[liberationtech] Intentional Big Tech Leftist Bias in Social and News Media Corrupts Elections and Defrauds Peoples

Doug Schuler douglas at publicsphereproject.org
Sat Jan 2 04:21:13 CET 2021 

If only it were that simple!

Off the top of my head I'd say that  Snopes was probably accurate 80% or
more of the time.



On Fri, Jan 1, 2021 at 6:16 PM Sawsan Gad <sawsangad at gmail.com> wrote:

> With what I've learnt in the past few years: Anything Snopes says is
> wrong, is most likely correct. :-)
> I now use them for fact-checking in the opposite direction. If Snopes says
> no, then the truth is yes. If Snopes says yes, then the truth is no. :-)
>
>
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> On Fri, Jan 1, 2021 at 9:04 PM Doug Schuler <
> douglas at publicsphereproject.org> wrote:
>
>>
>> Peter --- It's quite possible that I weigh in in the future on this but
>> for now don't quit the list because of my ignorance!
>>
>> I actually try to some degree to understand a bit of what's actually
>> going on. It's not easy. I also hope that well-meaning people with lack of
>> knowledge can participate in these discussions. I prefer people holding
>> that role to true believers, professional dissemblers,  and super spreaders.
>>
>> I'm opposed to much of US foreign policy and I obviously am way in the
>> dark on a large percentage of it. My sense is, however, that the US is not
>> the only "bad guy" out there. In fact I'd like to think that the US can be
>> something of a "good guy" on occasion.
>>
>> I'll look into the beyond war perspective. Is this the same group that
>> was active in the 80's (or thereabouts)?
>>
>> — Doug
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Jan 1, 2021 at 4:53 PM Peter Jones | Redesign <
>> peter at redesignnetwork.com> wrote:
>>
>>> You are seriously citing “Snopes” in a list that purports to engage
>>> scholarship into serious surveillance, security technology or (in this
>>> case) foreign policy issues?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Perhaps you didn’t look at any of the references I cited. The most
>>> significant issue with Bellingcat is that they are funded and sponsored by
>>> a NATO advisory. It is their job to disinform. That is how wars are
>>> promoted when you are the aggressor.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Higgins has been caught outright lying about his relationship with the
>>> FCO and government funding by Hitchens and others on Twitter. These are not
>>> arguments, they are misrepresentations.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> The critical issue here is the cover-up. The lead OPCW field chemist who
>>> led the fact-finding mission for the Douma Syria report verified that there
>>> was no indication of a chorine “chemical weapons” attack on the purported
>>> site. There were two dozen children’s bodies placed in the basement, that
>>> were claimed as victims, but they did not die of chlorine. There was no
>>> chlorine beyond the level found in normal household use.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> But the field investigation team’s unanimous findings were deliberately
>>> misreported by the OPCW by their (Bush appointed) Dir General, who publicly
>>> claimed there was a confirmed chorine release. Which is not revealed by the
>>> field findings. That is the real political scandal.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> The filed team did not state that the filmed scene was staged – that’s
>>> outside the purview of OPCW. But that is also the subject of Patrick
>>> Watson’s analysis BTW. Read some of the painstaking analysis and you will
>>> see why this is suppressed, and why I think very poorly of “Snopes” who is
>>> enabling (our) war crimes here.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Snopes is also partisan and unreliable in a media ecology that is now
>>> hopelessly divided and divisive. Its as much of an establishment tool as
>>> exists in the US/UK universe of bought-reporting.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> If this level of insight on the list persists - I’ll just going to quit
>>> the list. I don’t have the time to waste on “liberation tech” that finds
>>> favour with the MIC/NATO establishment and its media trolls and is
>>> uninterested in learning from actual citizen-led independent
>>> investigations. And that are in apparent uncritical support of the $2
>>> trillion / year US/NATO war system that uses mercenary “terrorists” to
>>> create events that justify its attacks and regime change programs. Who did
>>> you think is paying for the surveillance systems that this list was set up
>>> to intervene? Its all the same Five Eyes.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I recommend to those interested in our new approach to the peace
>>> movement, to find the report on Global Security System at World Beyond War
>>> https://worldbeyondwar.org/alternative/
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Wishing everyone peace in your own communities in the New Year.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Peter
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> *From:* LT <lt-bounces at lists.liberationtech.org> *On Behalf *
>>> *Subject:* Re: [liberationtech] Intentional Big Tech Leftist Bias in
>>> Social and News Media Corrupts Elections and Defrauds Peoples
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Thanks Tom.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> That seems to clear up some things.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> — Doug
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Thu, Dec 31, 2020 at 5:17 PM Domestic Caverns <
>>> domestic.caverns at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi Peter,
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I’m not sure if this is what you’re referring to regarding the white
>>> helmets, but here is some fact checking on them as a hoax:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/is-this-proof-white-helmets-staged-chemical-attack/
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Best,
>>>
>>> Tom
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Wed, Dec 30, 2020 at 2:45 PM Peter Jones | Redesign <
>>> peter at redesignnetwork.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi Richard - Its interesting you'd suggest Bellingcat on this list
>>> (Liberation Tech) as an exemplar for investigative techniques that purport
>>> to identity motive and source. In my observation of their work, they have
>>> the resources to conduct very  sophisticated study - because that are a
>>> dedicated insider info ops (hybrid warfare) group of the NATO-sponsored
>>> Atlantic Council - their DFRL organization
>>> https://www.digitalsherlocks.org
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Bellingcat started up two days *before* the infamous MH17 airliner
>>> shootdown in Ukraine 7.17.2014 (a problematic case that is still definitely
>>> unresolved in the Dutch special court). They immediately entangled
>>> themselves in evidence production from the "fog of war" among the various
>>> actual investigators on the ground. Their notoriety and founding were
>>> started up in sync with this event, which would give them interesting
>>> context for their own motives.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> The  founders Higgins and Toler are senior fellows at the NATO DFRLab
>>> https://www.digitalsherlocks.org/360-os-2018  which verifies not
>>> necessarily a guarantee of income, but at least the level of establishment
>>> of their primary client. I’d suspect they aren’t hurting for a job.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> The goals of the DRFL program are ostensibly to "counter
>>> disinformation." But the explicit means of doing so are to construct
>>> preferred information that is certified by their vast network of the
>>> military complex that requires such "bottom up"  narratives to justify
>>> their own interventions and weaponization of social media. After all Obama
>>> shelled out  $250M in his last gift to the Mil Complex December 2016. Also
>>> for “countering (primarily Russian) disinformation”  which is a neat way of
>>> saying “creating disinformation for the public.” All US wars have been
>>> started and justified by such information ops long before kinetic  actions,
>>> and this was done with newspapers before electronic media.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Put your McLuhanist hats on. Who has the most to gain from these
>>> operations? Who has skin in the game and who is paying for these
>>> investigations? Who is working at their OWN risk and conscience to develop
>>> and expose (or whistleblow) truthful reporting?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> The anti-Bellingcats are actual citizen sleuths  such as Northern
>>> Ireland’ Patrick Watson, who was disgusted by what he saw as obvious fake
>>> videos with the White Helmets, used to promote the Syrian “chemical
>>> weapons” videos.  He did hos own research and blew open quiet a bit of
>>> trouble.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> His website https://hiddensyria.com/ covers a number of his
>>> investigations – he’s clearly not a “Russian” anything, as I’ve followed
>>> his work from  the very first tweet I think (I happened to see his easily
>>> outbursts) AND he doesn’t’ have a lot of followers. A troll tries  to
>>> sensationalize and get a lot of attention. Philip has also worked hard, and
>>> at risk, to show the OPCW organization is at fault for covering up their
>>> field evidence that exonerates the Syrian government, a very inconvenient
>>> finding. There are whistle-blower memos and support from the founding OPCW
>>> General  Director for their exposure. It’s a significant scandal, and on
>>> this issue Bellingcat is arguing (and was caught fabricating) for the
>>> establishment, again, and every time, for the wars.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I would also confirm  regard for the small UK academic team, the
>>> Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media that has done open sources and
>>> deep investigative reporting on the  Syrian hoaxes and White Helmets (along
>>> with Vanessa Bealey's fieldwork).
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> has also been heavily attacked by mainstream reporters, (Guardian types)
>>> and 77th Brigade (the British military info ops soldiers)
>>> https://syriapropagandamedia.org/  Because they have been on-0tagert,
>>> the BBC and Guardian have smeared their work on front page stories to try
>>> to recover their Syrian war “information superiority.” In the shadowy world
>>> of information ops, this is a war on real people. And the establishment
>>> will lose, over time, regardless of how many more millions they throw at 77
>>> th Brigades and projects like the UK’s FCO-sponsored Integrity
>>> Initiative https://syriapropagandamedia.org/the-integrity-initiative
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Humans with a conscience will always eventually win on social media, as
>>> the war narrative is always a drumbeat of the same talking points and
>>> arguments. Reality is complex, ambiguous, and subject to surprises – which
>>> is what we see in the citizen reporter stories.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> As a professor I would at least present students with case studies from
>>> “both sides.”
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> To a more peaceful 2021,  Peter Jones
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> *PETER JONES, PH.D.*ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
>>> FACULTY OF DESIGN
>>>
>>> *T  *416 799.8799 <416%20799%208799>      @redesign
>>> *E*  pjones at ocadu.ca
>>>
>>> *Design Dialogues * <http://designdialogues.com/>
>>> *Strategic Innovation Lab* <http://slab.ocadu.ca/>
>>> *Systemic Design Association (RSD) * <https://systemic-design.net/>
>>>
>>>
>>> *OCAD UNIVERSITY*
>>> *Strategic Foresight & Innovation*205 Richmond St. West, Suite 410
>>> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/205+Richmond+St.+West,+Suite+410+Toronto,+Canada++M5V+1V3?entry=gmail&source=g>
>>> Toronto, Canada
>>> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/205+Richmond+St.+West,+Suite+410+Toronto,+Canada++M5V+1V3?entry=gmail&source=g>
>>>  M5V 1V3
>>> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/205+Richmond+St.+West,+Suite+410+Toronto,+Canada++M5V+1V3?entry=gmail&source=g>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: LT <lt-bounces at lists.liberationtech.org> On Behalf Of Richard
>>> Brooks
>>> Sent: Wednesday, December 30, 2020 2:39 PM
>>> To: Doug Schuler <douglas at publicsphereproject.org>; Richard Brooks <
>>> rrb at g.clemson.edu>
>>> Cc: LT <lt at lists.liberationtech.org>
>>> Subject: Re: [liberationtech] Intentional Big Tech Leftist Bias in
>>> Social and News Media Corrupts Elections and Defrauds Peoples
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> The idea of thoughts and ideas being similar to a biological ecosystem
>>> has been around for a while. I think that Richard Dawkins, William S.
>>> Burroughs, and Robert Anton Wilson all have legitimate claims to having
>>> originated the idea. (It is likely to have roots in antiquity somewhere.)
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> The US does have a certain anti-intellectualism deep in its subconscious
>>> and at least one (nameless) political party has worked hard to delegitimize
>>> science (evolution, economics, climate change, ...).
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> That this would lead eventually to people being susceptible to having
>>> their innate biases exploited by other actors, is not surprising.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Social media has exacerbated the process.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> One idea that I have been playing with is trying to introduce somewhere
>>> in curricula having students use tools/techniques like those used by
>>> Bellingcat to determine the source and motivation of online campaigns.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I really am impressed by Bellingcat.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 12/30/20 2:12 PM, Doug Schuler wrote:
>>>
>>> > An article in the recent Science magazine talked about a “syndemic”
>>>
>>> > which
>>>
>>> >
>>>
>>> > "is the intersection of two epidemics—two diseases ravaging a
>>>
>>> > population at the same time, exacerbating each other. HIV weakens the
>>>
>>> > immune system, for instance, which makes people more likely to develop
>>>
>>> > tuberculosis. The world witnessed some- thing similar this year. We
>>>
>>> > live in an eco-system that allows viruses to cross from wildlife to
>>>
>>> > humans more often and spread farther and faster than ever before—that
>>>
>>> > gave us SARS-CoV-2. But the virus emerged in an information ecosystem
>>>
>>> > that helps misinformation and lies spread faster than scientific
>>>
>>> > evidence, weakening our ability to respond to new threats. That made
>>>
>>> > the pandemic far worse."
>>>
>>> >
>>>
>>> > https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/370/6523/1395.full.pdf
>>>
>>> >
>>>
>>> > Without necessarily buying into the entire metaphor it seems pretty
>>>
>>> > useful, bringing up concepts susceptibility, vulnerable populations,
>>>
>>> > super spreaders, mode of transmission, and, of course, inoculation.
>>>
>>> >
>>>
>>> > It also fits well into my investigations into civic intelligence which
>>>
>>> > I believe is threatened like other natural resources. And if it gets
>>>
>>> > too low, our ability to address our problems cooperatively becomes
>>>
>>> > ever more helpless.
>>>
>>> >
>>>
>>> > I'd love to hear your thoughts on this!
>>>
>>> >
>>>
>>> > — Doug
>>>
>>> >
>>>
>>> >
>>>
>>> >
>>>
>>> >
>>>
>>> > On Wed, Dec 30, 2020 at 8:49 AM Richard Brooks <rrb at g.clemson.edu
>>>
>>> > <mailto:rrb at g.clemson.edu <rrb at g.clemson.edu>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> >
>>>
>>> >     Interesting.
>>>
>>> >
>>>
>>> >
>>>
>>> > https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/2/21278601/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-tr
>>>
>>> > ump-posts-employee-call-fact-checking-voter-misinformation
>>>
>>> >
>>>
>>> >     https://faculty.lsu.edu/fakenews/elections/thethreatofqanon.php
>>>
>>> >
>>>
>>> >
>>>
>>> > https://www.france24.com/en/20201006-qanon-conspiracies-go-global-in-p
>>>
>>> > andemic-perfect-storm
>>>
>>> >
>>>
>>> >
>>>
>>> > https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1369118X.2017.1329334?jour
>>>
>>> > nalCode=rics20
>>>
>>> >
>>>
>>> >
>>>
>>> > https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/06/08/technology/youtube-radi
>>>
>>> > cal.html
>>>
>>> >
>>>
>>> >     On 12/23/20 4:31 AM, grarpamp wrote:
>>>
>>> >     > The Invisible Influence of Big Tech on Politics & Elections -
>>> Allum
>>>
>>> >     > Bokhari #Deleted
>>>
>>> >     > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFJfGphZBmQ
>>>
>>> >     > #Deleted: Big Tech's battle to erase the trump movement and steal
>>>
>>> >     the election
>>>
>>> >     > https://deletedbook.com/
>>>
>>> >     >
>>>
>>> >
>>>
>>> >
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>>
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>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>>
>>> Douglas Schuler
>>>
>>> douglas at publicsphereproject.org
>>>
>>> Twitter: @doug_schuler
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> Public Sphere Project
>>>
>>>      http://www.publicsphereproject.org/
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Mailing list ~ Collective Intelligence for the Common Good
>>>
>>>      * http://lists.scn.org/mailman/listinfo/ci
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>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Creating the World Citizen Parliament
>>>
>>>
>>> http://interactions.acm.org/archive/view/may-june-2013/creating-the-world-citizen-parliament
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Liberating Voices!  A Pattern Language for Communication Revolution
>>> (project)
>>>
>>>      http://www.publicsphereproject.org/patterns/lv
>>> <http://www.publicsphereproject.org/patterns/>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Liberating Voices!  A Pattern Language for Communication Revolution
>>> (book)
>>>
>>> https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/liberating-voices
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Douglas Schuler
>> douglas at publicsphereproject.org
>> Twitter: @doug_schuler
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> Public Sphere Project
>>      http://www.publicsphereproject.org/
>>
>> Mailing list ~ Collective Intelligence for the Common Good
>>      * http://lists.scn.org/mailman/listinfo/ci
>> <http://lists.scn.org/mailman/listinfo/ci>4cg-announce*
>>
>> Creating the World Citizen Parliament
>>
>> http://interactions.acm.org/archive/view/may-june-2013/creating-the-world-citizen-parliament
>>
>> Liberating Voices!  A Pattern Language for Communication Revolution
>> (project)
>>      http://www.publicsphereproject.org/patterns/lv
>> <http://www.publicsphereproject.org/patterns/>
>>
>> Liberating Voices!  A Pattern Language for Communication Revolution
>> (book)
>> https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/liberating-voices
>> --
>> Liberationtech is public & archives are searchable from any major
>> commercial search engine. Violations of list guidelines will get you
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>
>

-- 
Douglas Schuler
douglas at publicsphereproject.org
Twitter: @doug_schuler

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Public Sphere Project
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Mailing list ~ Collective Intelligence for the Common Good
     * http://lists.scn.org/mailman/listinfo/ci
<http://lists.scn.org/mailman/listinfo/ci>4cg-announce*

Creating the World Citizen Parliament

http://interactions.acm.org/archive/view/may-june-2013/creating-the-world-citizen-parliament

Liberating Voices!  A Pattern Language for Communication Revolution
(project)
     http://www.publicsphereproject.org/patterns/lv
<http://www.publicsphereproject.org/patterns/>

Liberating Voices!  A Pattern Language for Communication Revolution (book)

https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/liberating-voices
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