to beat up your, you know, sixth-grade girl,” Scarborough declared. “I mean, seriously, turn it on any time. Turn it on any time, and it’s the economy is in free fall, migrants are coming to kill you, and trans athletes. I mean, it's constant — it’s a constant, constant churning of these messages. And it has an impact on polls after [airing] 24/7.”

Right-wing media have often painted the completely false picture of the dystopian, even post-apocalyptic America that Scarborough described. On those exact topics that Scarborough mentioned, for example, Fox News has ignored or dismissed positive economic news, falsely depicted a “war on fossil fuels” when in fact the country is producing more energy than ever, and depicted minimum wage increases as a danger to the economy and American way of life. Fox has also run an obsessive level of coverage depicting migrants as a criminal threat to the country, and hyped supposed new threats without any empirical evidence. (Scarborough’s reference to immigrants purportedly carrying leprosy was actually a Fox News narrative from 2018.)

And of course, Fox has engaged in a vast culture war against transgender people, and the network drastically picked up its coverage in 2021 as soon as Democrats took control of the White House and Congress. This intense coverage has continued for years, including targeted hate campaigns, treating urban legends as if they’re real news, and whipping up new cultural battles via days of relentless coverage and dishonestly edited footage.

Watch the full segment from Morning Joe below:

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https://www.rawstory.com/jim-jordan-2661556363/

no lnx raw 6 23

Jim Jordan leads GOP push to cripple 'fight against disinformation': report

Matthew Chapman

June 19, 2023,

Republican lawmakers are joining forces with far-right activists to attack universities and even private businesses that are investigating the spread of disinformation online — claiming that this amounts to an effort to silence conservatives on the internet, according to a report.

The New York Times posted a details of the actions they are taking on Monday.

"The effort has encumbered its targets with expansive requests for information and, in some cases, subpoenas — demanding notes, emails and other information related to social media companies and the government dating back to 2015. Complying has consumed time and resources and already affected the groups’ ability to do research and raise money, according to several people involved," reported Steven Lee Myers and Sheera Frenkel.

"They and others warned that the campaign undermined the fight against disinformation in American society when the problem is, by most accounts, on the rise — and when another presidential election is around the corner. Many of those behind the Republican effort had also joined former President Donald J. Trump in falsely challenging the outcome of the 2020 presidential election."

The House Judiciary Committee, under Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), has been leading the charge. Meanwhile, a group founded by far-right former Trump adviser Stephen Miller has filed a class-action lawsuit in federal court going after the same entities.

"Targets include Stanford, Clemson and New York Universities and the University of Washington; the Atlantic Council, the German Marshall Fund and the National Conference on Citizenship, all nonpartisan, nongovernmental organizations in Washington; the Wikimedia Foundation in San Francisco; and Graphika, a company that researches disinformation online," said the report.

"In a related line of inquiry, the committee has also issued a subpoena to the World Federation of Advertisers, a trade association, and the Global Alliance for Responsible Media it created. The committee’s Republican leaders have accused the groups of violating antitrust laws by conspiring to cut off advertising revenue for content researchers and tech companies found to be harmful."

The new push is part of a broader, years-long conspiracy theory among right-wing activists that the government and "big tech" companies are colluding to silence conservative speech on the internet. There is no evidence of any such conspiracy; in fact, research shows conservative content actually spreads more easily on Facebook and Twitter.

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LNX

There is no evidence of any such conspiracy; in fact, research shows conservative content actually spreads more easily on Facebook and Twitter.

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https://www.desmog.com/2023/01/19/fossil-fuel-groups-spent-millions-on-social-media-ads-spreading-climate-disinformation-during-cop27/

fossil fuel-linked groups spent around $4 million on Facebook and Instagram ads that spread false climate claims over the COP27 summit, a new report says.

The physical presence of more than 600 fossil fuel lobbyists overshadowed the November conference in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, as world leaders, NGOs and activists gathered in a bid to accelerate global efforts to confront the climate crisis.

Analysis out today shows oil and gas interests were also busy online. Climate Action Against Disinformation (CAAD) – the coalition behind the second “Deny, Deceive, Delay” report – has documented how PR companies, front groups and oil majors were actively spreading disinformation in the weeks leading up to and during the summit.

Researchers with the coalition’s COP27 Intelligence Unit identified over 3,700 ads sharing false claims on Facebook and Instagram, platforms owned by Meta. They also found a rise in content related to outright climate-science denial by ‘anti-woke’ pundits on Twitter, who pushed #ClimateScam and lines such as ‘climate is a hoax’.

Jennie King, head of climate research and response at the non-profit Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) think tank, which led the Intelligence Unit, said the events of 2022 had “turbocharged a global ecosystem of disinformation”.

“Russia’s war in Ukraine and its impact on energy supply chains have renewed anti-climate attacks globally, as vested interests falsely attribute blame for these events to the “cult of Net Zero,” King explained.

“Our report shows Big Oil continues to invest millions in digital advertising to launder their image as ‘climate champions’, while also promoting the necessity of fossil fuels.”

The coalition’s findings come nearly two years after a report by the UN’s climate science body, which found for the first time that “vested interests” were delaying efforts to tackle climate change.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) found that actors representing “vested economic and political interests” had eroded support for climate policy by generating “rhetoric and misinformation that undermines science and disregards risk and urgency”.

Climate Denial ‘Comeback’

Big Oil companies Shell, Chevron and Exxon all ran ads in the run-up to the summit, but the majority were posted by PR and fossil fuel front groups.

The 850 organisations surveyed spent between $3-4 million on nearly 3,800 adverts on Facebook and Instagram between September 1 and November 23, the report found. Adverts promoted fossil fuels as affordable and reliable, and justified their ongoing use with arguments around energy independence.

Energy Citizens – a PR and lobby group for the largest trade association for the oil and gas industry the American Petroleum Institute – ran more daily ads than all the other pages combined, the analysis found. The ad campaign advocated for U.S. production of fossil gas and oil, citing nationalist arguments around ‘energy security’.

The analysis found that a number of U.S. based pages ended their ad campaigns after mid-term elections on November 8. However, the research found disinformation ramped up with ad campaigns from three industry PR groups: America’s Plastic Makers, funded by the American Chemistry Council, which describes itself as ‘the leading association representing the $553-billion U.S. chemicals industry’, and fossil fuel front groups Affordable Energy for New Jersey and Natural Allies for a Clean Energy Future.

In addition, the Saudi Green Initiative had at least 13 live adverts around the summit, just as Saudi Arabia’s delegation was accused of pursuing a ‘strategy to keep the world hooked on oil.’

The findings come as Sultan Ahmed Jaber was announced as the new President for COP28, making the Dubai summit next year the first to be led by a current oil executive.

Ben Dennes, a researcher at the University of Exeter who specialises in environmental communication online, said the $4 million figure was just the “tip of the iceberg”.

The Meta ad library used in the analysis was a “black box”, with only ads deemed by Meta to relate to ‘social issues, elections or politics’ fully accessible.

There is “unclear and subjective guidance on what this means”, Dennes told DeSmog, adding that researchers were also unable to analyse Google Ads in the study as the service does not permit searches for misinformation and greenwashing content.

It was therefore possible that “certain greenwashing and misinformation content has slipped through the net”, Dennes said.

Culture Warriors Co-opt Climate 

Alongside analysis of industry-linked advertising, researchers also documented climate disinformation on Twitter over a four week period from the end of October.

‘Anti-woke’ pundits and conspiracy theorists gained the most traction, the report found, and “often collaborate with a well-funded network of think tanks and pundits.”

Climate denial tropes such as ‘climate actors are alarmist’ and ‘climate change is a hoax’ also featured. Some posts targeted the “loss and damage” fund, established in Sharm-el-Sheikh to provide financial assistance to vulnerable nations most impacted by the climate crisis.

Researchers also found that the hashtag #ClimateScam spiked on Twitter with 362,000 mentions between July and December, raising concerns over a failure to prevent disinformation on the platform. The original content came from a non-verified account, but was then adopted by a number of verified account holders – including U.S. pundit Tom Fitton, a climate denier with two million followers.

The CAAD coalition is advocating for immediate steps to be taken by tech companies to stem the flow of climate delayism and “junk science”. It is also calling on governments and multilateral bodies to implement a “unified definition” of climate mis-and disinformation within UN key institutions.

“This research shows that climate disinformation isn’t going away and, in fact, it’s getting worse.

During COP, Twitter’s search engine pushed #ClimateScam as a top result without any justification for the data behind it,” said Erika Seiber, climate disinformation spokesperson at Friends of the Earth U.S.

“Until governments hold social media and ad companies accountable, and companies hold professional disinformers accountable, crucial conversations around the climate crisis are going to be put in jeopardy.”

Meta and Twitter were contacted for comment.

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yikes

https://www.alternet.org/doomsday-clock-90-seconds-midnight/

an 1 23

We are living in a time of unprecedented danger, and the Doomsday Clock time reflects that reality."

That's what Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists president and CEO Rachel Bronson said in a statement Tuesday about the historic symbol being set at 90 seconds to midnight, or global catastrophe, after three years at 100 seconds to midnight.

As the bulletin's annual statement explains, the clock—created in 1947—has reached its current position due to "an exceedingly dangerous nuclear situation," largely from Russia's war on Ukraine;inadequate global action to tackle the climate emergency; a "daunting array" of biological threats, exemplified by the Covid-19 pandemic; and "disruptive" technologies enabling the spread of disinformation.

"90 seconds to midnight is the closest the clock has ever been set to midnight, and it's a decision our experts do not take lightly," Bronson noted. "The U.S. government, its NATO allies, and Ukraine have a multitude of channels for dialogue; we urge leaders to explore all of them to their fullest ability to turn back the clock."

Watch the full announcement:

2023 Doomsday Clock Announcementyoutu.be

While the nearly yearlong Russian invasion—with fighting over a nuclear power plant and thinly veiled threats of using weapons of mass destruction—is a primary reason humanity is now closer than ever to apocalypse, experts from across the globe emphasized that it's far from the only threat.

The Elders chair Mary Robinson, a former president of Ireland and U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, stressed that "the Doomsday Clock is sounding an alarm for the whole of humanity. We are on the brink of a precipice. But our leaders are not acting at sufficient speed or scale to secure a peaceful and liveable planet."

"From cutting carbon emissions to strengthening arms control treaties and investing in pandemic preparedness, we know what needs to be done," she said. "The science is clear, but the political will is lacking. This must change in 2023 if we are to avert catastrophe. We are facing multiple, existential crises. Leaders need a crisis mindset."

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https://www.eenews.net/articles/climate-misinformation-spreads-on-musks-twitter/

scott waldman e and e 12 22 no lnx

scientists say they’re experiencing more climate denial on Twitter since Elon Musk became owner of the social media platform.]

At Tesla, Elon Musk helped kick-start an electric vehicle revolution that will meaningfully cut greenhouse gas emissions. Now, as Twitter’s CEO, he’s overseeing one of the world’s most popular social media platforms that’s rife with climate change misinformation.

And it appears to be getting worse.

Since Musk’s purchase of Twitter two months ago, some prominent climate deniers have returned to the platform after being banned for pushing misinformation about the Covid-19 pandemic. There also are signs that scientists have left Twitter after their posts depicting global warming research were swarmed by critics.

Among the changes potentially driven by Musk’s effort to tear down barriers that once prohibited figures like former President Donald Trump from spreading election lies are a rise in the popularity of tweets that claim climate change is a scam. Some recent posts have earned 40,000 likes.

Marc Morano, who runs a blog that routinely attacks climate science, said that since Musk bought Twitter the appearance of his name in climate search results “appear to be juiced by the new algorithms.”

“My Twitter account and many others opposing the ‘consensus’ climate view have all increased visibility dramatically since Musk took over Twitter,” he said in an interview. “Whatever Musk is altering, I hope he keeps it up.”

Indeed, the number of tweets rejecting climate science have never been higher than in 2022, according to research by the University of London conducted on behalf of The Times newspaper. There have been more than 850,000 climate denial tweets or retweets so far this year. There were 650,000 such messages in 2021 and 220,000 in 2020, the analysis found.

Musk has said he will sell the blue check marks that Twitter uses to verify account holders to anyone who pays $8 a month. Users who pay the fee will see their posts “rocket to the top of replies, mentions and search,” according to Twitter. That could also mean that scientists who refuse to pay the monthly fee could see their posts lose visibility.

Climate misinformation has long been present on Twitter. But the proposed blue check mark policy could make the social media platform a larger clearinghouse for climate denialism, experts say.

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Tweets that misinform the public about climate change can increase interactions on Twitter by generating controversy, said Michelle Amazeen, director of the Communication Research Center at Boston University and an expert on climate disinformation and social media.

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“Twitter wasn’t designed to provide accurate info. Twitter is designed to maximize people’s attention and engagement. And how do you do that? You surface sensational, emotionally evocative content rather than surface deliberative rational information,” she said. “That’s not sexy, it’s all about the architecture.”

Earlier this week, a search for “climate” on Twitter resulted in “#ClimateScam” as the top term on the platform. Tweets using that hashtag were a miasma of climate disinformation, cherry-picked statistics and conspiracy theories. On another day, the top result was “climate lockdown,” a reference to the Great Reset conspiracy theory that claims a group of global elites is planning to shut down economic activity around the world to cut carbon emissions (Climatewire, Dec. 6).

Twitter appears to now boost the accounts of serial climate misinformers, including Steve Milloy, a former Trump EPA transition official; Patrick Moore, former head of the CO2 Coalition; and Morano, who runs a climate denial blog. In recent Twitter searches, their accounts appeared in top results with climate scientists, media outlets and NOAA.

Milloy and Moore did not respond to requests for comment.

Some prominent Twitter users who convey climate misinformation and were banned from the platform for other reasons have returned under Musk’s ownership. Tony Heller, who was removed for spreading Covid-19 misinformation, has recently tweeted inaccuracies about global warming. More prominently, the Canadian author Jordan Peterson, who was removed for tweeting transphobic messages, was allowed back on Twitter under Musk and now frequently pushes climate disinformation to his 3.5 million followers. He recently retweeted Heller using the term #climatescam.

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“Delusional green policies kill. Literally. Now,” Peterson wrote recently.

‘Radically different’

Prominent climate scientists say they are experiencing an increase of “climate denier bots”— which they identify as having a Twitter handle followed by a name and a bunch of numbers — that respond to their posts. It seems to be an effort to disrupt online climate discourse, said climate scientist Michael Mann, director of the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability and the Media at the University of Pennsylvania.

“Twitter was a primary medium for dissemination of the facts surrounding the climate crisis,” Mann said in an email. “By infecting the online discourse w/ massive troll and bot armies, it becomes very difficult to communicate these facts, which is precisely what polluters and petro-state bad actors like Russia and Saudi Arabia want.”

Katharine Hayhoe, a climatologist and chief scientist at the Nature Conservancy, also experienced a swarm of bots in recent weeks. She has been testing tweets and running experiments to check engagement and found a dramatic increase in troll and bot activity on climate tweets, she said. A few days ago, she received 3,000 replies from critics — or trolls — in one 24-hour period.

“I’m not totally sure what is happening, but there is something radically different going on the last month that has increased troll and bot activity on climate tweets by 15-30x according to my data,” Hayhoe tweeted recently.

She also created a master list of hundreds of climate scientists on Twitter. Its membership has shrunk by about 4 percent since the Musk takeover, she noted.

Even though Musk runs a company that has created the exact type of clean energy jobs that Biden wants to increase under the Inflation Reduction Act, he has elevated voices that routinely attack renewable energy and climate science. Some also attack the electric vehicle tax credits and grants that have been a key to Tesla’s growth.

In recent weeks, Musk’s team has provided internal company communications, or “Twitter Files,” to a select group of opinion writers. The communications show that Twitter officials discussed how to handle tweets related to Hunter Biden ahead of the 2020 election. One of the writers who received the documents was Michael Shellenberger, who has promoted increased fossil fuel consumption and attacked clean energy and climate science in congressional hearings as a Republican-invited witness.

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In a recent hearing, Shellenberger said an expansion of electric vehicles “risks undermining American industries and helping China.”

‘Climate is a scam’

A few weeks after Musk bought Twitter on Oct. 27 for $44 billion, the company eliminated a policy that cracked down on Covid-19 misinformation. Some scientists, including Mann, said the policy also limited inaccurate climate narratives.

“That was a clear message that it’s open season on twitter for the promotion of anti-science, and clearly we’ve seen an escalation in climate denial rhetoric,” Mann said of the policy’s withdrawal.

Scientists concluded decades ago that humans are warming the planet at an unprecedented pace through the burning of fossil fuels. A movement to dilute those findings has been funded in part by energy companies and linked to conservative politics in the U.S. and other countries. Twitter is a key platform for spreading that type of false information.

In April, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its sixth assessment report and found that effective communication of climate science has been significantly damaged by the spread of false claims on social media.

“Accurate transference of the climate science has been undermined significantly by climate change countermovements, in both legacy and new/social media environments through misinformation,” the report stated.

That same month, Twitter banned paid ads that promote climate denial.

“We believe that climate denialism shouldn’t be monetized on Twitter, and that misrepresentative ads shouldn’t detract from important conversations about the climate crisis,” company officials wrote in a blog post.

It’s unclear if that policy is still in place. Musk has fired more than half of the company’s employees, including its communications department. The two authors of the blog no longer work for the company.

Musk could not be reached for comment.

Since July, months before Musk bought Twitter, there was an uptick in content referring to “#ClimateScam,” “climate scam,” or “climate is a scam,” totaling more than 500,000 mentions, according to a report released last month by Climate Action Against Disinformation, an international coalition of environmental groups. The messages originated from about 150,000 accounts and spiked around the time that global climate talks began in Egypt last month, the report found.

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Researchers found one account, @climate_fact, that was responsible for more than 50,000 tweets. Every few minutes, it retweeted posts that use “#climatescam,” “#greatreset” and other phrases. It’s unclear who runs the account or where they are located.

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an raw 12 22

After months of pro-Kremlin state media prediction that the U.S. support for Ukraine would die out, Russian propagandist Vladimir Solovyov became enraged when he saw an image of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky alongside House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Kamala Harris as they accepted and proudly held up the Ukrainian flag, The Daily Beast reports.

As a guest was speaking, Solovyov reportedly was texting with producers, demanding that they remove the clip of Zelensky in the U.S. When the producers didn't react to his demands fast enough, he said, "Guys, get rid of this video, if you can’t read what is being written to you!”

“Zelensky is already on his way to Washington. It’s perhaps a natural path for any traitor... He betrayed his entire Soviet past,” he said. “Our weapon-makers are more talented anyway. Our men are more ingenious because we’re Russians—of many different nationalities. God is with us! Either we will win, or humanity will cease to exist, because the Lord won’t stand for the triumph of warriors of the Antichrist. We are the Lord’s weapon, we are his avenging right hand.”

Watch the video below:

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an 12 22

Last week, Chief Twit Elon Musk enlisted Substacker Matt Taibbi to recap Twitter’s handling of the “Hunter Biden laptop” story based on archived corporate emails that Musk now owns.

It already seems like a lifetime ago, but in October 2020, weeks before the presidential election, the New York Post published a story about a disk image allegedly taken from a laptop that Hunter Biden had abandoned at a repair shop in Delaware.

Twitter temporarily blocked the story because it included personally identifiable information that they suspected had been hacked. Republicans said it was horribly partisan to the Donald Trump campaign of colluding with the Russians, even though the disk image came from Rudy Giuliani who had been very publicly pumping Russian agents for dirt on Hunter Biden for months.

READ MORE: Is Twitter a lost cause?

Musk played the hype man and teased Taibbi’s tweetstorm as the scandal of the century. This was to be the second – hell, the third – coming of Watergate, Iran Contra, and Deflategate all rolled into one. Musk claimed these emails showed that Twitter had colluded with the government to help Joe Biden.

As usual, Musk’s pitch was crowd-pleasing vaporware. Taibbi actually described how Twitter executives blocked the New York Post story all by themselves, adding that he’d seen “no evidence of any government involvement.”

Taibbi shared emails that confirmed what we already knew: Twitter execs froze access to the story because they were worried it was part of a Russian attack on the election. Twitter had been repeatedly warned by Trump’s FBI to be on the alert for hack and leak operations associated with a political campaign and possibly starring Hunter Biden. The New York Poststory checked all those boxes.

In 2016, Russian state hackers leaked emails they’d stolen from the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign. The attack weakened Clinton and may even have cost her the election. In early 2020, Donald Trump was impeached for trying to force Ukraine to announce a fake investigation into none other than Hunter Biden. To make matters worse, the New York Post story was based on a disk image supplied by Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s main point of contact with Russian agents in Ukraine.

READ MORE: Twitter employees respond to new owner Elon Musk’s annihilation of top execs — on Twitter

Far from showing a Borg determined to help Joe Biden at all costs, Taibbi’s cache of emails shows a lively debate in the Twitter C-suite as execs tried to balance freedom of the press against election integrity and national security. They blocked the story for violating Twitter’s ban on “hacked materials” bearing personally identifying information because the New York Post story included images with unredacted emails and phone numbers. The trouble was, there was no proof the data was hacked. There still isn’t. But the whole thing stank worse than an illegal Twitter flophouse.

Twitter was in a tough spot because Giuliani claimed that Hunter’s data was abandoned, not hacked. Then again, no reasonable person would take Giuliani’s word for that. If Hunter’s data had been hacked, Giuliani had a vested interest in concealing that fact. The emails show that Twitter execs used the ban to buy time while they conducted their own investigation.

History has vindicated Twitter’s caution. In 2021, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin had personally authorized a major interference campaign for the 2020 election based on conspiracy theories about the Biden family and Ukraine.The FBI investigated Giuliani for his role in Ukraine, but ultimately wasn’t charged, primarily because although his efforts helped both Russia and Trump, he got paid only by Trump.

This saga would prompt any reasonable person to think how Twitter’s rules could be crafted to better address the next foreign attack on our elections. Unfortunately, Elon Musk is not a reasonable person.

He’s a raging egomaniac who seized upon his former employees’ good-faith efforts to handle an unprecedented threat as a pretext to make twitter ground zero for foreign intelligence agencies to attack American democracy.

READ MORE: [Steve Doocy sparks Fox News debate after noting that the FBI avoided the Hunter Biden laptop scandal

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https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/assessments/ICA-declass-16MAR21.pdf

march 2021

Foreign Threats to the 2020 US Federal Elections

Key Judgment 1: We have no indications that any foreign actor attempted to alter any technical aspect of the

voting process in the 2020 US elections, including voter registration, casting ballots, vote tabulation, or reporting

results. We assess that it would be difficult for a foreign actor to manipulate election processes at scale without

detection by intelligence collection on the actors themselves, through physical and cyber security monitoring around

voting systems across the country, or in post-election audits. The IC identified some successful compromises of state

and local government networks prior to Election Day—as well as a higher volume of unsuccessful attempts—that we

assess were not directed at altering election processes. Some foreign actors, such as Iran and Russia, spread false or

inflated claims about alleged compromises of voting systems to undermine public confidence in election processes and

results.

Key Judgment 2: We assess that Russian President Putin authorized, and a range of Russian government

organizations conducted, influence operations aimed at denigrating President Biden’s candidacy and the

Democratic Party, supporting former President Trump, undermining public confidence in the electoral process,

and exacerbating sociopolitical divisions in the US. Unlike in 2016,we did not see persistent Russian cyber efforts

to gain access to election infrastructure. We have high confidence in our assessment; Russian state and proxy actors

who all serve the Kremlin’s interests worked to affect US public perceptions in a consistent manner. A key element of

Moscow’s strategy this election cycle was its use of proxies linked to Russian intelligence to push influence

narratives—including misleading or unsubstantiated allegations against President Biden—to US media

organizations, US officials, and prominent US individuals, including some close to former President Trump and

his administration.

Key Judgment 3: We assess that Iran carried out a multi-pronged covert influence campaign intended to undercut

former President Trump’s reelection prospects—though without directly promoting his rivals—undermine public

confidence in the electoral process and US institutions, and sow division and exacerbate societal tensions in the

US. We have high confidence in this assessment. We assess that Supreme Leader Khamenei authorized the campaign

and Iran’s military and intelligence services implemented it using overt and covert messaging and cyber operations.

Key Judgment 4: We assess that China did not deploy interference efforts and considered but did not deploy

influence efforts intended to change the outcome of the US Presidential election. We have high confidence in this

judgment. China sought stability in its relationship with the United States, did not view either election outcome as

being advantageous enough for China to risk getting caught meddling, and assessed its traditional influence tools—

primarily targeted economic measures and lobbying—would be sufficient to meet its goal of shaping US China policy

regardless of the winner. The NIO for Cyber assesses, however, that China did take some steps to try to undermine

former President Trump’s reelection.

Key Judgment 5: We assess that a range of additional foreign actors—including Lebanese Hizballah, Cuba, and

Venezuela—took some steps to attempt to influence the election. In general, we assess that they were smaller in scale

than the influence efforts conducted by other actors this election cycle. Cybercriminals disrupted some election

preparations; we judge their activities probably were driven by financial motivation

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an 12 22

We’ve been warned. When the Republicans take control of the House, it’s going to be all Hunter’s laptop, all the time.

Despite haughty GOP denials, the laptop story is probably a cover for another Russian hack and leak operation, and the Republicans are gleefully laundering it.

Republicans have browbeaten various social media execs – who are surely nervous about being called before GOP committees – into saying they were wrong to throttle access to what everyone correctly assumed was foreign election interference laundered through Donald Trump’s personal lawyer and election interference go-to-guy Rudy Giuliani.

READ MORE: On aid to Ukraine, the Republicans are jammed

Various major media outlets have authenticated a small percentage of the data dump as having belonged to Hunter Biden. But that’s exactly what you’d expect in a hack and leak operation. The question is whether the data were really abandoned by Hunter Biden or whether they were uploaded to that laptop as a pretext for trafficking in stolen secrets.

“That’s Rudy”

In October 2020, weeks before the general election,the New York Postran a story about what Rudy Giuliani claimed was a hard drive abandoned by Hunter Biden at a computer repair shop in Wilmington, Delaware.

Over 50 retired intelligence pros signed an open letter arguing that L’Affaire MacBook bore all the hallmarks of Russian disinfo. Twitter’s former head of safety said this week that the story set off “every single one of my finely tuned [Russian intelligence] hack and leak campaign alarm bells."

READ MORE: GOP strategist pardoned by Donald Trump convicted of illegally funneling him Russian cash

Conveniently, the former shop owner who gave the data to Giuliani is legally blind, so he can’t say whether the man who dropped off the machines was Hunter Biden. He’s also a frothing conspiracy theorist who was unable to tell a straight story about the provenance of the laptop.

We know Vladimir Putin personally directed a campaign of interference in the 2020 elections that focused on feeding anti-Biden propaganda to influential Americans, including members of Trump’s inner circle, according to a 2021 report by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

The report doesn’t name names, but contains enough clues to identify Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, as the useful idiot in chief.

This time, the collusion between Trump and the Russians was right out in the open. With Trump’s support, Giuliani spent much of 2019 ostentatiously shuttling to Ukraine and huddling with Kremlin-linked oligarchs, including an active Russian agent who was later sanctioned by Secretary Steve Mnuchin’s Treasury Department for interference in the 2020 election.

Data from Hunter Biden’s computer were on the market in Kyiv around the time Giuliani went disinfo-shopping. As you recall, Giuliani was searching for dirt in Ukraine because Hunter Biden sat on the board of a Ukrainian energy company, Burisma Holdings, which, according to that ODNI report, was hacked by the Russian spy service known as the GRU in late 2019.

Multiple US intelligence agencies repeatedly and explicitly warned Donald Trump in 2019 that Giuliani’s bottomless thirst for dirt on the Bidens made him the target of a Russian intelligence operation. National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien warned Trump that any information Giuliani brought back from his Ukraine junket should be considered “contaminated” by the Russians. Trump reportedly shrugged and said, “That’s Rudy.”

Stolen and dumped

Let’s not forget Trump’s first impeachment was the result of a desperate bid to wring dirt out of the Ukrainians. Trump froze congressionally authorized defense aid to Ukraine in order to strong-arm the country’s new president into announcing a bogus investigation into Hunter Biden.

Republicans have falsely claimed that forensic analyses have proven that the data was found on a laptop that Hunter Biden abandoned at a repair shop in Delaware. These analyses have shown that some of the materials were produced by Hunter Biden. But that’s how hack and leak attacks work.

In a hack and leak, data is stolen and dumped.

A largely genuine trove of stolen data is also the perfect place to hide forged or stolen elements, which enjoy unearned credibility because they’re packaged with real stuff. That’s why the victims of hack and leaks are advised never to confirm the authenticity of anything.

The attackers are counting on the public to draw the erroneous conclusion that, because some things are genuine, the whole package is real, and – most importantly – that it came from where the cover story says it came from, be that an imaginary collective of good-hearted “hacktivists” or a computer repair shop in Delaware. Anywhere but the GRU.

The GRU is notorious for hacking and leaking.

A GRU unit known as FancyBear or APT128 famously deployed this tactic against the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign in 2016. They also targeted George Soros, the World Anti-Doping Agency, scientists investigating the poisoning of a former Russian agent, and countless others. For particularly high-value targets, GRU combines hacking with good-old-fashioned stalking, following their targets around, hoping to catch them using insecure hotel wifi.

Isn’t it a crazy coincidence that a disk image of “Hunter Biden’s laptop” was revealed to the world by the same guy who we know was the main conduit for Russian disinformation about the Bidens? A guy who has also been investigated for other kinds of election interference on behalf of Trump.

If you believe that, I’ve got an extended warranty to sell you.

READ MORE: Fiona Hill warns Musk is 'transmitting a message' for Putin as DeSantis rushes to billionaire’s defense

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ref

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https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm1118

Treasury Sanctions Russia-Linked Election Interference Actors

September 10, 2020

Washington – Today, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated four Russia-linked individuals for attempting to influence the U.S. electoral process. Russia uses a variety of proxies to attempt to sow discord between political parties and drive internal divisions to influence voters as part of Moscow’s broader efforts to undermine democratic countries and institutions. In the United States, Russia has used a wide range of influence methods and actors to target our electoral process, including targeting U.S. presidential candidates.

Treasury designated Andrii Derkach (Derkach) pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13848 for his efforts to influence the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Derkach, a Member of the Ukrainian Parliament, has been an active Russian agent for over a decade, maintaining close connections with the Russian Intelligence Services. Derkach has directly or indirectly engaged in, sponsored, concealed, or otherwise been complicit in foreign interference in an attempt to undermine the upcoming 2020 U.S. presidential election. Today’s designation of Derkach is focused on exposing Russian malign influence campaigns and protecting our upcoming elections from foreign interference. This action is a clear signal to Moscow and its proxies that this activity will not be tolerated. The Administration is working across the U.S. Government, and with state, local, and private sector partners, to make the 2020 election secure.

“Andrii Derkach and other Russian agents employ manipulation and deceit to attempt to influence elections in the United States and elsewhere around the world,” said Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin. “The United States will continue to use all the tools at its disposal to counter these Russian disinformation campaigns and uphold the integrity of our election system.”

Derkach’s Election Influence Efforts

From at least late 2019 through mid-2020, Derkach waged a covert influence campaign centered on cultivating false and unsubstantiated narratives concerning U.S. officials in the upcoming 2020 Presidential Election, spurring corruption investigations in both Ukraine and the United Statesdesigned to culminate prior to election day. Derkach’s unsubstantiated narratives were pushed in Western media through coverage of press conferences and other news events, including interviews and statements.

Between May and July 2020, Derkach released edited audio tapes and other unsupported information with the intent to discredit U.S. officials, and he levied unsubstantiated allegations against U.S. and international political figures. Derkach almost certainly targeted the U.S. voting populace, prominent U.S. persons, and members of the U.S. government, based on his reliance on U.S. platforms, English-language documents and videos, and pro-Russian lobbyists in the United States used to propagate his claims.

Treasury Continues to Hold Russian Actors Accountable

Today’s designation of Derkach is another example of the Treasury department promoting accountability for Kremlin-linked individuals seeking to undermine confidence in U.S. democratic processes. Treasury has previously designated the Russian troll factory known as the Internet Research Agency (IRA), and its Russian financier Yevgeniy Prigozhin. Prigozhin has been designated by the United States pursuant to E.O. 13661, E.O. 13694, as amended, and most recently by E.O. 13848 for providing material support to the IRA’s influence activities against the 2018 U.S. midterm elections.

Today, Treasury also designated three IRA actors pursuant to E.O. 13694, as amended by E.O. 13757, and E.O. 13848 for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the IRA, an entity designated pursuant to E.O. 13694, as amended, and E.O. 13848. Russian nationals Artem Lifshits, Anton Andreyev, and Darya Aslanova, as employees of the IRA, supported the IRA’s cryptocurrency accounts. The IRA uses cryptocurrency to fund activities in furtherance of their ongoing malign influence operations around the world.

OFAC coordinated today’s action against the IRA with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia and the United States Secret Service.

As a result of today’s designations, all property and interests in property of these targets that are subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them. Additionally, any entities 50 percent or more owned by one or more designated persons are also blocked.

View identifying information on the individuals designated today.

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tom b raw an 11 22

When Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump in 2020’s presidential election, many world leaders were quick to congratulate him — from French President Emmanuel Macron to then-U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson. But Russian President Vladimir Putin and his allies in the Kremlin were clearly disappointed in that election’s outcome, and according to Daily Beast reporter Julia Davis, Russian officials are closely observing the United States’ 2022 midterms and hoping for a major red wave.

“Russian state media is following the midterm elections in the United States with great interest, but the mood in Moscow’s studios had noticeably soured in comparison to the fun-filled episodes of the years preceding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” Davis observes in an article published on November 8. “While the experts and the hosts are still rooting for the Republicans, they stop short of promising the audience total salvation even with the GOP back in charge. Even the most seasoned propagandists can’t hide the fact that Russia’s war against Ukraine — and the global fallout that followed — is only going from bad to worse.”

Davis reports that Sergei Luzyanin, a professor at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations under the Russian Foreign Ministry, is hoping that Republicans will win big on Election Night — and that there will be considerable animosity between the Biden Administration and a GOP-controlled Congress in 2023.

READ MORE: Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia ending war is necessary 'to save ourselves from the climate disaster

On the state-operated Russian show “60 Minutes” (not to be confused with the CBS News program in the U.S.), Luzyanin commented, “A potential victory of the Republicans in the Congress and perhaps in theSenate will mark the beginning of a political Halloween…. After the midterm elections, we’ll see a glass jar full of poisonous American spiders tearing each other up. Go ahead and eat one another! It will be a frightening political process... It may also lead to tactical or strategic changes in their foreign policy…. Get lots of popcorn, and let’s watch.”

As some Russian media pundits see it, a GOP-controlled Congress will be better for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine than a Congress that remains in Democratic hands.

Olga Skabeeva, a Russian media host, commented that she hopes Democrats and Republicans tear each other to pieces but wasn’t sure it will happen as much as she would like. And while Skabeeva prefers Republicans over Democrats, she isn’t counting on any direct military help from the GOP.

Skabeeva told viewers, “We keep hoping it happens, but they’re yet to destroy each other…. The situation won’t change for the better, and we have to rely solely upon ourselves, on the Russian Army. Republicans can’t help us to hold on to Kherson.”

READ MORE:How Vladimir Putin engaged in 'obvious projection' by accusing the West of ‘outright Satanism’: author

One clip that has been played on Russian TV, according to Davis, is a clip of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene promising that “not another penny will go to Ukraine.” Skabeeva obviously likes what the Georgia congresswoman had to say.

Skabeeva commented, “There aren’t many chances that the magnitude of the funding (for Ukraine) will change, but an everyday Russian keeps on hoping and believing. They’ve never followed the midterm elections so closely.... We trust and believe in the Republicans. Do we even have any other allies?”

READ MORE:Vladimir Putin's 'fundamentalist mindset' could lead him to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine: journalist

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https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/02/magazine/russiagate-paul-manafort-ukraine-war.html

The Untold Story of ‘Russiagate’ and the Road to War in Ukraine

Across the intervening years, Russia's election meddling has been ... while applying ever-evolving disinformation techniques to play to the...

.5 days ago

Council on Foreign Relations

China's Growing Attempts to Influence U.S. Politics

Beijing also has significantly increased its efforts to use disinformation online to meddle in U.S. elections, sometimes simply to cause...

.1 week ago

https://www.voanews.com/a/foreign-election-disinformation-campaigns-well-underway-researchers-say-/6789393.html

Voice of America

Foreign Election Disinformation Campaigns Well Underway, Researchers Say

Both Russia and China have long denied election meddling, but the findings would seem to bolster concerns recently voiced by the U.S. Federal...

.3 weeks ago

WASHINGTON — 

Less than two weeks after senior U.S. officials warned that Russia, China and other adversaries were set to launch a variety of influence operations and disinformation campaigns aimed at the upcoming midterm elections, researchers are finding traces of the malign efforts online.

A report Thursday by the cybersecurity firm Recorded Future warned that Russia and China, in particular, have resurrected dormant social media accounts or have amplified other ongoing influence operations to sway U.S. voters or sow chaos and discontent as Americans go to the polls.

Compared to the 2020 U.S. presidential election, the researchers found that “such behavior has likely only intensified against the backdrop of conventional and hybrid warfare in Ukraine, broad international ramifications of said conflict, lingering effects of a global pandemic, and a broadening distrust in traditional democratic institutions.”

Both Russia and China have long denied election meddling, but the findings would seem to bolster concerns recently voiced by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. The FBI warned last week that while the county’s election infrastructure is secure, malicious cyber actors like Russia, China and also Iran “could seek to spread or amplify false or exaggerated claims of compromise.”

SEE ALSO:

Foreign Influence Campaigns Ramp Up to Target US Voters

According to Recorded Future, Russia so far appears to be the most active, despite a deterioration of its U.S. influence capabilities, which have likely been drained by Moscow’s efforts against Ukraine.

Russia

Specifically, the researchers found indications that Russia’s infamous troll farm, the Internet Research Agency (IRA), is back at work, targeting U.S. voters with covert and overt influence campaigns.

Part of the effort, the researchers said, has involved reactivating accounts on social media platforms like Gab and Gettr that cater to conservative audiences in the United States.

One such account under the name “Nora Berka” began posting on Gab in August after a yearlong absence.

“In almost all cases, Nora Berka maintains a highly negative stance toward the policies of U.S. President Joe Biden, with a clear preference for former President Donald Trump, as well as sitting Republican U.S. representatives and candidates for state offices,” the report said. “Comments posted by the persona further maintain that the result of the 2020 election was fraudulent.”

Another recently reactivated account under the name “PaulPedhoven” has been resharing content on the “patriots[.]win” forum, much of it critical of the Biden administration’s economic policies and questioning the safety of COVID-19 vaccines, the report said.

China

Like Russia, Recorded Future found China is also seeding social media with narratives denigrating the U.S. and with what the researchers described to VOA as “political wedge issues related to the midterms.”

Unlike Russia, however, the report said Beijing is mostly relying on diplomats, journalists with Chinese state-run media outlets and political pundits, whose messages are then amplified by fake personas and other inauthentic accounts.

Recorded Future said China’s influence operations, such as a recent campaign that began last month, span platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Douyin, described as a Chinese-language version of TikTok.

“Many of these [posts and comments] appear to criticize both the Republican and Democrat parties and promote extreme views on both sides,” the Recorded Future report said.

Iran

Analysts from Recorded Future's Insikt Group found few traces of Iranian malign influence campaigns currently targeting U.S. voters, though they told VOA by email that Iranian actors have used the elections to share “propaganda, misinformation, and disinformation … leveraging themes such as an impending U.S. civil war, economic collapse, and a decline in U.S. stature on the world stage.”

Responses

Requests by VOA to the Russian embassy and to the Iranian Mission to the U.N. for comment on U.S. warnings and the Recorded Future report were not immediately answered.

China’s embassy on Friday rejected allegations in the Recorded Future report, accusing the researchers and others of spreading disinformation about China.

“We are firmly opposed to this allegation, which is totally groundless and malicious,” Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu told VOA in a statement.

“China has always adhered to the principle of non-interference in other countries' internal affairs,” Liu added. “China has no interest in and has never interfered in the U.S. domestic elections.”

Iran has previously rejected U.S. government accusations of election meddling in 2020 as “baseless.”

Violent domestic extremists

Not all the threat streams are from overseas.

Like the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which warned that domestic extremists might seize upon the midterm elections to engage in violence, the Recorded Future report found reason for concern.

“Violent anti-law enforcement sentiment has proliferated on message boards such as Patriots[.]win and alternative social media platforms such as Gab and Truth Social, where comments about a new civil war and suggestions to execute FBI agents are now commonplace,” the report said.

And just as Russia has been amplifying its messaging, some of the extremists are doing the same for the Kremlin.

“We’re seeing many election deniers and domestic extremist groups who are completely witting to Russia’s influence and who choose to amplify the lies anyway,” Insikt Group told VOA. “It’s a symbiotic relationship, and Moscow knows it will receive support/compliance from the U.S. fringe without having to obscure its own hand.”

Impact

Officials, as well as researchers, caution it is difficult to measure the impact of influence campaigns targeting the U.S., whether foreign or domestic in nature.

But Americans appear to be worried.

A new Pearson Institute/AP-NORC poll released Thursday found that 91% of adults surveyed called the spread of misinformation a problem, while about 70% said it contributes to extreme political views and hate crimes.

More than half of those surveyed further said misinformation works to increase political engagement.

Recorded Future believes the concern is justified.

“Malign influence campaigns that seek to exploit and exacerbate existing social cleavages, which we have observed Russian entities specifically engaging in, are likely to find fertile ground,” according to Insikt Group, responding to questions from VOA.

“The tendency of these campaigns to proliferate on alternate social media platforms suggests that the audiences found there are considered most susceptible to manipulation,” the researchers added.

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mma 1022

As Ukraine successfully pushes back invading forces, OAN is staying faithful to the Russian state propaganda edifice.

OAN is spoon-feeding its viewers Kremlin-backed war propaganda and reports from the state-owned network Ruptly. Recently, the far-right network portrayed the sham referendum and illegal annexation of Ukrainian territories as legitimate; accused the U.S. and Ukraine, without evidence, of sabotaging the Nord Stream gas pipeline and bombing Crimea’s Kerch bridge; aired antisemitic conspiracy theories about Western globalists trying to control Russia; and claimed Ukraine is dangerously escalating the war simply by defending its territory.

This pattern of pro-Russia coverage follows OAN’s notable history of acting as a mouthpiece for Russian propaganda. Both a former correspondent and a more recent hire of OAN's previously worked for Russian state-owned media outlets. After the invasion of Ukraine, OAN hosts promoted Kremlin-sponsored conspiracy theories about Western “biolabs” and Ukraine bombing its own hospitals while guests claimed that “Ukraine is not a real country” and that it’s just “a giant money-pot laundering scheme for the elites.”

The network’s more recent coverage is part of a right-wing effort to defend Russian President Vladimir Putin by convincing viewers Russia’s invasion is not actually an invasion:

OAN coverage relies on Russian state-owned outlet Ruptly

OAN has relied on reporting and footage from Russian state-owned network Ruptly on numerous occasions. Although Ruptly maintains that it is an independent organization and merely a sister agency of now-defunct Russia Today, or RT,Ruptly and its subsidiaries lack an independent news charter and have a history of publishing manipulated reports and sourcing from journalists backed by Russia’s state security agency. The U.K. recently sanctioned Ruptly’s founding station, Tv-Novosti, for pushing Russian state propaganda.

OAN defended Russia’s illegal referendums and subsequent annexation of Ukrainian regions as legitimate

Late last month, Russia organized sham referendums in Ukraine’s occupied Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions in order to annex them and claim that the invaded regions are now legally Russian territory. OAN privileged the Kremlin narrative that these elections were free and legal over widespread reporting andtestimony from residents of the occupied territory revealing a hastily organized election devoid of ballot secrecy and marred by the threat of violence — including video of poll workers flanked by armed soldiers going door to door collecting votes.

Some of OAN’s so-called news reports pushed claims that countries that are refusing to recognize the illegal referendums and annexation of an anti-Russia bias. This narrative ignores international condemnation of Russia’s ongoing invasion and annexation of Ukraine and promotes Putin’s increasingly antagonistic framework that this invasion is part of Russia’s existential battle against the West.

OAN blamed the West for the Nord Stream pipeline sabotage and Kerch bridge explosion without evidence

Three separate ruptures in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines sparked an international blame game between Russia, Ukraine, and Ukrainian allies, including the United States. Online conspiracy theorists and right-wing outlets like OAN parroted the Russian narrative and pointed fingers at the United States and its allies with no evidence. Some programming even used the allegations to validate Putin’s threats of nuclear war.

OAN’s reaction to an explosion that damaged the Kerch bridge, a strategic connection between the Crimean Peninsula and Russia’s mainland, followed a similar pattern. The network advanced a Kremlin allegation that Ukraine was behind the explosion without evidence, which Putin used to justify airstrikes across Ukraine. OAN unquestioningly promoted Putin’s claim as fact.

OAN absolved Russia of blame for the war, faulting “globalists” instead  

OAN’s quest to absolve Russia and justify its invasion has in some cases devolved into antisemitic conspiracy theories. Network hosts pushed claims that “globalists” provoked Russia and plunged the world into Armageddon in order to seize power and targeted the right’s favorite Jewish boogeyman, Holocaust survivor and pro-democracy philanthropist George Soros.Putin has referenced the conspiracy theory in speeches meant to court right-wing populists, justify the invasion, and reduce support for Ukraine. OAN’s coverage follows suit. [oct 13 vid]

correspondent Pearson Sharp: “This war was manufactured from the beginning by the globalists and the tyrants in Washington and designed specifically to cripple our economy and plunge the world into a massive depression, which would help centralize the globalists’ power.”Sharp used out-of-context clips from the “globalist puppet master himself, George Soros,” to trying to prove that “they are trying to provoke Russia into starting Armageddon,” even though “none of this has anything to do with Russia invading Ukraine.” One America News, *One America News*, [10/13/22]

OAN promoted Russian allegations of Ukrainian aggression, justifying Russia’s violent invasion

OAN uncritically advanced Russian propaganda demonizing Ukrainian attempts to take backillegally seized territories while depicting Putin as defending Russian lands and their inhabitants against Ukraine. Though Putin has issued nuclear threats, escalated global tensions, and mythologized Russia’s own history of state-based repression, OAN falsely claimed Ukraine is a totalitarian state run by a dangerous warmonger, President Volodymyr Zelensky, dead-set on dragging the world into nuclear Armageddon.

This coverage serves no purpose aside from helping Putin turn his unpopular military incursion into a defensive war and poisoning support for Ukraine by muddying legitimate criticism about reckless military spending with Kremlin conspiracy theories.

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https://dailycaller.com/2022/10/04/climate-disinformation-hate-speech/

kos ref

POLITICS

Enviros Are Demanding Big Tech Treat ‘Climate Disinformation’ Like Hate Speech

Two-thirds of conservativesfeel[ings, nothing more than...] like social media is censoring conservative voices, according to a poll.

Daily Caller News Foundation logo

BRONSON WINSLOW

CONTRIBUTOR

October 04, 2022

A coalition of environmental advocacy groups has requested that the CEO’s of major social media platforms stop the spread of “climate disinformation” by censoring user posts, according to a Tuesday letter.

Addressed to the CEOs of Facebook, TikTok, Google, YouTube, Twitter and Pinterest, the letter claims that climate disinformation should be censored because it “undermines” the government’s ability to efficiently and effectively respond to the climate. The coalition asserted that social media companies are directly responsible for “amplifying and perpetuating” disinformation and should be completely transparent to show the “exact extent” of damage done.

Social media platforms will be forced to follow the guidelines of the coalition following the approval of the Digital Services Act (DSA), according to the letter. The coalition urges the platforms to “fulfill their obligations” and agree to its terms before the DSA takes effect.

The platforms are urged to “commit to including climate disinformation as a separately-acknowledged category in its reporting and content moderation policies in and outside of the EU,” the letter said. “More specifically, we urge platforms to commit to recognizing climate disinformation as a specific reason within the statement required under DSA Article 15(1), and include data on content moderation decisions related to climate disinformation as stated under Article 23.”

The platforms “owe it to their users and the planet” to stop amplifying climate disinformation that undermines the coalitions’ ability to combat the climate crisis, the letter said. The letter ended by informing each CEO that a written response and signature is required after conforming to the coalitions’ new standards.

Friends of The Earth did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Tags : censorship climate change social media

https://foe.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Count-The-Climate-Sign-On-Letter-1.pdf

To: The CEOs of Facebook, TikTok, Google & YouTube, Twitter, Pinterest From: Civil Society Groups Concerned with Climate Disinformation Date: October 4, 2022

RE: It’s Time for Platforms to Count the Climate

The climate crisis has become increasingly apparent as the July heat wave across Europe broke records in Spain, and we saw deadly floods in eastern Kentucky destroy local communities and wildfires burning from France to California. Unfortunately, the spread of climate disinformation undermines governments’ ability to efficiently and effectively respond. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has even named climate disinformation as a threat to the world’s ability to effectively address climate change. The UN Secretary General António Guterres recently mentioned the threat of misinformation, proliferated by social media companies, in a recent General Assembly speech and tweet. Social media companies bear responsibility for their role in amplifying and perpetuating climate disinformation but transparency, that would quantify the exact extent, has been lacking from all platforms. The Digital Services Act has passed in the EU, and its obligations for platforms will take effect very soon. We’re writing to ask platform leaders to fulfill obligations set forth in the DSA, and to commit to including climate disinformation as a separately-acknowledged category in its reporting and content moderation policies in and outside of the EU. More specifically, we urge platforms to commit to recognizing climate disinformation as a specific reason within the statement required under DSA Article 15(1), and include data on content moderation decisions related to climate disinformation as stated under Article 23. Platforms owe it to their users and the planet to stop amplifying the climate disinformation that undermines our ability to combat the climate crisis. We call on your companies to implement these actions as soon as possible and request a written response addressed to the signatories below.

Regards, ● 350.org ● Accountable Tech ● Action for the Climate Emergency ● Center for Countering Digital Hate ● Check My Ads ● ClimateVoice ● Digital Climate Coalition ● Exposure Labs ● Friends of the Earth ●Greenpeace ● Green Latinos ● Institute for Strategic Dialogue ● Stop Funding Heat ● Union of Concerned Scientist

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recall 50 plus sec ppl said laptop BS // disinfo

grassley and ron johnson useful idiots?

https://www.newsweek.com/key-points-chuck-grassley-letter-accusing-fbi-hunter-biden-cover-1728034

no lnx

u.S.

Key Points From Chuck Grassley Letter Accusing FBI of Hunter Biden Cover-Up

BY KATHERINE FUNG ON 7/26/22

U.S.

FBI

DOJ

CHUCK GRASSLEY

HUNTER BIDEN

Senator Chuck Grassley is accusing the FBI of covering up Hunter Biden's alleged criminal financial activity by purposely launching a campaign to discredit any negative information about the president's son.

On Monday, Grassley wrote a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland saying that "highly credible whistleblowers" have come forward, alleging widespread misconduct by both federal agencies over the handling of derogatory information about Biden in the months leading up to the 2020 election.

"The volume and consistency of these allegations substantiate their credibility and necessitate this letter," the Iowa Republican wrote. He demanded that Wray and Garland turn over a series of documents and records so Congress can perform an independent review of the alleged misconduct.

The letter is the latest development in the senator's efforts to bring attention to the probe into Biden's business dealings. The president's son has been the subject of a federal investigation run by the U.S. attorney's office in Delaware since 2018 over concerns that his financial and business practices potentially involved money laundering and violated U.S. tax laws during his father's time as vice president.

Grassley Hunter Biden FBI

GOP Senator Chuck Grassley is demanding that the FBI's director and the U.S. attorney general turn over documents and records so Congress can perform an independent review of alleged misconduct by Hunter Biden. Above, Grassley speaks to the media on April 4.

In his letter, Grassley also said, "If these allegations are true and accurate, the Justice Department and FBI are—and have been—institutionally corrupted to their very core to the point in which the United States Congress and the American people will have no confidence in the equal application of the law."

Grassley, who serves as the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, named two FBI agents in the letter: FBI Supervisory Intelligence Analyst Brian Auten and Assistant Special Agent in Charge Timothy Thibault.

The senator alleged that Austen opened an assessment in August 2020, which was used by an FBI team to "improperly discredit negative Hunter Biden information as disinformation and caused investigative activity to cease."

Grassley said it was during that same month that he and GOP Senator Ron Johnson received an "unnecessary" briefing from the FBI that gave their Democratic counterparts ammo to accuse the senators of "advancing foreign disinformation."

READ MORE

DOJ Will Take Action Against Hunter Biden Within 2 Months: Representative

What Is Hunter Biden Being Investigated For? Details of Federal Probe

Hunter Biden, China and BHR—What We Do Know, What We Don't]

Grassley alleged that in October 2020, a month before the presidential election that was won by Biden's father, Thibault ordered the matter closed "without providing a valid reason as required by FBI guidelines."

The senator added that while the Biden matter was closed in a way that would allow for the investigation to be reopened at a later date, the senator has received "credible" allegations that FBI officials tried to mark the matter in agency systems to prevent it from being opened in the future.

In addition to the probe into Biden's financial and business practices, investigators are analyzing whether he acted as an unregistered foreign lobbying agent while working as a consultant and investor for businesses and tycoons in China, Ukraine and Kazakhstan.

The FBI told Newsweek it received Grassley's letter but had no additional comment. The Justice Department declined Newsweek's request for comment.

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mma 9 22 https://www.mediamatters.org/tucker-carlson/**carlson-kremlin-feedback-loop

Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s dubious allegation that the United States sabotaged a natural gas pipeline between Russia and Germany as part of a sinister “escalation” of Russia’s war with Ukraine echoed the Kremlin’s own propagandists. Carlson’s report is nowgetting substantial attention from Russian state TV, which is promoting his theory — and his suggestion for how Russia could strike back at U.S. interests in light of the supposed attack.

On Monday, “two powerful underwater explosions” damaged the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines. While the former had been shut down by Russia in August and the latter never became operational, both contained pressurized gas which is now leaking into the Baltic Sea. The international consensus is that the pipelines were sabotaged, with U.S. and European Union officials suggesting Russia is behind the explosions.

But the Kremlin, in turn, is suggesting that the U.S. sabotaged the pipelines, latching on to a since-deleted Tuesday tweet from Radek Sikorski, a Polish E.U. parliamentarian, which stated, “Thank you, USA,” alongside a photo of the leak. On social media, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson immediately questioned whether Sikorski’s tweet was an “official statement that this was a terrorist attack,” while another Russian official likewise thanked Sikorski for “making it crystal clear who stands behind this terrorist-style targeting of civilian infrastructure!” Russian state media outlet RT quickly amplified their theorizing under the headline “U.S. praised for Nord Stream explosion.”

[twt]

carlson’s coverage of the crisis created by Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine generally aligns with the Kremlin’s preferred narratives, to the point where Russian state media outlets, following their government’s explicit instructions, regularly air clips from his program.

That is what happened following the apparent sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines.

Just hours after Russian officials floated the narrative that the U.S. was responsible for damaging the pipelines, Carlson adopted it as his own.

Describing the ruptures as an “act of industrial terrorism,” Carlson quickly dispatched with the notion that Russia or its dictator, Vladimir Putin, might be involved. According to Carlson, Putin “would not do that” and would have to be “a suicidal moron to blow up your own energy pipeline.”

Instead, Carlson strongly suggested that the U.S. had sabotaged the pipelines. “If they did this, this will be one of the craziest, most destructive things any American administration has ever done,” he said. “But it would also be totally consistent with what they do. What do they do? They destroy.”

Carlson’s comically weak case revolved around two main pieces of evidence – Sikorski’s tweet, and a February statement from President Joe Biden that if Russia were to invade Ukraine, “there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2. We will bring an end to it.” That seems to very obviously reference what happened after Russia invaded – Germany froze the pipeline project, which has yet to become operational. But in Carlson’s typically dishonest translation, Biden “said ‘there won't be a Nord Stream 2. We'll put an end to it. Will take it out. Will blow it up.’”

On that scanty evidence, Carlson suggested that the U.S. had blown up an ally’s energy infrastructure. While on-screen text stated “Today’s escalation will have huge consequences,” Carlson asserted that “we've entered a new phase, one in which the United States is directly at war with the largest nuclear power in the world.” He added: “If we actually blew up the Nord Stream pipelines, why wouldn't Russia sever undersea internet cables? What would happen if they did that?" [vid]

it was inevitable that Carlson’s theory would spread through the right-wing media, given his influential role in that ecosystem. But it isn’t just the likes of Charlie Kirk rushing to follow him in blaming America.

Carlson’s monologue “entered heavy rotation” on Russian state TV, as The Washington Post’s Philip Bump noted on Thursday. Bump highlighted 12 different times that Russia’s Channel One, Russia1, and Russia24 networks had aired clips of Carlson highlighting his theory.

Julia Davis, a Russian media monitor and Daily Beast columnist, compiled and translated some of the segments. She noted that the Russian commentators seemed particularly interested in Carlson’s suggestion for how their state might retaliate for the supposed U.S. attack.[twt nice pix of puny panel and big tucker]

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https://madison.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/sen-ron-johnsons-tangled-relationship-with-ukraine-and-russia

No LNX

RON JOHNSON | RECORD ON RUSSIA

Sen. Ron Johnson's tangled relationship with Ukraine and Russia

Alexander Shur | Wisconsin State Journal Mar 13, 2022

Ron Johnson meets with Zelenskyy

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson and other U.S. politicians meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Feb. 14, 2020.

US EMBASSY IN KIEV

Since Russia annexed Crimea and interfered with the 2016 U.S. elections, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson has walked a fine line between Republican leaders’ praise of Russia and what he has considered his long support for Ukraine.

His record on Ukraine also includes accusations and warnings that he was disseminating misinformation potentially picked up from Russian-linked Ukrainians.

But Johnson has also challenged former President Donald Trump for not supporting Ukraine enough — though he now heaps that criticism on Democrats.

The Oshkosh Republican voted to acquit Trump during his first impeachment, which centered on Trump’s attempt to withhold aid from Ukraine if it didn’t investigate his political rivals.

“I feared any sign of reduced U.S. support could prompt (Russian President Vladimir Putin) to demonstrate even more aggression, and because I was convinced (Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy) was sincere in his desire to fight corruption, this was no time to be withholding aid for any reason,” Johnson wrote in November 2019.

[Amid impeachment inquiry, Ron Johnson defends Donald Trump, blasts FBI, CIA

Riley Vetterkind | Wisconsin State Journal]

Johnson voiced similar criticism days after Russia attacked Ukraine in February, only this time it was lobbed at Democratic leaders and a critical impeachment witness.

“I am certainly hoping that (retired Col. Alexander Vindman), (Democratic Calif. Rep.) Adam Schiff, (Democratic House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi who used Ukraine as a pawn in their impeachment travesty are also recognizing, reflecting on how they weakened Ukraine, weakened the West, weakened America by the divisive politics that they played,” Johnson said on Fox News.

But to paint Johnson as a consistently loyal supporter of Ukraine — willing to lash out at both Democrats and Republicans — would ignore other anti-Ukrainian comments he has made over the years as the FBI warned him that he was a target of Russian misinformation.

On Russia

GOP senator subpoenas FBI over Russia, defends Biden probe (copy) (copy) (copy)

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., speaks during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2020, in Washington. (Toni Sandys/The Washington Post via AP, Pool)

Toni Sandys

On July 4, 2018, Johnson visited Russian officials with other Republicans, reportedly to warn the country not to interfere with the 2020 elections.

After the trip, Johnson told the Washington Examiner that the United States’ response to Russian interference was overblown.

“We need to really honestly assess what actually happened, what effect did it have, and what effect are our sanctions actually having, positively and negatively,” he said.

Sen. Ron Johnson's meeting underscores his involvement in Ukrainian saga

Riley Vetterkind | Wisconsin State Journal]

He also called for sanctions focusing more on Putin’s inner circle, and suggested the two countries don’t have to be enemies.

A year later on “Meet the Press,” in the lead-up to Trump’s first impeachment, Johnson was unequivocal that Russia interfered with the 2016 election, but added, “I don’t know to what extent the Ukrainians did. I don’t know to what extent DNC and Hillary Clinton campaign were involved in kinda juicin’ up the — the Ukrainian involvements as well.”

Johnson’s statement came just a few months after he met with a former Ukrainian diplomat, Andriy Telizhenko, to discuss unsubstantiated claims that Ukraine aided Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign for the presidency. Telizhenko, the FBI would warn Republican lawmakers a few months later in March 2020, was a potential conduit for Russian disinformation.

Telizhenko told The Washington Post he met with Johnson for at least half an hour on Capitol Hill and with Senate staff for another five hours. He said Johnson invited him to meet. The meeting took place July 11, 2019, according to a photograph taken of the two posted to Telizhenko’s Facebook page.

[Finland Trump Putin Summit

Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin during a news conference after their meeting on July 16, 2018, at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, Finland.]

That was about two weeks before former President Donald Trump’s phone call with Zelenskyy in which Trump told Zelenskyy he wanted him to do a “favor” and investigate the Bidens and alleged Ukrainian interference in the election. That phone call eventually led to Trump’s first impeachment.

According to The Washington Post, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, claimed Johnson wanted to “give credibility” to disinformation advanced by Telizhenko and Andriy Derkach, a Ukrainian politician accused by the Treasury Department of having been an active Russian agent, for the purpose of helping Trump’s reelection campaign. Johnson has pushed back against that claim, and said his staff vetted the reliability of Telizhenko’s information.

In August 2020, the FBI warned Johnson that he was the target of Russian disinformation U.S. intelligence officials believed the foreign adversary was using to promote its interests in the lead-up to the November presidential election.

But Johnson said he disregarded the warning due to a lack of evidence provided by intelligence officials.

[Ron Johnson condemns impeachment probe after first day of Senate trial

Riley Vetterkind | Wisconsin State Journal]

“Without specific information, I felt the briefing was completely useless and unnecessary (since I was fully aware of the dangers of Russian disinformation),” Johnson told The Washington Post.

Around the time the FBI issued its warnings, Johnson, who served as chair of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security, oversaw the committee’s investigation into President Joe Biden’s son Hunter’s role with a Ukrainian energy company while Biden was vice president. The final report, issued before the November presidential election, found no evidence that Hunter’s role affected U.S. policy.

The invasion

As Russia made its way toward Ukraine in late February, Trump called Putin’s move “genius” and “wonderful,” resulting in widespread condemnation.

[Finland Trump Putin Summit

Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin during a news conference after their meeting on July 16, 2018, at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, Finland.]

UW-Madison political science professor Andrew Kydd said for some Republicans embracing Putin has become “a big problem right now, politically speaking.”

“That invasion is so brutal. Ukrainians are so heroic and their resistance to it is making it look really bad to have been on Team Putin all this time,” he continued.

Unlike some from his fellow party, Johnson hasn’t taken a pro-Putin view since the invasion began.

But he has spread misinformation, Kydd said, by saying Trump’s first impeachment weakened Ukraine.

“I think that’s directly opposite of the truth in the sense that Trump was basically extorting Ukraine, and the fact that that became publicly known forced him to backtrack and got Congress to approve further military aid for Ukraine,” Kydd said.

[Ron Johnson says FBI warned him he was target of Russian disinformation

Riley Vetterkind | Wisconsin State Journal]

Just as the impeachment inquiry began, $35 million of the aid Trump withheld from Ukraine couldn’t be disbursed by the fiscal year deadline, requiring Congress to pass a law extending the deadline to the next fiscal year. Johnson voted for the fiscal year to be extended, though all of the 16 U.S. Senators voting against its extension were Republicans.

Asked why Johnson suggested the impeachment inquiry weakened Ukraine, Johnson’s spokesperson Alexa Henning said, “Because countries look to America for support, anytime our relationship with another country becomes a partisan issue — for whatever reason — that weakens our support for that nation, thereby weakening the country and making it more vulnerable.”

Johnson has critiqued Democrats for weakening Ukraine, but that tactic may not be surprising given the hyper-partisan nature of the country’s political system.

“(Zelenskyy) has now emerged as an iconic leader with tremendous courage as he rallies Ukrainians to defend their country and inspires a global coalition to provide assistance,” Johnson wrote on his website on March 1. “Ukraine faces a better equipped Russian military, but the Ukrainians are fighting for their families and freedom, whereas, Russian soldiers are fighting for a corrupt Russian kleptocracy.”

At a town hall the following day, Johnson said about the invasion, “It’s a travesty, and we’ve already always known that Vladimir Putin was a murderous thug.”

About a week later, more than 40 Republican U.S. Senators, including Johnson, penned a letter to Biden asking for him to provide Ukraine with aircraft after officials declined to help transfer Polish fighter jets to the country.

Johnson also wants heavier sanctions against Russia, Henning said.

“He has been an outspoken advocate of increasing the cost Putin pays for his actions in order to change his calculus, including for pushing for sanctioning and dismantling Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline, to name one prominent example,” she said.

The same day the letter was dated, Johnson was one of 31 U.S. Senators to vote against a $1.5 trillion government funding bill that includes $13.6 billion in aid to Ukraine.

“We just learned inflation hit a forty year high at 7.9% — wiping out wage gains and making life more difficult,” he said in a statement about his vote. “Even though this bill funds many important priorities, I simply cannot support such a dysfunctional and harmful process.”

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omfg

https://www.mediamatters.org/one-america-news-network/oan-calls-darya-dugina-casualty-joe-bidens-red-regime-and-its-war-impose

8 22

PEARSON SHARP (CORRESPONDENT): Washington's proxy war against Russia claims another victim. Darya Dugina, an innocent journalist, who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. On Saturday night, Darya was killed in a massive explosion from a car bomb planted under her father's truck. Evidence suggests that bomb was meant for her father instead – the famous Russian political commentator Aleksandr Dugin, who also happens to be a close friend with president Vladimir Putin. Darya, like her father, has been adamantly opposed to the illegal, criminal, and unprovoked western aggression in eastern Europe, especially towards Russia. Over the last year, she has cemented her reputation as an independent journalist fiercely critical of Joe Biden’s red regime, as well as his efforts to start World War III.

Her reporting took her across the war zones in Ukraine, where she even contributed to a documentary by One America News on the fighting at the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol. Of course, you can't cover Joe Biden’s shadow war against Moscow without including hispuppets in the corrupt Ukrainian government. Puppets like president Volodymyr Zelensky, who’s been bought and paid for by George Soros. But tragically, truth-telling in journalism is rarely profitable, especially for an independent journalist, and Darya’s courageous reporting made her the target of some very powerful enemies.

…

Naturally, Ukraine is denying any involvement. In a very convincing speech, one of Zelensky's stooges protested that Ukraine couldn't be responsible for the assassination because Ukraine is not a criminal state. No, Ukraine is just run by criminals who are financed by the greatest criminals on Earth, like George Soros, and which works hand in hand with the criminals in the Biden crime syndicate. No, no, no reason to suspect Ukraine.

…

SHARP: Following the brutal assassination, western governments drummed up their allies in the media to pump out attacks on Darya, with the BBC even pushing sickening reports trying to portray her death as justified. The New York Times ran a hit piece on Darya, trying to discredit her work and painting her as a pro-Russian radical, calling her an ultranationalist guilty of spreading misinformation about the war in Ukraine.

But for anyone remotely familiar with Darya or her work, that's obviously fake news designed to cover up western war crimes in Ukraine, which Darya was fighting hard to expose.

…

SHARP: These are scenes from the documentary she contributed to for One America News. Darya described the war in Ukraine as the result of liberal fascism,which by definition is exactly what it is. This is a conflict brought on by the liberals, the Democrats in Washington, as a result of the rampant fascism and their war to impose totalitarianism upon the entire world. Darya was absolutely right. And now, she's dead.

…

SHARP: Ultimately, Darya will be remembered as a brave and courageous journalist, who took a stand for freedom, and for the innocent civilians suffering from the illegal wars of Washington. She exposed the crime and corruption behind these conflicts, and paid for it with her life. One more casualty of the criminal war being waged by Joe Biden and his bloody regime.

But as long as we keep her memory alive, and continue reporting the truth about what's happening in Ukraine, then that freedom and her struggle will never die. For One America News, I'm Pearson Sharp.

OAN host uses Nazi youth book burning to push book banning

08/23/22

After Mar-a-Lago search, OAN calls attack on FBI office a false flag

08/15/22

OAN host reacts to FBI Mar-a-Lago search: “We are the closest to Civil War II we've ever been"

08/15/22

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an 8 22

Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) is at the center of controversy yet again for her recent remarks inadvertently exposing the truth about the Republican Party. A new political ad released by the political action committee (PAC), Meidas Touch, highlights the Republican lawmaker's controversial remarks.

According to HuffPost, the clip of Greene's remarks featured footage of her echoing conspiracy-driven talking points laid out by Kremlin officials who have publicly discussed the Russian military's invasion of Ukraine.

The clip also highlighted grotesque remarks from Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) who could be heard describing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a “thug” as former President Donald Trump praised Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine; disturbing behavior and leadership the former president has described as “genius.”

[twt vid]

at another point, the clip also featured a portion of a recent interview Greene conducted where she insisted that Ukraine was to blame for the Russian invasion. "You see Ukraine just kept poking the bear, poking the bear, which is Russia, and Russia invaded," Greene said, adding, "And the hard truth is ... there is no win for Ukraine here. Russia is being very successful in their invasion."

The video clip, which was released on Tuesday, March 22, quickly began circulating on Twitter and garnered more than 325,000 views in less than 12 hours. Despite Greene's arguments, HuffPost pointed to the assessments from independent reports on the tension between Russia and Ukraine. Based on those reports, it appears "Russia misjudged the strength of Ukrainian resistance and is incurring higher casualties than expected."

The latest clip follows multiple incidents where Greene has been criticized for backing conspiracies and making baseless claims about a number of key issues. From the COVID-19 pandemic, to vaccines and the presidential election, Greene has often made remarks that have led to extensive fact-checks and opposition on social media.

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an 6 22

When the COVID-19 pandemic was at its worst in 2020 and 2021, a combination of far-right conspiracy theorists, Christian nationalists and so-called “wellness influencers” added to the death count by pushing bogus, unscientific “cures” and falsely claiming that the lifesaving vaccines being offered by Moderna, Pfizer and others were dangerous. But COVID-19, although still highly infectious, hasn’t been in the headlines as much in recent months — and some fake “wellness influencers” and conspiracy theorists, according to Daily Beast reporter Cécile Simmons, have turned their attention to monkeypox.

“Though little is understood about the mysterious outbreaks of the monkeypox virus in Europe and North America,” Simmons reports in an article published by the Beast on June 15, “scientists agree on one thing: It’s nothing like COVID. But that doesn’t seem to have stopped some influencers in the alternative health and wellness community from repurposing COVID misinformation and using this new public health crisis to further their own agendas.”

Simmons adds, “In the early months of the coronavirus pandemic, alt-health and wellness online influencers — from yoga teachers to fitness instructors — became some of the most active propagators of conspiracy theories about COVID-19. With cases now on the decline in much of the West — thanks in no small part to widespread vaccination campaigns — monkeypox has provided new material to rehash the narratives that brought these influencers attention in the early days of COVID, including claims that monkeypox is a plot engineered by global elites to profit from diseases and restrict individual freedoms.”

One of the conspiracy theorists who promoted dangerously false information about COVID-19 during the worst parts of the pandemic was anti-vaxxer Sayer Ji,founder of the alternative medicine website GreenMedInfo.com. In 2022, Simmons reports, Ji has turned his attention to monkeypox.

“Sayer Ji has dedicated his social media channels to making repeated unproven claims about nightmarish vaccine side effects, including death, and that COVID vaccination is a plot masterminded by big pharma and ‘the global government,’” Simmons explains. “And now, with monkeypox on the rise, Sayer Ji has taken to his Telegram channel and Twitter to spread ludicrous claims that monkeypox is the mainstream media’s way of covering up side-effects caused by COVID vaccines to his roughly 50,000 and 11.5k followers, respectively. His Telegram channel includes multiple posts claiming that cases of monkeypox have coincided with the purchase of vaccines by the U.S., among other bizarre theories.”

Another “wellness” influencer/conspiracy theorist pushing wacky claims about monkeypox is Hiighhopess,who, according to Simmons, “recently used her Instagram stories to describe monkeypox as a profiteering ploy manufactured by Bill Gates, and shared claims that the U.S. government is stockpiling vaccines and planning to impose vaccination against monkeypox.”

During the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Simmons notes, Hiighhopess, an anti-vaxxer, “used her Instagram channel to share anti-vaccine and anti-mask content, including posts depicting vaccination as a plot by elites to manipulate the public into submission.”

“This repurposing of the COVID playbook by alternative health and wellness gurus should come as no surprise,” Simmons observes. “COVID has provided a blueprint for conspiracy theories, allowing influencers to develop broad-ranging anti-elite and anti-institutional narratives that can be adapted to emerging public health crises.It has also allowed conspiracy-spreaders to use various techniques, including decontextualizing scientific data and cherry-picking facts to give themselves a veneer of credibility.”

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an 6 22

U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has released a new bulletin to raise awareness about the possibility of election misinformation, warning the U.S. could see a rise in violence in the summer months and upcoming midterm election season, thanks in part to the Supreme Court's potential decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

On Tuesday, June 7, the National Terrorism Advisory System released its bulletin as it explained that "threat actors" are on the rise, according to CNN.

"Threat actors have recently mobilized to violence due to factors such as personal grievances, reactions to current events, and adherence to violent extremist ideologies, including racially or ethnically motivated or anti-government/antiauthority violent extremism," a National Terrorism Advisory System bulletin issued Tuesday said."

One DHS senior official also expressed concern the political events set to transpire later this year as many are still displeased with the outcome of the 2020 presidential election which was shrouded by disturbing claims of misinformation.

"One of the key upcoming events that we are worried about are first and foremost the mid-term elections," said the DHS official.

Per CNN, the DHS official also noted that individuals who still feel slighted by the outcome of the 2020 presidential election "may feel compelled to respond to the election season using violence."

"As the United States enters mid-term election season this year, we assess that calls for violence by domestic violent extremists directed at democratic institutions, political candidates, party offices, election events, and election workers will likely increase," the bulletin, obtained by CNN, said.

The bulletin also highlighted concerns about the controversy surrounding abortion rights and the U.S. Supreme Court's final opinion which is gearing up to be "a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade's holding of a federal constitutional right to an abortion."

Per the DHS bulletin: "Given a high-profile U.S. Supreme Court case about abortion rights, individuals who advocate both for and against abortion have, on public forums, encouraged violence, including against government, religious, and reproductive healthcare personnel and facilities, as well as those with opposing ideologies."

The DHS senior official also warned that "going forward, we're concerned that grievances related to restricting abortion access in general could fuel a broader response."

The latest bulletin is the sixth DHS has released since the insurrection on the U.S. Capitol which took place Jan. 6, 2021. In addition to the domestic concerns, the bulletin also noted that this unpredictable time may be one that foreign agitators may attempt to seize on.

"Foreign adversaries — including terrorist organizations and nation state adversaries — also remain intent on exploiting the threat environment to promote or inspire violence, sow discord, or undermine U.S. democratic institutions," the bulletin said.

It was also noted that social media platforms continue to pose heightened risks as it is still considered a hub for misinformation.

"Individuals in online forums that routinely promulgate domestic violent extremist and conspiracy theory-related content have praised the May 2022mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas and encouraged copycat attacks," the bulletin said. "Others have seized on the event to attempt to spread disinformation and incite grievances, including claims it was a government-staged event meant to advance gun control measures."

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mojo 6 22

...In part, the breathtaking success of worldwide anti-vaccination campaigns is due to the fact that there is an entire,incredibly lucrative cottage industry devoted to pumping out vaccine disinformation.Many of the most successful anti-vaccine activists rake in advertising money from their popular YouTube channels; some further enrich themselves through sales of supplements, detox regimens, and other wellness products, the Center for Countering Digital Hate has found. Social media makes it cheap and easy to reach international customers—and international versions of popular social media platforms lack even the basic disinformation censors found in American versions. Children’s Health Defense, the prominent and influential anti-vaccine group led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., recently launched a European version of its site. Joseph Mercola, the influential anti-vaccine osteopath, offers Spanish and French editions of his site; his videos have been translated into many languages, according to the New York Times. In a 2017 affidavit, Mercola reported his net worth to be in excess of $100 million. 

American influencers’ messages often resonate with communities that seem to have little in common with the United States, says Joe Smyser, CEO of  Public Good Projects, a nonprofit in Washington, DC, that collaborates with UNICEF on studying vaccine hesitancy. Recently, his team followed the path of an American op-ed criticizing pandemic restrictions from its origin in the United States all the way to East Timor, where it took off on local social media. And when Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul said he opposed government vaccine mandates, “that got a lot of traction in social networks across Vietnam,” Smyser says. “It was used to push back against the Vietnamese government and Vietnamese public health officials.”

But there is another reason that anti-vaccine content finds its way around the world, with consequences even more dangerous and pervasive than those from anti-vaccine activists. In his study, Wilson’s team found that foreign governments—particularly Russia—were amplifying all kinds of messages both in support of and against vaccines. This is a well-established destabilization tactic that leverages social media to polarize an entire population around a particularly contentious issue—Russia used it to undermine the 2016 US presidential election, for example. The point isn’t to promote any single viewpoint; it’s to sow chaos. “A lot of the time, you’ll have bots pushing six completely contradictory, mutually exclusive stories,” Wilson says. “But what unifies all of them is trying to get people to throw up their hands and say, ‘I guess it’s impossible to know what the truth is.’”

Just as Wilson was wrapping up his study, the pandemic began—and suddenly, his research took on new meaning and urgency. Around the world, social media channels were flooded with wild claims about the new disease and the tools to fight it. He watched in horror as powerful people—even heads of state—amplified the “disinformation campaigns online that have managed to blow it vastly out of the original proportion of a few individuals who were hardcore believers.”

Public Good Project/Nimbus Capture]

Which narrative takes off in any given country depends on the culture and history of the place. In May 2020, Kenyan evangelical pastor Fred Akama posted a rant on Facebook, which began “THE GATES OF BILL SHALL NOT PREVAIL.” Bill Gates “predicted that a viral pandemic would hit the world,” the post continued, with the clear implication that the philanthropist was somehow complicit in and profiting from the creation and spread of Covid. Akama also accused Gates of having unethically close ties with the World Health Organization and vaccine producers and called him an enemy of the Christian faith. He has more than 15,000 followers on Facebook.

Akama wasn’t the only social media influencer in Kenya warning about Bill Gates’ motives. “If you look at the kind of stuff that is circulating in East Africa…you find that the content seems to be very similar,” says Eric Mugendi, who works at Meedan, a San Francisco–based technology nonprofit supporting fact-checking and verification of organizations. “The kind of language that was being used and the types of people who were spreading it—a lot of times it was religious leaders,” Mugendi says, arguing that anti-vaxxers often link their arguments to Gates and liberal philanthropist George Soros. They accuse them of wanting to test vaccines’ efficacy on Africans, profit from vaccine sales, control the human population through microchipping, and prevent the growth of the African population.

“The unifying factor is encouraging distrust of elites and experts and Westerners on any level.”

Disinformation campaigns that play up nefarious motives of powerful people are common worldwide. In the United States, a widely shared video called Plandemic popularized the conspiracy theory about Gates early in the pandemic. This strain of disinformation is particularly effective in Africa because of deep-seated anxiety that Western governments want to slow population growth in the developing world, notes Wilson of Brandeis University. “The unifying factor is encouraging distrust of elites and experts and Westerners on any level,” he says.

Ultraconservative groups in Africa have a long history of spinning a variety of Gates conspiracy theories. The anti-abortion movement in Africa has employed this tactic for at least a decade. In a 2017 article in Pacific Standard, Kathryn Joyce reported on a prominent Nigerian anti-abortion activist Obianuju Ekeocha, who in 2012 spoke out against a Gates Foundation contraceptives campaign. American anti-choice groups helped Ekeocha create a new group, Culture of Life Africa. This complemented an ongoing campaign by Human Life International, a hardline US anti-abortion group operating around the world. Its mission? To spread the message that “Western governments and NGOs are using great sums of money and influence to destroy the traditionally life-loving African culture.”

There’s a convergence these days between seemingly unrelated public health issues, as many of the same US-sponsored organizations that oppose abortion have pivoted their messaging to address Covid vaccinations. One such group is CitizenGO, an ultraconservative petition mill with outposts worldwide. CitizenGO Africa, whose anti-abortion work Mother Jones covered here, is led by a Kenyan woman named Ann Kioko, who was trained in workshops by the American Leadership Institute, a conservative organization that counts former Vice President Mike Pence, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and Karl Rove among its distinguished alumni. 

In 2020, CitizenGo posted an online petition titled “Bill Gates and WHO: Hands Off Africa” intended to send a “firm message to the Bill Gates Foundation and the World Health Organization that Africa is not a test lab, Africans are people with human dignity and Africans will not be used to try vaccines whose purpose is not known.” The petition accuses Gates of having Covid vaccines “tested on Africa as he stages them [vaccines] as the only solution to the pandemic.” It also accuses Bill and Melinda Gates of attempting to control the African population via contraception and abortion. “Melinda Gates told the Washington Post she is frustrated with the Trump administration’s decision to cut funding for international ‘reproductive-rights projects,’ (READ ABORTION) calling it ‘incredibly disappointing,’” the petition read. ...

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twt  https://twitter.com/BonginoReport/status/1522648982585065474

[pix of garland]

Bongino Report on Twitter: "Woke Biden Admin. Unleashes New "Green ...

Bongino Report @BonginoReport. Woke Biden Admin. Unleashes New "Green Police" To Target YOU [emoticons eyeballs, thumb?] rumble.com. Woke Biden Admin. Unleashes New "Green Police" To Target YOU. What does "environmental justice" even mean? 6:46 PM · May 6, --> qanon

aug 21?  biden senile russ disinfo

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6 22

propagandists on Russian state television have announced a new objective in President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine – assassinating Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Putin's genocidal "special military operation" has slogged on for nearly four months. After failing to capture the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, Moscow has begun intensifying its efforts in the Eastern Russian separatist-controlled regions of Luhansk and Donbas, where they are slowly advancing.

Tens of thousands of Russian troops have died amid fierce resistance by the Ukrainians, who have in turn faced indiscriminate slaughter by Putin's forces. Mass graves outside the flattened Southern port city of Mariupol, for example, have been reported to contain 16,000 victims.

The Kremlin, meanwhile, has pushed the false narrative that Ukraine is a fake country filled with Nazis and that the greater number of its citizens who are massacred, the better. In a recent segment on Russia 1, Putin's stooges expanded on that grim objective, claiming that the only path to victory is to push Russia's borders as far to the West as possible and kill Zelenskyy (who has already survived multiple attempts on his life).

"How far away do we have to move Ukraine? How far away could you move a maniac, a ghoul, who wants to turn everything into dead meat?" propagandist Andrei Sidorchik asked his panel of Zelenskyy. "On which territory will this moment take place, when will this ghoul stop being a ghoul?"

Putin started this war, and that has only emboldened his minions into viciously dehumanizing the Ukrainian population.

"I'm telling you, we're fightingghouls! They mysticallywant to turn everything into dead meat, they announce that openly," Sidorchik continued, which is not true. "We can only stop when they lose the opportunity to kill us. That's why, I'll say it again, the unclean can be stopped only when you drive a stake through it. When a stake is driven through Volodymyr Zelenskyy, then there will be peace. There is no other way."

Professor Vitaly Tretyakov, the Dean of the Higher School of Television at Moscow's Lomonosov State University, agreed.

The translation was provided by The Daily Beast's Julia Davis.

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https://www.alternet.org/2022/05/dhs-report-manipulated-trump-ally/

collusion rept buried? says IG

During 2020’s presidential race, national security experts were warning that the Kremlin and its allies would try to interfere in that election just as they had interfered in the 2016 election — and a report was released by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis. The DHS Inspector General’s Office, in 2022, has been investigating that report; the results of the recent DHS IG probe were released on Tuesday, May 3, andaccording to DHS IG Joseph V. Cuffari, the 2020 report was improperly manipulated.

Reporters Courtney Bublé and Patrick Tucker, in Defense One, explain, “A top Trump Administration official delayed and altered an intelligence product about the upcoming 2020 presidential election, leading to the perception that it was changed to help Donald Trump’s reelection bid, according to a federal watchdog.”

Bublé and Tucker note that the newly released DHS IG report is titled “DHS Actions Related to an I&A Intelligence Product Deviated from Standard Procedures” and “reflects reporting by ABC News from back in September 2020.”

On September 2, 2020, ABC News reported that in early July 2020,DHS had “withheld publication of an intelligence bulletin warning law enforcement agencies of a Russian scheme to promote ‘allegations about the poor mental health’ of former Vice President Joe Biden.”

In 2020, the false and ageist claim that Biden was mentally impaired was pushed by Kremlin-operated media in Russia as well as by their useful idiots in far-right MAGA media in the United States.

In its newly released report, the DHS IG’s Office explains, “The acting secretary participated in the review process multiple times despite lacking any formal role in reviewing the product, resulting in the delay of its dissemination on at least one occasion. The delays and deviation from (the Office of Intelligence and Analysis) standard process and requirements put (the office) at risk of creating a perception of politicization.”

Bublé and Tucker note that in April 2020, DHS’ Cyber Million Center started drafting a report titled “Russia Likely to Denigrate Health of U.S. Candidates to Influence 2020 Electoral Dynamics.”

“Aiming to inform state and local governments,” Bublé and Tucker explain, “the analysts followed the Office of Intelligence and Analysis’ drafting and editing policies, the IG found. But when DHS leaders reviewed the report at a July 8, 2020 meeting,Acting Secretary Chad Wolf— who is referred to by his title but not explicitly named in the IG document — determined that DHS should hold the report because it would embarrass President Trump, according to a whistleblower complaint noted in the IG report.”

Bublé and Tucker add, “The report was delayed for months. A Cyber Mission Center official added a ‘tone box’ — a new section of text — that said China and Iran were trying to derail Trump’s reelection. When DHS investigators asked why the material outside of the original scope of the report was added, the official didn’t have a good answer.”

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https://www.alternet.org/2022/04/alex-jones-sandy-hook-kremlin/

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Reporter lays out the ‘eerie’ parallels between Kremlin media and America’s ‘mass shooting deniers’

Alex Henderson April 26, 2022

During Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, some of the propaganda and disinformation coming from Kremlin-controlled media uses language that — when translated from Russian into English — sounds a lot like terms coming from far-right MAGA media in the United States, including “fake news” and “false flag.” Journalist Elizabeth Williamson, author of the book “Sandy Hook: An American Tragedy and The Battle for Truth,” takes a look at this type of terminology in an article published by the New York Times on April 25. And she notes the disturbing parallels between Kremlin propagandists in Russia and right-wing media figures in the U.S.

“The similarity is eerie,” Williamson explains. “Russia has long used incidents of American gun violence to support its propagandistic claims of cultural superiority. Now, during this war, the Kremlin is adopting the language of American mass shooting deniers to deny towering evidence of its army’s atrocities in Ukraine, including calling injured and killed Ukrainians crisis actors.”

One of the “mass shooting deniers” and far-right conspiracy theorists that Williamson discusses in her article is Infowars’ Alex Jones, who claimed that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting of December 14, 2012 was a false flag operation. Williamson points out that the term “crisis actors” has been used by the Infowars crowd in connection with Sandy Hook as well as by Russian media in connection with massacres of Ukrainian civilians by Russian troops.

“The term ‘crisis actors,’ used by Sandy Hook fabulists to mean people pretending to be victims or survivors of the massacre, was used after the Sandy Hook shooting by James Tracy, a Florida Atlantic University professor and Infowars guest whose side hustle as a conspiracy blogger cost him his job,” Williamson notes. “Some believers of Infowars’ lies about Sandy Hook have tormented the relatives of the victims ever since.”

Similarly, Williamson observes, Kremlin propagandists have been claiming that reports of atrocities in Ukraine are “fake news.”

“After being condemned around the world for bombing a maternity hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine,” Williamson explains, “Russia advanced a bogus conspiracy theory last month that was chillingly familiar to me. Using unrelated images from social media, dodgy ‘reports’ and constant repetition, the Russian Defense Ministry falsely claimed the airstrike was a ‘staged provocation’ by Ukraine. The hospital, Russian officials falsely said, was nonoperational and a base for Ukrainian fighters. Moscow’s ambassador to the United Nations dismissed Associated Press photographs of the aftermath as ‘fake news,’ and the Foreign Ministry alleged that bloodied, pregnant women evacuated from the rubble were crisis actors.”

In the U.S., Williamson observes, far-right conspiracy theorists have also downplayed the violence that occurred when Donald Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, 2021.

“In my recent book, ‘Sandy Hook: An American Tragedy and the Battle for Truth,’ I wrote that the Sandy Hook conspiracy theories — once believed to be true by one-quarter of Americans — foretold the world of delusion that we live in today,” Williamson writes. “Through my reporting, I traced the through line from Sandy Hook to Pizzagate; to QAnon, and its claims that Democrats were trafficking children; to anti-Semitic tropes invoked by neo-Nazi marchers in Charlottesville; to coronavirus myths; and to the 2020 election lie that fomented the January 6 Capitol riot. And now, to the war in Ukraine.”

Williamson wraps up her article by noting that as a reporter, her “first close experience with wartime disinformation” came “during the Balkan wars of the 1990s.”

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“In Belgrade,” Williamson recalls, “a Serbian foreign ministry official gave me an armload of books, all of them falsely claiming that victims of the region’s genocidal wars had fabricated evidence of atrocities or committed the crimes themselves. But today, as I watch Russia spread disinformation about the war in Ukraine with terms that developed in America, and then American conspiracy theorists regurgitating that disinformation, I’ve realized that those books are not the discredited relics I imagined they would be.”

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the New York Times just discovered that Fox News has a Russia problem

Fox News' Tucker Carlson speaking with attendees at the 2020 Student Action Summit hosted by Turning Point USA at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, Gage Skidmore]

Dartagnan and Daily Kos April 17, 2022

You have to credit the Gray Lady: this is really quite the scoop. And I hesitate even to point it out, lest my mild criticism that follows be misinterpreted. So let me be clear, I’m all for American media outlets policing each other. I think it’s perfectly OK for one media outlet to call out another for bias or dissimulation. That’s what makes journalism such an integral part of our democracy, so much that its inherent value is literally enshrined in the Constitution. “Keeping them honest” should be the watchword governing all journalism.

That being said, you may wish to remain seated, because this is guaranteed to make you faint with shock. Hold onto your hats — here it comes.

As reported by the New York Times’ Stuart A. Thompson:

The narratives advanced by the Kremlin and by parts of conservative American media have converged in recent months, reinforcing and feeding each other. Along the way, Russian media has increasingly seized on Fox News’s prime-time segments, its opinion pieces and even the network’s active online comments section — all of which often find fault with the Biden administration — to paint a critical portrait of the United States and depict America’s foreign policy as a threat to Russia’s interests.

When I read that I was stone-cold flummoxed. Who could have possibly imagined? Oh, wait!

And it seems that Tucker Carlson is a Kremlin favorite. Can you believe that? They even cite examples!

“The U.S. baselessly accused Russia of spreading disinformation about biolabs in Ukraine because they later actually confirmed their existence, TV presenter Tucker Carlson told Fox News,” Radio Sputnik wrote in an article summarizing Mr. Tucker’s lengthy segment for a Russian audience.

But there’s more!

Mentions of Fox News in Russian-language media grew 217 percent during the first quarter of this year compared with the final quarter of last year, as news coverage of Ukraine increased, according to an analysis by Zignal Labs, a media tracking company that reviewed social media posts, broadcast media and online websites. CNN, which has about three times the global viewership of Fox News, according to the tracking company Similarweb, was mentioned more often but grew less, by 71 percent.

And the Times really put their nose to the grindstone to break this, having “reviewed nearly 500 Russian-language articles mentioning Fox News between July and late March, sourced from the two largest state news agencies in the country — RIA Novosti and TASS — along with dozens of articles from other Russian-language media.” Talk about due diligence!

The Times has even broken it down by category! They’ve determined that Russia now highlights Fox News stories that tend to “Blame NATO expansion,” “Buttress Conspiracy Theories” (can you imagine???) “Question the West’s goals,” and — get this — “Criticize President Biden.”

I am shocked, shocked, I tell you.

In all seriousness, we didn’t have to wait nearly two months into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to be told they were making use of Fox News for propaganda purposes. That fact has been a staple in the media for well over a month, if not longer.More importantly, as this article, one of literally dozens from Media Matters, gamely points out, the relationship between Fox and Vladimir Putin has long been a two-way street, going back well into the Trump administration, with Fox echoing Putin’s policy on a fairly repeated basis.

But you won’t find a single word about that in the Times article. No, it’s as if Russia just suddenly discovered it had its own propaganda outlet all along.

And probably even more importantly, Mr. Thompson, for all his analytical skill, doesn’t devote a single sentence to asking why that is. Why did Fox News spend the last five years amplifying Putin talking points?

Exploring that question would be serious journalism. Exploring the uncomfortable question of why the Times ignored something this important, and obvious, for so long, letting relatively small, niche outlets like Media Matters do all the heavy lifting, would be even more serious journalism.

But simply reporting the data without context -- which is all the Times article really does — is not.

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https://www.mediamatters.org/russias-invasion-ukraine/dan-ball-leads-oans-unhinged-coverage-russian-invasion-ukraine

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Dan Ball leads OAN’s unhinged coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine

The OAN host pushes a Russian government conspiracy theory about “biolabs” and believes that Hunter Biden has something to do with the invasion

WRITTEN BY BOBBY LEWIS

RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM BEATRICE MOUNT & EMMA MAE WEBER

PUBLISHED03/31/22

One America News Network’s Dan Ball is covering the Russian invasion of Ukraine with a scattershot of conspiracy theories, both dredging up old claims and repeating new ones from the Russian government.

In early February, Ball told OAN viewers that President Joe Biden might encourage the crisis in Ukraine to benefit himself. Once Russia invaded, Ball began claiming that Hunter Biden and the Ukrainian gas company Burisma may have something to do with the war, that the Russian military is targeting U.S.-European Union bioweapons plants in Ukraine, and even that theRussian attack on Mariupol hospital may have been a false flag by Ukraine.

There is no evidence that any of this is true, but Ball stands behind the absurd propaganda on his show, assuring his viewers on March 9: “What we are reporting is correct. This was not a conspiracy theory. We are not pro-Russia, so don’t go there.”

This commentary is a sad reflection of Ball and OAN’s obsession with what the host regularly calls the “Biden crime family.” The false allegations against Hunter Biden date back years and were the inspiration for former President Donald Trump’s extortion scheme against Ukraine, resulting in his first impeachment. Ball is undeterred by these basic facts, however, and now going to any length to falsely implicate Biden -- and by extension, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky -- in provoking the horrors of Vladimir Putin’s war.

Ball says that “something does not pass the smell test” in the official story of Russia’s invasion

Five days into the Russian invasion, Ball told his audience, “We really need to ask ourselves, are we getting the whole story,” because several heroic stories of Ukrainian resistance had turned out to be false. Asserting that “the Biden regime” wanted to “wag the dog,”Ball suggested “positive war propaganda” was being used to divert American attention from “the invasion on our southern border” and “the COVID scam,” telling his audience it could even have something to do with “the whole Hunter and Joe Biden connection with the Ukrainian energy company Burisma, and of course the Russia collusion hoax.”

Video From the February 28, 2022, edition of OAN's Real America with Dan Ball

Days later, Ball insisted on March 3 that “something does not pass the smell test” because Biden “immediately” paused new oil and gas leases in the U.S. as the Russian invasion began. In reality, the timing is coincidence; as CNBC reports, “the Biden administration is delaying decisions on new oil and gas leases and permits after a Louisiana federal judge blocked officials from using higher cost estimates of climate change.”

“Something stinks here,” Ball asserted, because “this can’t just be Putin and Russia going, ‘I want a land grab,’” since “we know Ukraine’s been corrupt for a long time,” and pointed again to “the Hunter Biden connection with Burisma.”

Weeks into the war, Ball continued to suspect that something was amiss about the official story, questioning if President Biden is “the one actually calling the shots” and “how much of this is acting” from Zelensky, a former actor whom Ball said was “install[ed]” by the U.S., “trying to push us to get us into this war.” “Obviously, Biden is compromised. We’re in the middle of a war that we might get into with our troops, and so shouldn’t all Americans be concerned that the guy making and calling the shots is compromised?”

Eventually, with America “on the brink of getting involved in a war with Russia,” Ball warned that Biden is too mentally unreliable and called on Democrats and Republicans to use the 25th Amendment to “remove [Biden], remove Harris, remove the entire administration before it’s too late.”

Ball suggests Hunter Biden and American bioweapons have something to do with the invasion

By February 28, Ball became focused on the idea that because “we know there’s so much involvement [in Ukraine] with this president, his son, Burisma, this oil and gas in Ukraine, plus Russia, the pipeline,” and “billions if not trillions of dollars involved,” that it all must have something to do with the war.

The Biden family was “in bed with Ukraine” and “now we have a war right in front of us,” Ball told a concurring guest, retired Army officer Darin Gaub, who called Ukraine “the bank” of the Clinton Foundation and other Democrats during his March 3 show.

Ball eventually began asking members of Congress what President Biden’s son has to do with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In a March 2 interview with Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-AZ), Ball said that “the Hunter laptop” and “the tie to Burisma” suggested that “there’s more to play than just the gas and oil here. I want to know what the hell is really going on.”

“I mean, all the connections that came out tying the Biden family to Ukraine before he took office, now all of a sudden Russia attacks Ukraine, even though they didn’t while Trump was in office,” Ball said. “What’s at play here? It’s deeper – There’s deeper state stuff here, Debbie, don’t you think?”

Video From the March 2, 2022, edition of OAN's Real America with Dan Ball

After Lesko mostly evaded Ball’s question to instead complain about the Trump impeachments, Ball mentioned “rumors that America’s had biolaboratories set up in Ukraine since ‘14, when we installed the last clown in there,” a topic which became a focal point for Ball’s conspiracy theorizing.

That same day, Ball claimed that in addition to “Hunter’s laptop tying Mr. Biden to Burisma,” there are “questions about Zelensky’s leadership and how he came to power,” as well as “questions about biolabs being set up in that country by America and other corporation, we’re talking biotech-type weaponry.”

Days later, on March 7, Ball asked Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) about “three or four possible biochemical weapons plants” in Ukraine built by the U.S. and EU.Ball told Biggs, who also evaded the question, that “Putin would have an actual gripe” to justify targeting these weapons. 

Ball even took an unearned victory lap on March 9, claiming his biolabs conspiracy theory had been “proven correct” by a “smoking gun” from the Russian foreign affairs ministry, which claimed to have found U.S. “biological weapons plants” in Ukraine. Not only that, Ball preened, but “a Biden regime minion” -- Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland -- had openly discussed the labs in the Senate during a recent hearing. 

“The headline once again proves that things that we report here on OAN and on this program, Real America, are not conspiracy theories like the left claims,” Ball complained. He later added, “What we are reporting is correct. This was not a conspiracy theory. We are not pro-Russia, so don’t go there.”

Video From the March 9, 2022, edition of OAN's Real America with Dan Ball

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NBC News would later report that these “biolabs” claims are essentially Russian government propaganda filtered through American right-wing media outlets like OAN. The only American-supported “biolabs” in Ukraine, including the ones Nuland discussed before the Senate, are research facilities -- that do not produce weapons --  which are part of a public 2005 deal between the two countries. 

Nonetheless, Ball has concluded that “obviously, Biden is compromised” by his son, and Ball continued to tout “biolabs” as a potential cause for Russia’s invasion.

Ball suggests that horrific Russian attacks on Mariupol may have been false flags

Part of Ball’s narrative of the Russian war is that the Ukrainian government led by President Zelensky is deeply corrupt. And when the Russian military bombed a maternity hospital during its siege of Mariupol,Ball professed that he’s “not saying somebody staged this to make things look worse,” but he also implied that “special operatives” and “undercover forces” who “do Zelensky’s bidding” may have been involved in the bombing, saying that Russia’s denials were credible since “they haven’t denied … hitting other stuff,” which is not true.

Video From the March 9, 2022, edition of OAN's Real America with Dan Ball

A week later, Ukrainian officials reported that a Russian airstrike destroyed a theater in Mariupol, with hundreds of civilians hiding inside and the word “children” written on the ground outside. On his March 17 show, Ball delivered a winding rant against the American, Ukrainian, and Russian governments, as well as the media trying to “push us into this war and accuse networks like OAN of pushing pro-Putin and pro-Russian propaganda.” Ball then briefly reported on the theater airstrike, and stressed that the story is just “what we’re told.Not saying it’s not true. Just asking the question.”

Ball discovers some consequences of Ukraine conspiracy theories

Despite calling the pre-invasion warnings “a pageant,” suggesting the Mariupol hospital attack was a false flag, and sharing Russian “biolabs” propaganda, Ball has grown tired of conspiracy theories that call the entire war fake.

Above a chyron that questioned whether we are “getting the entire story about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” Ball again stressed “the Biden crime family and its connections to Ukraine and Russia” -- but told viewers, with a hint of frustration, that the war is “undeniable … and I say this because I see so many online stories of people saying this is all false, it’s all made up.”

“Make no mistake: There is a war going on, folks, and innocent civilians are being harmed and killed,” the OAN host said. “That is a fact, and that’s a tragedy. But while all that is going on,what else is going on? Not just with this conflict, but what aren’t we paying attention to globally – and more importantly, here at home. That’s what we as patriots need to stay focused on.” 

Video From the March 15, 2022, edition of OAN's Real America with Dan Ball

Even while denouncing actual lies about the Russian invasion, Ball could not resist the urge to indulge in deranged falsehoods.

“Most times, there’s nothing as such called a conspiracy theory,” Ball said. “They’re just coverups waiting for the truth to come out.” But the conspiracy theories he presents to OAN viewers are just as false as the conspiracy theories he denies.

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https://www.mediamatters.org/russias-invasion-ukraine/far-right-influencers-push-russian-propaganda-claim-reported-potential-war

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far-right influencers push Russian propaganda to claim the reported potential war crimes in Bucha are a false flag

WRITTEN BY SOPHIE LAWTON

RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM DANIL CUFFE, ZACHARY PLEAT, NATALIE MATHES & MADELINE PELTZ

PUBLISHED 04/08/22

Right-wing media influencers have spread narratives denying the Russian military’s involvement in reported war crimes committed in the town of Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv, Ukraine.

Following the withdrawal of Russian troops from the region, mainstream media outlets have reported on satellite images from the region that show mass graves, bodies that show signs of execution, and streets of the once-quiet town “littered with burned-out tanks and corpses.”PBS and The Associated Press have identified four potential war crimes committed by the Russian military since April 3, and their collaborative War Crimes Watch Ukraine resource has verified 113 potential war crimes overall.

The Russian government has denied responsibility for these atrocities. An official Russian Telegram channel denied accusations that Russian soldiers killed Ukrainians in Bucha and claimed that “the photos and video footage from Bucha are another hoax, a staged production and provocation by the Kiev regime for the Western media.”

Far-right influencers took to podcasts, interviews, and social media to boost the Russians’ denial that the massacre was staged or faked, blaming a number of different countries and global organizations.

Conspiracy theory site Infowars has been a hotbed of conspiracy theories related to the atrocities in Bucha. On April 5, Alex Jones took to the show to promote articles on the Infowars site that “clearly show a lot of this was fake.”

Video From the April 5, 2022, edition of InfoWars' The Alex Jones Show

The next day guest host Robert Barnes continued to spout similar claims. Barnes asserted that the Russian forces did not control Bucha while they stayed in the city and did not “cut off any civilian infrastructure.” He then repeated assertions that atrocities in the area were not reported until days after Russian forces exited, claiming that fact showed the massacre was a false flag. 

Video From the April 6, 2022, edition of Infowars' Alex Jones Show

On its website, Infowars touted remarks by Tucker Carlson foreign policy muse Douglas Macgregor. Macgregor told a YouTube podcast that he was “extremely suspicious” at the “brilliant timing” and unanimous condemnation in the media of Russia's actions in Bucha, likening the condemnation to the lies used to sell the Iraq War. In the same podcast, Macgregor later said of the Bucha massacre that “it’s hard for me to believe that this was a deliberate act done by the Russian military” and that “I looked at both sides of this and I couldn't come away with a certain conclusion one way or the other. There were things that didn't make a lot of sense.”

During the April 4 broadcast of Human Events Daily with Jack Posobiec, the Pizzagate conspiracy theorist claimed “we can’t tell what happened” in Bucha and “both sides have their grievances.” The comments were boosted by The Post Millennial, a right-wing blog. Posobiec has a history of boosting Russian-backed conspiracy theories about the war in Ukraine.

Video From the April 4, 2022 edition of Turning Point USA's Human Events Daily with Jack Posobiec

Former presidential candidate Ron Paul claimed on the April 5 edition of the Ron Paul Liberty Report that he’s “very suspicious of what we're hearing, just who has been doing what.” His co-host Daniel McAdams repeated denial narratives, saying, “We do not know what happened in this small town,” and went on to describe a timeline of events that implied Russian forces were not behind the massacre.

During a livestream on Rumble, the right-wing alternative toYouTube, militia-linked radio host Pete Santilliclaimed the massacre was faked and the CIA was behind it. The episode also included a video sourced from Infowars that supposedly proved the massacre was faked.

On CrossTalk, a Christian nationalist show hosted by QAnon conspiracy theorist Lauren Witzkeand Edward Szall, the co-hosts claimed Russian forces in Bucha were “helping the Ukrainians; they weren’t abusing them, they weren’t doing terrible things to them,” as evidenced by images of food packaging alongside the dead.

Witzke also claimed to have heard rumors Ukrainians are accepting help from Russian forces and said she has “nothing but respect for Putin. And you know what, it’s a daggum shame that they’re doing this crap to people, that they’re murdering people, just so they can paint him as this horrible leader, this tyrant.” The episode, which was cross-posted to the “Stew Peters Network” page on Rumble, is titled “Ukrainian War Crimes in Bucha Exposed: Zelensky’s MI6 Nazi False Flag Murdered Kids.”

Video From the April 5, 2022 edition of CrossTalk

The Russian-backed misinformation problem extends beyond far-right media in the English language. The Venezuelen-owned TV outlet Telesurshared a video to its 1.5 million YouTube subscribers on April 4, that called the events in Bucha a farce and included the claims the images were taken following the exit of Russian forces as proof of the falsehood.

In right-leaning private Facebook groups, users have both expressed skepticism about the atrocities in Bucha, suggesting that they have been staged by the “Kiev regime”  or “a Liberal faction.” Some posts linked to Infowars and Summit News (an affiliated project of Infowars), while others linked directly to Russian state media sites RT and TASS. We found only one instance where Facebook flagged such posts as “False Information.”

Far-right communities on fringe social media platforms have also spread Russian denial.

Gab CEO Andrew Torba posted to his platform a video from RT that implied the images and videos coming from Bucha were faked. The post amassed over 1,800 likes, comments, and reposts. Another post shared to Gab, known as a haven for white nationalists, on April 5 by @Corvid1984 also questioned the reality of the massacre based on the images and videos coming out of the region. The post received over 1,500 engagements.

A post on the QAnon forum GreatAwakening.winclaims, “The National Guard of Ukraine filmed its entering into the town north of Kiev where the alleged massacre took place. They were first in the town after the withdrawal of Russian troops. The video clearly shows no dead bodies on the streets.”

Messaging platform Telegram was also rife with the narrative that reports of potential war crimes in Bucha were Ukrainian propaganda. QAnon-affiliated Telegram channel We The Media reposted a different video originally published byIntel Slava Z, a Russian Telegram news aggregator, and claimed it shows “staged footage of the Ukrainian psyop unit from Bucha.”

On April 4, holocaust denier and leader of the fascist “America First” movement Nick Fuentes posted a link to his cozy.tv livestream decrying the “Fake ‘Bucha’ massacre.” During the stream, Fuentes also said the West “needs an excuse to escalate the war just as much as the Ukrainians, and how do they do that? Well they do a handshake deal, and the Ukrainians fake the massacre and the Western media eats it up, they feed that to the population.”

Video From the April 4, 2022 edition of Cozy.tv's America First with Nick Fuentes

And white supremacist Joseph Jordan, known online as Eric Striker, shared a post to his Telegram claiming, “Evidence mounting that the civilians dead in Bucha are pro Russian ‘collaborators’ who were massacred by irregular Ukrainian militias.”

IN THIS ARTICLE

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Douglas Macgregor

Jack Posobiec

Infowars is broadcasting on Twitch (updated)

04/07/22 1:51 PM EDT

Alex Jones complains about “Sandy Hook charade” and claims the lawsuit against him is part of a “one-world government” plot

04/06/22 3:00 PM EDT

Anti-choice outlet LifeSiteNews peddles Ukrainian biolab conspiracy theory stemming from a Russian misinformation campaign

04/05/22

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The far-right, conspiracy theorist website The Gateway Pundit has spent the weeks following Russia's invasion of Ukraine pumping out the Kremlin’s propaganda materials and narratives.

Founded in 2004 by Jim Hoft, Gateway Pundit is a voraciously pro-Trump blog that has spread conspiracy theories about everything from the 2018 Parkland school shooting and former President Barack Obama’s birth certificate, to the Las Vegas mass shooting and the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Most recently, the blog has served as a promotional platform for Russian propaganda in the month after the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Between March 6 and March 9, Hoft published three articles promoting the repeatedly debunked — and Russia-created — conspiracy theory that the U.S. was funding biological weapons in Ukraine.Two of those articles relied on Russian state media. The conspiracy theory quickly spread through the right-wing media ecosystem.

In the second half of March alone, the blog has based its coverage of the war in Ukraine on Russian propaganda at least four times:

In addition to relying on Russian disinformation and state media, Gateway Pundit has published several articles that advance Russian interests, including referring to Ukraine as a “former Soviet satellite,” claiming that the situation in Ukraine is “desperate” and “getting worse,” saying that President Joe Biden is in a state of cognitive decline, and claiming that Ukrainian refugees at the U.S. southern border are being turned away because of COVID-19. (Russia has been running an anti-vaccine campaign in Ukraine.)

This is not the first time the website has repeated Russian propaganda. In 2016, articles promoted misinformation about supposed voter fraud by the Democratic Party that originated from the Russian troll farm the Internet Research Agency.

The Gateway Pundit has long been a far-right cesspool of conspiracy theories and hoaxes. The site has called for violence against Democrats, endorsed white nationalists, and celebrated the insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol on January 6. And now it’s actively aiding an unprovoked, unwarranted, and inhumane invasion by giving a platform to Russian propaganda and spin.

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Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, Tulsi Gabbard featured in Russian state television segment pushing disturbing propaganda

Meaghan Ellis March 31, 2022

Fox News' Tucker Carlson and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) have repeatedly defended Russian President Vladamir Putin and it appears their actions have granted them applause from the Kremlin and Russian state media.

Last week, Gabbard was featured during a segment on Russian state television where her remarks were referenced by renowned Putin supporter, Vladimir Soloviev.

Per Julia Davis, a Russian media analyst and columnist for The Daily Beast,Soloviev referred to Gabbard, a former Democratic U.S. presidential candidate as “our girlfriend Tulsi." The segment then shifted to a clip of Gabbard's recent appearance on Fox News.

Following the clip, one panelist reportedly asked if Gabbard is "some sort of Russian agent?” According to Davis' translation of the Russian discussion, she is.

During her appearance on Fox News on Monday, March 28, Gabbard accused President Joe Biden of attempting a plot to have Putin removed from power as she claimed he was advocating for "regime change in Russia through 'economic warfare.'”

"They are doing so by waging this modern-daysiegeagainst Russia, isolating, containing, destroying their economy, starving the Russian people in the hope that the Russian people or the military will rise up and revolt and overthrow their government and get rid of Putin,” Gabbard said during a portion of the excerpt that aired in Russia.

Gabbard's remarks came shortly after Biden's speech in Poland. On Sunday, March 27, according to Yahoo! News, Biden delivered a speech in Poland saying "that Putin 'cannot remain in power' in off-script remarks during a speech in Poland." However, White House officials swiftly released a statement to offer clarity on Biden's remarks. According to White House officials, the president was not pushing for Russian regime change but insisted that “Putin cannot be allowed to exercise power over his neighbors or the region.”

However, Gabbard argues that “'it was not a gaffe at all' and Biden is 'lying' about his true motives."

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https://www.alternet.org/2022/03/these-anti-vaxxers-and-wellness-influencers-have-been-applauding-putins-ukraine-invasion-report/

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These anti-vaxxers and ‘wellness influencers’ have been applauding Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine invasion: report

Alex Henderson March 25, 2022

Support for Russian President Vladimir Putin is by no means universal on the America right. Many conservatives, from Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah to media Never Trumpers like The Bulwark’s Charlie Sykes, MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough and the Washington Post’s Max Boot, have been blistering critics of Putin — especially during the brutal invasion of Ukraine.

Yet in the MAGA cult, Putin has had his share of apologists — from Fox News’ Tucker Carlson to “War Room” host Steve Bannon to former President Donald Trump. And Mother Jones’ Kiera Butler, in an article published on March 24, focuses on a bizarre trend: far-right anti-vaxxers and online “wellness influencers” who have become cheerleaders for Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Butler previously reported on pro-Putin anti-vaxxers in a March 2 article, and since then, the Mother Jones journalist stresses,the “overlap” between pro-Putin propagandists and anti-vaxxers “has only grown.”

“(On March 19), the Toronto Star reported a startling correlation between vaccination status and beliefs about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” Butler explains. “More than 80% of vaccinated Canadians said they believed their country should help defend Ukraine, compared to less than a quarter of unvaccinated people. This dynamic is especially pronounced in extremist spaces. Some of the anti-mandate trucker convoy chats on Telegram now seem dominated by Putin cheerleading.”

Some online “wellness influencers,” according to Butler, have been claiming that President Joe Biden is “trying to pull a fast one on them by painting Russia as the aggressor” in Ukraine.

“Should social media platforms flag influencers’ content as disinformation,” Butler observes, “it only serves to reinforce their belief that they are being punished for their righteous truth-telling. Some influencers have monetized their self-proclaimed martyrdom by sharing disinformation about Ukraine and hawking their own wellness items.”

twt

Instagram, according to Butler, is one of the social media platforms where pro-Putin anti-vaxxers and “wellness influencers” have been plentiful.

“Beyond the oils and the tinctures, influencers are selling something much more valuable: a sense offierce and uncompromising maternal identity,” Butler observes. “The account bios frequently mention natural childbirth, breastfeeding, and attachment parenting — and their posts and stories tie events in Ukraine back to defending their families from what they see as government overreach.”

Anti-vaxxers who are sympathetic to Putin, Butler writes, are also more likely to be influenced by the far-right pro-Trump conspiracy group QAnon.

“Factions of anti-vaccine groups increasingly embraced COVID denialism and dabbled in QAnon,” Butler notes. “The Russians’ initial plan of dividing Americans had worked better than they could have possibly expected— so that by the time Russia invaded Ukraine earlier this year, anti-vaccine activists were primed to believe that Putin was the good guy.”

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putin ukraine trifecta?

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Sean Hannity echoed dangerous Kremlin claim pointing figured about the Russian-Ukrainian war

Fox News' Sean Hannity speaking at the 2015 Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, Gage Skidmore

Meaghan Ellis March 19, 2022

Fox News' Sean Hannity added to the conservative misinformation dumpster fire when he attempted to criticize President Joe Biden by echoing claims similar to Russian government officials.

On Friday, March 18, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov spoke to a group of reporters where he appeared to share his reaction Biden describing Russian President Vladamir Putin as a "war criminal." Peskov argued that the description is a "personal insult" to the Russian authoritarian.

"We hear and see statements that are actually personal insults to President Putin," Peskov told reporters.

"Given such irritability from Mr. Biden, his fatigue and sometimes forgetfulness ... fatigue that leads to aggressive statements, we will not make harsh assessments, so as not to cause more aggression,” Peskov added.

Later that evening, Hannity highlighted Peskov's words on the screen as he echoed similar sentiments saying, “Like I’ve been saying, Biden’s weakness on the world stage is emboldening bad actors all across the globe."

Hannity's segment also came hours after Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov actually praised Fox News for echoing Russian propaganda. According to Lavrov, Fox News is the only television network focused on presenting an "alternative point of view."

“We know the manners and the tricks that are being used by the Western countries to manipulate media,” said Lavrov. “If you take the United States, only Fox News is trying to present some alternative point of view."

For months now, far-right Republican lawmakers and conservative Fox News hosts have had what is being described as a "lovefest" with Russia. Despite their opposition, the Democrats and Biden administration have made it a point to push back against Putin as his military continues its invasion of Ukraine.

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https://www.alternet.org/2022/03/marjorie-taylor-greene-russian-propaganda

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, continuing to move closer and closer to Russian President Vladimir Putin, says “real Americans” only care about “open borders,” gas prices, and inflation but not Ukraine. She also declared that “COVID doesn’t exist.”

“What real Americans care about is gas prices they can’t afford, inflation that goes up enough to where grocery bills are unaffordable, and they’re very concerned about our out of control open border,” Greene said on the floor of the House Thursday. “Crime is out of control,” she added, ignoring that major crimes like murder are “out of control” mostly in just red states.

“But yet Washington has completely disconnected and seems to care more about sending our sons and daughters to a potential war where they do not belong,” she claimed, saying “we need to focus on our country first.”

“America first” is a Trump-era “policy” that essentially says America first and only, period.

The extremist Republican Congresswoman from Georgia just yesterday,in what she claimed was an “address to the nation”that was carried only on Facebook Live, inaccurately announced “both sides” – Russia and Ukraine – have violated their treaties.

The Washington Post called her Facebook Live speech a “10-minute riff,” noting she repeatedly called Ukraine defending itself from the harmful and dangerous Russian attacks and slaughter “a war they cannot win.”

“False claims, debunked nonsense, echoes of Russian propaganda,” is how the Post describes her remarks from Wednesday, in its piece titled“A layer cake of misinformation, dishonesty and pro-Russia apologism.”

Watch Greene on the House floor today:

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no lnx twt vid pix[nice dataviz]

'Actual Russian propaganda': Conservatives pile on as Tulsi Gabbard named 'most influential' spreader of disinformation

Jon Skolnik and Salon March 17, 2022

Republicans are attacking former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard for spreading "Russian propaganda" after she posted a video claiming that the U.S. is funding and operating bioweapons labs in Ukraine.

On Sunday, the Hawaii Democrat published a two-minute video laying out the completely unproven conspiracy theory that the U.S. is funding between 25 and 30 biolabs in Ukraine to develop "dangerous pathogens".

"Like COVID, these pathogens know no borders," Gabbard said. "If they are inadvertently or purposely breached or compromised, they will quickly spread all throughout Europe, the United States and the rest of the world, causing untold suffering and death."

Those comments did not sit well with many Republicans, some of whom accused the former lawmaker of playing into the hands of Kremlin-backed disinformation.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., called Gabbard's remarks "actual Russian propaganda." "Traitorous. Russia also said the Luger center in Georgia was making zombies," he said on Sunday. "Tulsi should go to Russia."

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, expressed similar thoughts, accusing Gabbard of "parroting false Russian propaganda."

"Her treasonous lies may well cost lives," he wrote on Sunday over Twitter.

On Monday, Alyssa Farah, the former director of strategic communications under Donald Trump, said that Romney was "absolutely right."

"What this is, is the Russians are spreading propaganda to try to create a pretext for potentially using chemical weapons against the Ukranians," Farah said during a segment of ABC's "The View."

"What Tulsi Gabbard is spreading is actually helping Putin get away with criminal acts against innocent Ukrainian civilians," she added.

The U.S. has repeatedly dismissed claims that it is holding or developing bioweapons in Ukraine. However, there are a number of biological labs in Ukraine, which the U.S. funds, to prevent the deployment of bioweapons, according to The New York Times. The funding of those labs stems from the Pentagon's Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), founded in 1998. In 2005, the U.S. and Ukraine signed an explicit agreement ensuring that the labs would not be used to develop bioweapons.

Back in 2018, Filippa Lentzos, a Norwegian scientist researching threats posed by biological agents, called the Kremlin's claims "unfounded" after visiting a number of Ukrainian biolabs herself.

"We were given access to all areas of the site, examined relevant documentation, and interviewed staff, and concluded that the Center demonstrates significant transparency," Lentzos said. "Our group observed nothing out of the ordinary, or that we wouldn't expect to see in a legitimate facility of this sort."

Gabbard has since scrambled to explain her tweet and called on Romney to resign.

Suggesting that there might have been some "miscommunication and misunderstanding" about the terms bio labs and bio weapons labs, Gabbard tweeted: "'Biolabs' are facilities which contain and experiment with dangerous pathogens, ostensibly for the purpose of serving the public good (i.e. vaccines, etc.). 'Biological weapons labs' are facilities which exist for the purpose of turning pathogens into weapons so they can be used against an enemy (i.e. 'bioweapons')," Gabbard tweeted.

On Wednesday, Gabbard was listed alongside GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-GA and Fox News' Carlson as the "most influential" in spreading anti-Ukraine disinformation and misinformation. Disinformation and digital authoritarianism researcher Marc Owen Jones, an assistant professor of Middle East studies and digital humanities at Hamad bin Khalifa University, featured Gabbard's tweets about Ukraine and "biolabs" as the latest Russia conspiracy theory propagated by right-wing media in the U.S.

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https://www.mediamatters.org/candace-owens/candace-owens-ukraine-wasnt-thing-until-1989-ukraine-was-created-russians

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Far-right MAGA media is promoting a debunked Kremlin conspiracy theory

Alex Henderson March 16, 2022

More than 3 million refugees have fled Ukraine because of Russia’s invasion, which has caused thousands of deaths — and the worst may be yet to come. Regardless, some of President Vladimir Putin’s useful idiots in the United States have been apologists for the invasion, promoting a debunked Kremlin conspiracy theory which claims that bioweapons were being manufactured in Ukrainian laboratories. Putin, according to that conspiracy theory, was justified in invading Ukraine.

“Most of the conspiracy theories claim that the U.S. was developing and plotting to release a bioweapon or potentially another coronavirus from ‘biolabs’ throughout Ukraine and that Russia invaded to take over the labs,” journalists Ben Collins and Kevin Collier report in an article published by NBC News’ website on March 14. “Many of the theories implicate people who are often the targets of far-right conspiracy thinking — including Dr. Anthony Fauci and President Joe Biden — as being behind creating the weaponized diseases in the biolabs. Disinformation experts said the biolabs theory echoes other Russian propaganda meant to justify its military efforts, which often makes allegations against other countries and populations that reflect similar attacks it plans to make.”

Collins and Collier note that “PolitiFact has debunked the theories, and no evidence of U.S.-run bioweapons labs in Ukraine has been put forward.”

“Russia’s early struggles to push disinformation and propaganda about Ukraine have picked up momentum in recent days, thanks to a variety of debunked conspiracy theories about biological research labs in Ukraine,” Collins and Collier explain. “Much of the false information is flourishing in Russian social media, far-right online spaces andU.S. conservative media, including Tucker Carlson’s show on Fox News. The theories, which have been boosted by Russian and Chinese officials, come as U.S. officials warn that Russia could be preparing a chemical or biological weapons attack of its own in Ukraine.”

Clint Watts, a senior fellow at the Center for Cyber and Homeland Security at George Washington University, told NBC News, “The ‘biolabs’ are serving as a false justification for why Russia invaded Ukraine. It’s defensive. They create a situation where they go to a populist audience, push out talking points, get the audience primed and make it true later.”

Welton Chang, CEO of the cybersecurity firm Pyrra Technologies, told NBC News that everyone from QAnon to the far-right social media platform Gab has been pushing the Ukrainian biolabs conspiracy theory.

Chang explained, “These communities already know what the rhythm and cadence of COVID conspiracies should be like to get people to buy it,” Chang said. “They had a lot of practice with QAnon. The kinds of things that get people excited, like any time you say ‘secret biolab’ — it gets people’s emotions up.”

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Far-right MAGA Republicans admire Vladimir Putin’s propaganda machine — and try to emulate it: report​

Alex Henderson March 16, 2022

The list of far-right MAGA Republicans who have vigorously defended and even praised Russian President Vladimir Putin is a long one, ranging from former President Donald Trump to “War Room” host Steve Bannon, Fox News’ Tucker Carlson and QAnon supporter Lauren Witzke (the Delaware Republican who ran against Sen. Chris Coons in 2020). Bannon has praised Putin for not being “woke,” and Witzke recently said, “I identify more with Putin's Christian values than I do with Joe Biden.”

To Kevin Baron, executive editor of Defense One, all of the Putin worship coming from MAGA Republicans speaks volumes about their view of the world. In an article published by Defense One on March 11, Baron warns that the way Putin runs Russia is the way the far right would like to run the United States — and he stresses that MAGA media functions a lot like government-operated pro-Putin media in Russia.

“It’s hard to watch Russia's version of journalism and not think of the American far-right’s version of it,” Baron argues. “Indeed, the connections are both direct and philosophical — and of import to national security leaders. But there’s a deeper connection as well. America’s right-wing partisans wish they had what Putin has: control of the information and messages that flow to the body politic. That’s not an accusation; it is their goal.”

[twt?]

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According to Baron, it's no coincidence that Carlson in the U.S. and government-operated media in Russia use the same talking points when discussing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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“In the past few months,” Baron explains, “we’ve seen just how closely related the two are: Putin’s propaganda and our own. Before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, America’s far-right denied the looming threat as a wag-the-dog conspiracy concocted by deep-state Democrats and centrist Republicans, or tried to blame President Joe Biden. Russian propaganda outlets gleefully put those clips into heavy rotation. Two weeks into the invasion, far-right leaders continue to sow doubt on war reporting, claiming or implying there is an elite conspiracy to keep Americans uninformed, and often parroting Russian propagandists’ distortions and lies.”

Baron cites specific examples of far-right media outlets that conduct themselves like state-owned Russian media.

“While politicians come and go, the lasting damage is in the lingering popularity of Soviet-style agitprop propaganda from loyalist far-right media operations deliberately masquerading as journalism,” Baron observes. “These outlets —designed to look, sound, and feel like journalism — are de facto paid actors, directors, and scriptwriters of a carefully crafted fiction that would make the Kremlin proud. They call themselves reporters and operate inpretend newsrooms like Steve Bannon’s Breitbart, Carlson’s Daily Caller, Heritage Foundation’s Daily Signal, and upstarts like One America News Network and Newsmax. They are different from older conservative magazines like the National Review and Weekly Standard, whose writers did not try to impersonate straight newsrooms — and, indeed, intermittently opposed Trump’s 2016 election.”

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putin/disinfo said pix of ukraine kia refugees were crisis actors, but biden intel was putin wd use FF to excuse (now extend?) invastion, use nukes/chem:

ukraine vol cyber army very good on swatting down putin narratives (except inside russia)

an 3 22

Fox News' National Security Correspondent Jennifer Griffin recently pushed back against conservative primetime host Tucker Carlson for his conspiracy theories and inaccurate reporting on Russia.

On Wednesday, March 9, Griffin appeared on "The SeanHannityShow" where she addressed the Russian misinformation suggesting the United States is allegedly running secret bioweapon laboratories in Ukraine.

“In terms of Ukraine’s biolabs, which have come under scrutiny tonight,” Griffin said, “those are Soviet-era bio-labs that the U.S. has been engaged [with] since 2005 in trying to help Ukraine convert the research facilities safely.”

Griffin also weighed in on the concerns some U.S. officials have about Russia's use of such weaponry amid their invasion of Ukraine. “White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Moscow’s talk today about these biolabs has led to concern by U.S. intelligence,” Griffin said, “that Russia could use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine to create a false flag operation using them.”[twt

Griffin's latest remarks are distinctly different from Carlson's remarks. According to Yahoo! News, the conservative primetime host, who has been criticized for repeatedly pushing Russian propaganda, "used the admission by Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland that there are biological research labs in Ukraine as a reason to push the same narrative as Russia."

“Ukraine is the poorest country in Europe,” Carlson said. “It’s hardly a hotbed of biomedical research. We’re assuming these weren’t pharmaceutical labs. Probably not developing new leukemia drugs. From your answer, Victoria Nuland, we would assume, because you all but said it, there’s a military application of this research. They’re working on bioweapons.”

However, Griffin claims that the information about the labs is not considered to [be]  a secret or new development. “It is a long program that has existed, where the Pentagon has partnered with these biolabs,” Griffin said, adding, “The U.S. has been very open about its involvement there with that. But what Russia does is they take that information, distort it, turn it around and turn it into disinformation.”

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https://www.alternet.org/2022/03/analysis-breaks-down-the-far-right-s-fascination-with-russian-disinformation/

As the Russian invasion continues in Ukraine, many far-right Republicans are still attempting to justify the actions of Russian President Vladamir Putin.

Even as conspiracy theory claims are debunked, far-right extremists are still embracing Russian disinformation and, to make matters worse, it appears to be circulating at an accelerated pace. Now, an analysis is breaking down the far-right's fascination with Russian disinformation. Pointing to two different headlines published on March 9, Glenn Kessler  wapohighlighted the distinction between the two. “

"Bioweapon labs in Ukraine prove US criminal activity, diplomat says,” according to a headline for Tass News that highlighted a quote from Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

Later that evening, Fox News' Tucker Carlson fired back by putting his own spin on the claim.“Under oath in an open committee hearing, Toria Nuland just confirmed that the Russian disinformation they’ve been telling us for days is a lie and a conspiracy theory and crazy and immoral to believe is, in fact, totally and completely true,” Carlson said.

Kessler explained how this type of bizarre phenomenon occurs. "Russian disinformation often begins with a speck of fact, which is then twisted into a full-blown conspiracy theory," he wrote. "The technique makes it easier to spread and take root among the country’s supporters. Note how quickly the party line uttered by the Russian Foreign Ministry was embraced by Carlson."

He added, "In this instance, Russia for years has been seeding the ground to claim that the United States set up biowarfare labs in Ukraine and other former Soviet republics.Then, brief remarks by Victoria Nuland, the undersecretary of state, were twisted to provide “confirmation” of the disinformation program."

Kessler went on to separate the actual facts from the ongoing conspiracy theories that seem to spiral out of control at every turn.

"The Russian claims about Ukrainian labs bear the earmarks of the Soviet Union’s long-running campaign of false allegations that the United States used biological weapons," Kessler wrote."The KGB, for instance, in the early 1980s spread false claims that a U.S.-funded research project in Pakistan was sending “killer mosquitoes” into Afghanistan, leading to local outrage that ended the program."

Kessler also noted that back in 2018, biological threat expert Filippa Lentzos also debunked these claims. In a letter addressing the spread of disinformation, he wrote, “The Russian charges that the Lugar Center and other biological labs in the Caucasus and Central Asia are making banned bioweapons are unfounded."

He added, "Last week a group of international experts, including this author, visited the Lugar Center by invitation of the Georgian government. We were given access to all areas of the site, examined relevant documentation, and interviewed staff, and concluded that the Center demonstrates significant transparency. Our group observed nothing out of the ordinary, or that we wouldn’t expect to see in a legitimate facility of this sort.”

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why does gop deride any ref to russian disinfo campaign help?  b/c barr "cleared"?  trump tower mtg doesn't ct? or it's OK to get dirt on hillary?

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday announced the indictment of Elena Branson (a.k.a Elena Chernykh) who is being described as a "Russian spy."

Branson, who is facing five charges, is accused of being yet another alleged Russian spy who worked to promote former President Donald Trump and attract potential voters for his rallies. The latest development follows The Daily Beast's previous report detailing the FBI's investigative probe into Coordinating Council of Russian Compatriots of the U.S. — typically known for its Russian acronym, (KSORS) — and their work to promote Russian policies.

"Branson, 61, is also alleged to have tried to get Trump to attend the 2016 World Chess Championship, which was being held at New York’s South Street Seaport," NBC News reported Tuesday evening. "Prosecutors said she emailed a Trump adviser on Nov. 10, 2016, asking that Trump, then the president-elect, attend the event. The FBI said in the court filing that it publicly released photos from the event to show it was attended by Dmitry Peskov, who is now Putin's press secretary. There is no indication that Trump attended."

Per the federal complaint explained in a report published by The Independent, the U.S. Attorney's Office claims Branson corresponded "with a high-ranking Russian, as well as Vladimir Putin himself, in an effort to open a 'propaganda center' in New York City." She also "received tens of thousands of dollars in funding from the Russian government" as she held events and worked on messaging directed by Russian officials," according to the complaint.

The British monthly Byline Times also reported similar findings as it noted that Branson and her colleague Sergey Gladysh shared Facebook promotions for the “Trump 2020 Labor Day Cruise Rally” held in Portland, Ore., on Russian organization's social media page.

"The news website featured articles with the titles such as 'Second Trump term is crucial to prospect of better U.S.-Russia relations, safer world,' and “Biden victory will spell disaster for U.S.-Russia relations, warns billionaire," noted Stedman. "The billionaire referenced by the outlet is Oleg Deripaska, a key figure in the 2016 Trump campaign’s collusion with Russia."

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https://www.mediamatters.org/google/youtube-making-money-false-ukraine-biolabs-conspiracy-theory-tied-russian-disinformation-and

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https://www.mediamatters.org/google/youtube-making-money-false-ukraine-biolabs-conspiracy-theory-tied-russian-disinformation-and

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mma 3 22https://www.mediamatters.org/

Russia's invasion of Ukraine

Putin and Simonyan

Russia’s chief propagandist still has unrestricted access to social media

03/03/22 4:35 PM EST

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no lnx many grafx

Russia’s most notorious propagandist retains unrestricted access to social media while Russia invades Ukraine

Major platforms restricted RT and Sputnik in Europe, but their hateful editor-in-chief, Margarita Simonyan, is thriving on them

WRITTEN BY DANIL CUFFE & RHEA BHATNAGAR

PUBLISHED 03/03/22

Despite supposed Big Tech moderation efforts and recent government sanctions by the European Union against Russian state-funded broadcasters RT and Sputnik, RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan still has unrestricted access to spread Russian disinformation to hundreds of thousands of followers during wartime.

In response to Russia’s attack on Ukraine, major social media platforms, including Meta, Google, Twitter, and TikTok, have implemented measures in order to minimize abusive and misleading content on their platforms, including banning RT and Sputnik in the EUper EU sanctions prohibiting these networks’ broadcasts on TV or online. Yet, there are gaps, such as Simonyan – who has accumulated hundreds of thousands of followers across platforms and is verified on most mainstream platforms – retaining unbridled access to her accounts and using them to spread disinformation.

Access to Simonyan’s social media accounts is not even restricted for IP addresses and users based in EU nations and Ukraine, even though the accounts of her media entities are blocked in these nations. Additionally, despite public commitments by platforms such as Meta to implement “more transparency … around state-controlled media outlets,” Simonyan’s accounts on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok do not have labels similar to those on RT and Sputnik indicating that she is linked to Russian state media. And while Twitter has labeled Simonyan’s account for a few years, the platform has failed to restrict access to RT’s accounts in Ukraine.

[RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan's follower count by social media platform as of March 3. In order from most to least, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Telegram, YouTube, Yandex Zen, Facebook, VK, Odnoklassniki

Citation Molly Butler / Media Matters]

Following the February 24 invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the EU sanctioned key Kremlin state broadcasters — including Simonyan — blocking the use of their bank accounts and banning them from traveling within the bloc. U.S. lawmakers have also introduced several bills calling for the RT editor-in-chief, among others, to also be sanctioned.

[Page from the E.U.'s Official Journal of the European Union with a sanction  listing for Margarita Simonyan. The document text describing Simonyan's reason for inclusion in the sanction states the following: "Margarita Simonyan is a central figure of the Government propaganda. She is also editor-in-chief of the English language television news network RT (Russia Today). Through her function, she promoted a positive attitude to the annexation of Crimea and the actions of separatists in Donbas."

CitationSource: Official Journal of the European Union

Simonyan has long been considered a key figure in the Kremlin’s media propaganda operations, yet her toxic behavior has been tolerated by Big Tech in the past. Under her leadership, RT and Sputnik have become key vectors of international Russian state disinformation campaigns, including spreading COVID-19 misinformation and far-right narratives. According to independent Russian outlet Znak, Simonyan is typically among the top 15 most quoted journalists in Russia.

[A graphic created by the U.S. State Department depicting the structural organization of RT and Sputnik media ecosystem, in which Simonyan is placed centrally as the editor-in-chief of Rossiya Segodnya and RT

Citation Source: U.S. Department of State]

Since the start of the war, Simonyan has notably called Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure “fake,” and linked to Russian media content accusing the Ukraine military of perpetrating the missile strike against a Kyiv residential building. On the second day of the invasion, Simonyan praised a screenshotted post from RT’s telegram channel quoting Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu, who said that the Russian military would not strike civilian residences in Kyiv. Later on the same day, as anti-war protests in Russia unfolded and thousands were arrested, Simonyan posted a screenshot on Facebook that included threats against “liberals” and “traitors” who should have been “dealt with long ago.”

[Facebook post by Simonyan containing a screenshot of a Telegram post

Citation Translated from Facebook: Our liberals hate Russia and everything Russian more than the Ukrainians. This is difficult to believe, but it is so. The army is completing aspecial operation in order to secure the country, but thousands of traitors are sitting in the rear and dreaming of our quick defeat. This is unbelievable and something should have been dealt with a long time ago.

Additionally, while Meta has promised to work on “demonetizing [Russian state media] accounts” on the platform, Simonyan has made posts on both Twitter and Facebook advertising and promoting merchandise — shirts with the letter Z, a marking that has been used by many Russian military vehicles during the invasion — from RT’s online shop.

[Facebook post by Simonyan sharing a Facebook post by RT na russkom advertising a RT clothing merchandise with the letter Z

Citation Source: Facebook]

Social media platforms’ tolerance of her misinformation and controversial statements has been documented for years prior to the February invasion. Facebook had suspended Simonyan in 2019 for undisclosed reasons before reinstating her account and giving an unwarranted apology. 

Simonyan has a history of toxic online behavior, from tweeting in approval of child marriages to sharing harmful and derogatory posts about Black people during the George Floyd protests in June 2020. Additionally, the Kremlin-backed figure has talked about her disapproval of Belarusian and Russian dissidents, praised violence against demonstrators and an illegal plane hijacking, and mocked a hunger striker. This follows Simonyan's long history of calling for Russia’s violent annexation of Ukraine’s eastern territory.

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…

IN THIS ARTICLE

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Facebook

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Fake News

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Tucker Carlson justifies his about-face on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with a misogynist rant about VP Kamala Harris

03/04/22 1:06 PM EST

Laura Ingraham defends Russian oligarchs from asset seizures

03/03/22 10:50 PM EST

Fox News’ foreign policy pincer attack targets Biden on Ukraine

02/24/22 10:52 AM EST

The face of Russia's Vladimir Putin shaded in red on a red and black background with "Fox News" repeated four times

Conservative media’s love for Putin continues even after his invasion of Ukraine

03/03/22 6:01 PM EST

Flashback: Sean Hannity spent months aggressively defending President Trump for withholding military aid from Ukraine

02/25/22 10:56 AM EST

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cALL IT META IF YOU LIKE, BUT FACEBOOK STILL LOUSY AT DEALING WITH CLIMATE DISINFORMATION

A study released Wednesday by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) found that around half of the content from purveyors of climate science denial gets no warning labels or fact checking from Facebook moderators. Last May, Facebook vowed to attach “informational labels” to posts about the climate crisis and direct users to the social media platform’s “Climate Science Information Center.”

November, the CCDH published its Toxic Ten report, identifying just 10 publishers with articles that make up 69% of Facebook interactions with climate denial articles. Breitbart, the Federalist Papers, Daily Wire, and Russian state media were among the 10. What the researchers found was that 50.5% of the 184 most popular posts associated with articles promoting climate science denial carried no information label. Among them: A Breitbart article claiming global warming is not real and a “hoax”; a Washington Times article claiming that “COVID-19 and climate change are being used to steal our liberties”; a NewsBusters article referring to “alarmist climate propaganda”; a Daily Wire article claiming “the Left Is Spreading Global Warming Alarmism”; and a Breitbart article branding a leading climate scientist a “climate alarmist.” Of the other 49.5%, all had a label linking them to the climate science resource center, but just one was a fact check of bad information contained in the post.

Said CCDH’s Chief Executive Imran Ahmed, “By failing to do even the bare minimum to address the spread of climate denial information, Meta is exacerbating the climate crisis. Climate change denial—designed to fracture our resolve and impede meaningful action to mitigate climate change—flows unabated on Facebook and Instagram.” A spokesperson for Facebook claimed the CCDH report only covers the rollout of the warning system and not how effective it is now.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has pledged to initiate action against Facebook if it fails to do a better job at dealing with climate lies.....

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https://www.alternet.org/2022/03/tucker-carlson-2656827634/

no lnx vid

Tucker Carlson tries to gaslight his way out of having pushed Putin’s anti-Ukraine propaganda for a month

David Neiwert and Daily Kos March 02, 2022

Tucker Carlson is utterly baffled that people would think he is rooting for Vladimir Putin and Russia in its war on Ukraine. “You know, it’s such an awful thing to say,” he said on his Fox News show Monday, after playing a clip of Congressman Eric Swalwell saying he and other Republicans were on Putin’s side. “We hesitated to play that, even—it’s very common, you hear it every day. The question is: Why are they saying that? It doesn’t make any sense.”

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Gaslighting, of course, has become Carlson’s specialty. In reality, Carlson spent most of the month prior to the invasion praising Putin and echoing Russian propaganda: running down Ukraine, deriding it as a “State Department client state”—not a democracy, but “a tyranny”—and claiming that Russia just wants to keep its borders secure, everything the fault of Joe Biden. So much so that he became the hero of Russian state television, where his rants were translated and replayed, and he was praised as an astute American.

Now that the horror is hitting home, Carlson suddenly has realized that he backed the wrong horse and is scurrying hard to dig his way out. The first step in that, of course, is gaslighting his audience about what he had been saying just the week before, and blaming the war on Putin now—yet somehow it’s still all Joe Biden’s fault. Those clips have yet to appear on Russian TV.

The major tone shift occurred Friday, a day after the invasion: “It’s a tragedy, because war always is a tragedy, and the closer you get to it, the more horrifying it seems,” he said. He also squarely put the onus on Russia and Putin: “He is to blame for what we’re seeing tonight in Ukraine.”

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“Vladimir Putin started this war,so whatever the context of the decision that he made, he did it,” [CYA?] he said. “He fired the first shots.”

It’s a sharp and complete reversal of his previous arguments. On Feb. 17, he spouted Russian propaganda in claiming that Ukraine is not a legitimate nation. He also attacked U.S. officials who provided military aid to Ukraine.

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“These people are so ghoulish,” Carlson said. “Of course they’re promoting war, not to maintain the democracy that is Ukraine. Ukraine is not a democracy. It has never been a democracy in its history, and it’s not now. It’s a client state of the Biden administration.”

This narrative became a staple of Carlson’s defense of Russia’s war. On his Feb. 22 show, he again spouted Putin’s propaganda: “The point here is to defend democracy. Not that Ukraine is a democracy. It’s not a democracy. Ukraine’s president has arrested his main political opponent, he has shut down newspapers and television stations that have dared to criticize him. So in American terms, you would call Ukraine a tyranny. But Joe Biden likes Ukraine, so Putin bad, war good.”

The next day, he again dismissed Ukraine as “a State Department client state,” claiming that Democrats wanted Americans to “wholeheartedly support jumping with both feet into a highly complicated conflict in a part of Eastern Europe where we have no national interests.”

The most noteworthy part of that Feb. 22 episode, however, washow Carlson defended Putin against his “haters” by comparing him to American liberals, who he clearly saw as far more nefarious:

It might be worth asking yourself, since it is getting pretty serious, ‘What is this really about? Why do I hate Putin so much? Has Putin ever called me a racist? Has he threatened to get me fired for disagreeing with him? Has he shipped every middle class job in my town to Russia? Did he manufacture a worldwide pandemic that wrecked my business and kept me indoors for two years? Is he teaching my kids to embrace racial discrimination? Is he making fentanyl? Is he trying to snuff out Christianity? Does he eat dogs?’ These are fair questions, and the answer to all of them is no. Vladimir Putin didn’t do any of that. So do why does permanent Washington hate him so much?

The day after the invasion began, on Feb. 24, it was more of the same. The invasion, he claimed, demonstrated that Biden was a foreign-policy failure who had promised he would keep it from happening, making Putin’s war a “humiliating defeat for Joe Biden.”

Russian state media promptly began re-airing Carlson’s rants with translated subtitles, particularly the Putin-didn’t-call-me-a-racist episode. His attacks on Ukraine’s legitimacy also received heavy play. They also replayed Carlson’s Feb. 24 interview with ex-CongresswomanTulsi Gabbard, who told him: "Sanctions don't work. This is the whole problem with the Biden administration: They are so focused on how do we punish Putin."

The clips became the topic of Russian TV news talk shows, where Carlson was uniformly praised. “Excellent performance,” the editor of a Russian national defense journal commented. “We can only have solidarity with this view.”

Of course, Carlson is hardly alone in spreading pro-Russian propaganda on Fox News. On Feb. 24, just before bombs began falling on Ukraine, host Laura Ingraham interviewed ex-president Donald Trump by phone, who praised Putin—“I do know him very well. We’ve had many, uh, times together. I got along with him fantastically”—and ranted at length that the invasion was Biden’s fault, and the war never would have happened if the election hadn’t been stolen from him.

Near the end of the interview, Ingraham asked Trump about the speech given earlier that day by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, describing it as “a kind of really pathetic display” and described Ukraine’s United Nations ambassador as “looking like a defeated man.”

And despite the seeming change in tone, Carlson’s “pivot” still found him ardently defending Russian propaganda, and serving as its useful tool. Angry that authorities and platform owners in the U.S., Canada, and in Europe are taking action against the Kremlin-owned American news outlet Russia Today and other agitprop producers like Sputnik—both of whom also heavily replayed his pro-Russia rants—Carlson fumed that it all constituted “moral blackmail,” gaslighting away his previous remarks: “No one in America takes pride at the sight, feels anything but revulsion at the sight, of Russian troops within Ukraine.”

Sure enough, RT promptly retweeted Carlson’s clip: “Tucker Carlson defends media freedom as Senators use their power to shut down free speech on social media—especially so-called ‘Russian propaganda.’”

As Lis Wahl, a former anchor at Russia Today, explained to The Daily Beast, the distinction between a propaganda operation like RT and what’s aired on Fox News has essentially vanished:

While the American voices Russian media uses to influence Western audiences hail from the far-left and the far-right, the poison of disinformation asymmetrically originates on the ideological right. Research has demonstrated that followers of the former president stick to hyper-partisan and conspiracy-laden sources such as Breitbart, Info Wars, and Fox News. During Trump’s election and throughout his presidency, the rightwing ecosystem grew more conspiratorial, extreme, and anti-democratic. It is during this time that Russian media and right-wing media became indistinguishable.

Today, the chief purveyors of pro-Russian disinformation in the U.S. are now on Fox News. I have warned that quite often the pro-Putin claims on Fox and RT essentially mimic each other. But much of the American public, and even many in the mainstream media, fail to realize the extent to which this disinformation has become part of the fabric of the new media landscape, and therefore, American political discourse.

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https://www.alternet.org/2022/02/facebook-investors/

Facebook misled investors about battling climate and COVID lies: SEC filings

Jessica Corbett and Common Dreams February 20, 2022

In complaints to the U.S. government, Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen accused the tech giant of misleading investors about combating climate and Covid-19 misinformation, The Washington Post revealed Friday.

Haugen has gained international attention for speaking out in the press and testifying to Congress. The former Facebook employee is represented by Whistleblower Aid, which filed the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) complaints earlier this month.

The newspaper's reporting on redacted copies of the documents sparked demands for reforms at the social media network and its parent company, which rebranded as Meta last year in the face of widespread criticism.

"Frances Haugen's SEC filing shows yet again that Facebook cannot be trusted and needs Congress to step in to stop the spread of disinformation," said Michael Khoo, co-chair of the Climate Disinformation Coalition at Friends of the Earth.

As the Post's Cat Zakrzewski reported:

One complaint alleges that climate change misinformation was prominently available on Facebook and that the company lacked a clear policy on the issue as recently as last year, despite Facebook executives' committing to fight the "global crisis" during earnings calls. A second, companion complaint argues that while Facebook executives were publicly touting their efforts to remove harmful Covid misinformation, internal documents "paint a different story."

The complaint cites internal company communications about the spread of vaccine hesitancy in comments and internal surveys that showed the proliferation of Covid misinformation on the service.

"Facebook appears now to be spreading disinformation about its disinformation,"declared Khoo, noting that in an October 2021 letter, Nick Clegg, then-vice president of global affairs and communications at Facebook, "told the Climate Disinformation Coalition that there is only a 'small amount' of climate change disinformation on the platform."

Clegg, who was previously the U.K.'s deputy prime minister and led the Liberal Democrats party, was promoted this week to head of global affairs at Meta—a role that will put him "at the level" of CEO Mark Zuckerberg and chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg.

Similar to Clegg's letter, Meta spokesperson Drew Pusateri "said that misinformation makes up a small amount of climate change content in the company's apps, and that it spikes periodically, such as during extreme weather events," the Post reported Friday. "He said the company has taken steps to make it easier for fact-checkers to find climate content."

Pusateri also highlighted the company's efforts to remove vaccine misinformation and elevate "authoritative information" on public health and climate, adding that "there are no one-size-fits-all solutions to stopping the spread of misinformation, but we're committed to building new tools and policies to combat it."

However, activists and experts are not impressed. The Post explained that "the company adds information labels to some posts about climate change, and it reduces distribution of posts that its fact-checking partners rate as false. But it generally does not remove those posts, as it does with certain false claims about vaccines and the coronavirus."

Michael Mann, director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University, told the newspaper that the company's approach is "disturbing."

"Unmitigated climate change is projected to lead to far greater numbers of human fatalities than Covid-19," said Mann, known for debunking climate lies, including in recent testimony to Congress. "The fact that they're treating greater threat with so much less urgency and care is problematic."

Fossil Free Media director Jamie Henn tweeted Friday that "Facebook hasn't even taken the most obvious step to combatting climate disinformation: banning fossil fuel advertising. They don't allow tobacco or firearms ads—so why allow fossil fuels?"

According to Khoo at Friends of the Earth:

Whether it's fueling the insurrection, trans-youth bullying, teen body image issues, or climate denial, Facebook's algorithm enables the small fringe to tear apart our communities and our values. When last year's winter storm decimated Texas residents, a few fossil fuel-backed voices falsely blamed frozen windmills, and we documented how that narrative exploded on Facebook.

Congress must now step in and require the type of safety reporting that is found in industries from car manufacturers to agriculture. It must force Facebook to disclose its data on platform safety and extremism, with ecosystem-wide reports on disinformation harms.

"Facebook amplifies fringe views like climate denial," the campaigner added, "and we must stop it from letting a radical minority overpower the majority."

At least some federal lawmakers are already paying attention to the company's conduct, as three Democratic senators made clear in a December letter to Zuckerberg.

"Disinformation that downplays the crisis or rejects climate change threatens the potential for humankind to act collectively to pull itself back from the brink," they wrote. "Your content moderation decisions can either galvanize an effort to save our plant or quash it."

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https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/19/hunter-biden-story-russian-disinfo-430276

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SUBSTX --> NYT

Emily Sanders is the Center for Climate Integrity’s editorial lead. Catch up with

...Just days after the Big Oil hearing, the Center for Countering Digital Hate, an international nonprofit that “seeks to disrupt the architecture of online hate and misinformation,” released areport finding that posts linking to content from just ten publishers account for 69 percent of Facebook users’ interactions with climate denial content.

Dubbed the “Toxic Ten,” those publishers are:

Examples of viral climate denial content included aWashington Times article claiming there is a “cult of ‘climate change’” whose “worship” is based on unproven science, a Breitbart piece promoting conspiracy theories that climate legislation involves “lockdown decrees,” and a Newsmax article telling readers not to “worry too much about CO2 baking the planet.”

This type of content didn’t emerge on its own. CCDH’s CEO, Imran Ahmed, said the fossil fuel industry has “shown its willingness to embrace new technologies and every tool available to it to create harm — and climate denial is harm.” Social media, he says, is the last frontier for Big Oil to cultivate opposition against climate action that might threaten their bottom line.

“If they can’t win the battle on legislation, they’re going to seek to undermine the consensus, the self-preservatory consensus that underpins the push for legislation. They know that you can’t possibly get political agreement if we can’t even agree on the basic facts,” Ahmed said. “And all they have to do is simulate the appearance of dissent, of debate.”

According to the report, Facebook and Google, which have portrayed themselves as “green” and allies in the fight for climate action, are doing business with denial. CCDH’s research found that Facebook failed to label 92 percent of the Toxic Ten’s climate disinformation, despite the company’s pledge to start placing information labels on posts about climate change. It found that eight of the Toxic Ten have received a combined $5.3 million in revenue from Google ads in the last six months alone. Google promised to stop attaching ads to climate denial content in October, setting its own deadline of November 9 — but it hasn’t acted on that promise yet.

[twt]

...CCDH isn’t alone in calling this out: online climate disinformation has been identified as an urgent and emerging issue in pieces published in The New York Times, The Conversation, and The Nation within the past week.

CCDH’s research was released during COP26, this year’s United Nations climate summit, where at least 503 fossil fuel lobbyists — more than any country’s delegation — were present, according to an analysis by Corporate Accountability and other advocacy groups.

Go figure: the industry’s attempts to halt climate action through third parties have been simultaneously occurring online, where, thanks to internet trolls, right-wing publications, and the cooperation of social media platforms, they can now reach exponentially more members of the public. At least two of the Toxic Ten have historic ties to funding from ExxonMobil: 

Digital platforms make that particularly easy through frequency bias — a fundamental psychological characteristic that causes humans to believe that something must be true or at least popular if we see it frequently enough. And disinformation, whether about vaccinations or climate change or electoral processes, is “sticky,” or “chewy,” in Ahmed’s words — it gets people talking.

Ben Decker, CEO of Memetica, a firm that works to investigate disinformation across digital media platforms, called climate disinformation “the legacy disinformation narrative plaguing America,” and fossil fuel companies the “historical purveyors” of that disinformation.

“The content itself becomes a space where fossil fuel companies can advertise themselves,” said Decker, who says policies to address climate change, not necessarily the science itself, are now the greatest target for these kinds of attacks.

Both Decker and Ahmed referred to the “asymmetry” of these so-called debates, which are manufactured with the help of the fossil fuel industry’s immense resources, and enabled by social media platforms that profit from publishers who advertise climate denial content on their sites.

So how do we tackle the climate disinformation crisis?

CCDH’s report calls on social media companies to stop monetizing and profiting from climate denial, and to comprehensively label climate disinformation on their websites. “It is amazing that the regulatory framework for a bodega in Manhattan is more onerous than that for a company like Facebook, which has literally caused at least one genocide,” Ahmed said, in reference to the violence in Myanmar.

In Decker’s view, it’s important for social media companies to codify exactly what images and words constitute climate disinformation if they’re going to prevent its spread. “They’re coy and smart around the words that they use,” he said of publishers and bad actors that facilitate harm over these platforms.

Growing wells of academic and journalistic research on evolving climate disinformation, and now the ongoing House Oversight investigation, could help define and identify harmful content. But if you ask Ahmed, the problem goes deeper than a lack of consensus or standards.

“We get too tied up in the technology of algorithms, automated moderation, AI and machine learning,” Ahmed said. “It’s a moral choice to gaslight the earth, and that’s what social media companies are doing. They’re making a moral choice to do business with climate denial. These are rapacious companies willing to sell out their communities, nations, and the planet, for their own wealth.”

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ICYMI News Roundup

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https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/12/opinion/climate-change-facebook-glasgow.html

GREG BENSINGER

Social Media Is Polluted With Climate Denialism

Nov. 12, 2021

Greg Bensinger

Mr. Bensinger is a member of the editorial board.

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This fall, Exxon Mobil started targeting New Yorkers with Facebook advertisements that warned about a proposed law that would require electric-only appliances in some buildings. “If your household was required to go full electric, it could cost you more than $25,600 to replace major appliances,” one ad reads.

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But the ad doesn’t tell the whole story: The law would apply only to new buildings, making Exxon’s cost claims specious at best. Other advertisements, among roughly 1,200 placed by the fossil fuel giant found by the artificial intelligence outfit Eco-Bot.Netthis year, claimed oil pipelines are necessary to keep “energy affordable and accessible” and that natural gas helps customers “meet their environmental goals.”

These are examples of so-called greenwashing, or corporate attempts to underplay companies’ true impact on the environment. Along with other climate misinformation on social media, such ads have become a potent threat to efforts to combat global warming.Researchers for the environmental group Stop Funding Heat found that climate misinformation is viewed as often as 1.36 million times daily on Facebook.

Social media companies simply aren’t rising to the challenge of rising sea levels. Climate change is an urgent threat, but the companies are treating misinformation around it with far less urgency than other issues like political conspiracy theories, hate speech and lies about Covid vaccines. Climate content can be considered opinion and is therefore exempt from standard fact-checking procedures, which climate change deniers have seized on to push misleading information onto the sites.

The largest social media firms demonstrated in last year’s presidential election that they can effectively combat some misinformation by appending warning labels, using algorithmic suppression and adding links to more reliable news sources. But such work requires sustained effort, and Facebook, for one, dismantled its well-intentioned civic integrity group overseeing election misinformation shortly after the 2020 presidential vote.

“The results from the American presidential election show that the social media companies have the capacity to address misinformation on a broad scale,” said John Cook, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Climate Change Communication Research Hub at Monash University who is advising Facebook on its climate misinformation efforts. “But they’ve not put the resources or effort behind this that are necessary.”

Even with the rapid shift in public opinion and the outward signs of global warming in recent years, social media companies have been slow to adapt, allowing sometimes blatant disinformation to flourish unchecked on their sites. Under Facebook company guidelines, climate content may be categorized as opinion and subject to no more scrutiny than peer-reviewed scientific research.

Social media companies have a standard playbook for addressing many online falsehoods: add warning labels, push them lower in an algorithmically driven news feed, remove them or penalize their creators by suspending or barring them from using the site. But often misleading posts, such as one that claims combating climate change “involves Americans giving up their freedom and way of life,” carry an incongruous and wishy-washy Facebook label about local average temperatures. Compare that to the labels appended to former President Donald Trump’s voting misinformation posts, which Facebook called “disputed” or “misleading.”

Posts featuring conspiracy theories around Texas’ February power grid failure that left many residents freezing in the dark racked up millions of views on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, particularly ones falsely suggesting that frozen wind turbines or President Biden’s energy policies were to blame. The companies did little to intervene. Representative Lauren Boebert, Republican of Colorado, falsely alleged in a tweet that Mr. Biden’s energy policies were “leaving millions of Texans freezing to death.” Twitter never appended a clarifying label.

Employees at Facebook have wrestled internally with how to approach climate change misinformation since at least 2019, according to documents released by the former Facebook employee Frances Haugen. According to one exchange, an employee seemed flummoxed by the company’s refusal to remove posts featuring climate change denial, because global warming is not a matter of opinion. Another employee said Facebook removes posts when “content may lead to imminent harm against people offline.”

[Opinion Conversation The climate, and the world, are changing. What challenges will the future bring, and how should we respond to them?

What does climate change look like around the world?

From “Postcards From a World on Fire,” these 193 stories show how climate change is reshaping reality.

What should our leaders be doing?

Al Gore, the 45th vice president of the United States, finds reasons for optimism in the Biden presidency.

What are the worst climate risks in your country?

Select a country, and we'll break down the climate hazards it faces.

Where are Americans suffering most?

Our maps, developed with experts, show where extreme heat is causing the most deaths in the U.S.]

Facebook said its policy of not fact-checking or labeling posts from politicians was justified because the company doesn’t “want to limit political speech on the platform” — despite evidence it has that politicians are more likely to be believed than regular users and their posts are more widely shared.

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Facebook, which has called climate change the “greatest threat we all face,” has established only a sparsely visited section on its main site, known as the Climate Science Center, with occasional articles addressing rising global temperatures.

Climate skeptics are simply altering tactics from outright climate change denial to discrediting evidence and shifting blame from corporations to individuals, said Michael Mann, the author of “The New Climate War.”

On YouTube, the nonprofit Heartland Institute, known for attacking climate science, has backed the German influencer Naomi Seibt, who has posted videos denying climate change “hysteria” and encouraging viewers to live carefree lives. But YouTube rarely appends warning labels directing users to more reliable information, even as her videos garner thousands of views.

YouTube says it uses software to make debunked climate content less likely to show up in people’s recommendation feeds, but the climate activism nonprofit Avaaz found last year that the algorithm still prompted millions of views of questionable videos. The group also found that YouTube was selling ads to run alongside them.

As a result, Google, YouTube’s parent company, recently took a baby step, announcing it will no longer allow websites and YouTube creators to make money off advertising that denies humans’ contributions to climate change or denies global warming. Similarly, Facebook said climate change and global warming were on a list of topics that could no longer be used by marketers to target advertising, starting next year.

But spreading false information on the sites remains as easy as making a few keystrokes.

With the public shifting toward acceptance of climate change, corporate strategies are also evolving, including companies’ use of paid influencers on Instagram and TikTok who embark on idyllic road trips to Joshua Tree National Park using Shell gasoline or who snack on chips from Phillips 66 stations.In an effort to combat legislation to ban natural gas hookups, the fossil fuel industry also is paying Instagram stars to post videos of anodyne tasks like cooking tacos over gas stoves. The aim is to conjure good feelings about the brands, known to be significant contributors to carbon emissions, and perhaps even to convince consumers that they are stylish.

Elsewhere on the web, pages have sprung up with names like Climate Change Is Crap and Climate Change Is Natural to spew denialism on social media — no targeted ads needed. One headline from Climate Realism: “Evidence Indicates Climate Change Doesn’t Threaten Human Health.”

Social media could be a forum f or healthy debate about climate action, but the companies’ flimsy policies around policing climate change misinformation stand in the way. Automated software systems are simply not enough to combat misinformation about an unalterably changing Earth.

Facebook, YouTube and other companies have shown they have the power to amplify facts and suppress lies — will they use that to help protect Earth from its most dire threat?

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here’s our email: letters@nytimes.com.

Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.

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