An October 2018 Turning Point USA Facebook video featured a brief clip of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking, purportedly explaining the manner in which Democrats use a “wrap up smear” tactic against Republicans. At the time the clip appeared, controversy was raging over the appointment of Justice Brett Kavanaugh. All-caps text at the top of …
On March 18 2019, just days after a right-wing extremist traveled from Australia to Christchurch, New Zealand to murder fifty people at two mosques during Friday prayers, British conservative commentator Theodora Dickinson posted a video of a burning building on Twitter with the following commentary: In response to the New Zealand mosque attacks, Islamists have …
Retaliatory Attack on Christian Church in Pakistan? Read More »
On February 7 2019, Facebook user Marcus Rogers shared a video post captioned: “SHOCKING VIDEO of Abortion Doctor GROWLING and Saying He loves Killing Babies. This is just DISGUSTING [emoji] AND YOU KNOW, they don’t want you to see this one! [emoji]: No information about the video, the identity of the individual in the video, …
Shocking Video of ‘Abortion Doctor’ Saying He ‘Loves Killing Babies’? Read More »
Against the backdrop of a long-running federal shutdown, purportedly over border wall funding, a Facebook user shared the following meme in January 2019: It read: ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS SENT $56 BILLION IN PURE CASH TO THEIR HOME COUNTRIES LAST YEAR ALONE. THAT’S AFTER THEIR KIDS ENJOYED FREE EDUCATION, FREE LUNCHES, AND FREE MEDICAL CARE PAID FOR …
Every day, a new fake story emerges with the power to affect policy or further corrode relationships, from interpersonal to international. This is corrosive disinformation, as different from garden-variety scams and hoaxes as a molehill is from a mountain. The difference is intent — not just to mislead, but to defraud and misinform — and scale. Simple …
How to Slow the Spread of Disinformation: A Guide for Newsrooms Read More »
An annual caravan of people traveling from Central America to the United States to seek asylum and refuge from extreme violence in their home countries has been beset by falsehoods, lies, and disinformation from start to finish — from baseless claims that they are “invaders” and gang members and the ensuing arrival of American troops to “secure” …
Is a Caravan of Central American Asylum-Seekers Demanding Special Treatment? Read More »
In mid-November 2018, the New York Times published a bombshell report about Facebook that convulsed both traditional and social media. The beleaguered site has been at the center of scandal after fake news scandal from the mass displacement and genocide of Myanmar’s Rohingya people to the Brexit crisis — all enabled and abetted by disinformation and …
Facebook Spread Fake News, Hired ‘Trackers’ to Smear Critics Read More »
A man with ties to some of the most violent hate groups in the United States has been arrested and charged with illegal possession of firearms just weeks after his younger brother — also reportedly a known white supremacist — committed suicide. According to court documents, 30-year-old Jeffrey “Raph” Clark and his 23-year-old brother Edward Clark openly …
White Supremacist Arrested After Calling a Domestic Terror Attack ‘a Dry Run’ Read More »
An annual caravan heading from Central America to the southern United States border to seek asylum has been beset by rumors, misinformation, and dramatic disinformation during the 2018 election cycle; stories about the event were resurrected in January 2019 to bolster the Trump administration’s argument for an additional border wall. Participants in the annual event are …
In the final days of October 2018, after a series of glass-packed pipe bombs were delivered to high-profile critics of United States President Donald Trump, rumors ran wild about who the suspect was and what he wanted. Few of these theories were organic, and instead appeared to have originated from the usual suspects — throwaway …
