Disinformation

A Latino advocacy group and media watchdog will invest $22 million in an effort to battle disinformation targeted at the Hispanic community. Voto Latino and Media Matters for America on Thursday launched the Latino Anti-Disinformation Lab, with an aim to “combat mis- and disinformation that further polarizes and isolates Latinx voters.” According to the groups it will be the largest investment in combatting disinformation in Latino communities to date, citing a surge in Spanish and English language misinformation on voter fraud and Covid-19. ADVERTISEMENT “The right-wing sphere has spent years building a misinformation machine to target the Latinx community, which has resulted in a rising tide of disinformation. Despite how overwhelming it may seem, it is both possible and absolutely necessary to confront misinformation head on. This partnership will provide an essential check on that rising tide of disinformation,” Media Matters President Angelo Carusone said in a … [Read more...] about Groups launch $22 million effort to battle disinformation targeting Latinos

Claims that conservative voices are being censored online by social media platforms are not backed by evidence and are themselves a disinformation narrative, according to a report released Monday. The New York University Stern Center for Business and Human Rights’ report concluded that anti-conservative bias claims, boosted by some top Republican lawmakers including former President Trump Donald Trump Donald Trump Jr. calls Bruce Springsteen's dropped charges 'liberal privilege' Schiff sees challenges for intel committee, community in Trump's shadow McConnell says he'd back Trump as 2024 GOP nominee MORE , are not based on any tangible evidence. “The claim of anti-conservative animus is itself a form of disinformation: a falsehood with no reliable evidence to support it. No trustworthy large-scale studies have determined that conservative content is being removed for ideological reasons or that searches are being manipulated to favor liberal interests,” … [Read more...] about Conservative claims of online censorship ‘a form of disinformation:’ study

In just a few weeks, lawsuits and legal threats from a pair of obscure election technology companies have achieved what years of advertising boycotts, public pressure campaigns and liberal outrage could not: curbing the flow of misinformation in right-wing media. Fox Business canceled its highest-rated show, “Lou Dobbs Tonight,” Friday after its host was sued as part of a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit. On Tuesday, the pro-Trump cable channel Newsmax cut off a guest’s rant about rigged voting machines. Fox News, which seldom bows to critics, has run fact-checking segments to debunk its own anchors’ false claims about electoral fraud. This is not the typical playbook for right-wing media, which prides itself on pugilism and delights in ignoring the liberals who have long complained about its content. But conservative outlets have rarely faced this level of direct assault on their economic lifeblood. Smartmatic, a voter technology firm swept up in conspiracies … [Read more...] about Lawsuits take the lead in fight against disinformation

A day after Rush Limbaugh died, Hollywood filmmaker Rob Reiner attacked the late conservative radio host as a purveyor of disinformation, saying that Americans must protect democracy from others like him. Rob Reiner launched his social media attack on the late Limbaugh by calling him a liar, warning that other conservative media personalities are trying to deny climate change. “To protect our Democracy we must remain vigilant in calling out their big lies. Starting with climate change,” he wrote. Rush Limbaugh is gone. But there is no scarcity of purveyors of disinformation left in his wake. To protect our Democracy we must remain vigilant in calling out their big lies. Starting with climate change. — Rob Reiner (@robreiner) February 18, 2021 Reiner is the latest left-wing Hollywood elite to attack Limbaugh following news of his death yesterday. The 70-year-old conservative radio legend died after a battle with lung cancer, his wife revealed. Stars including Ron … [Read more...] about Rob Reiner Attacks Rush Limbaugh as Purveyor of ‘Disinformation’ Day After His Death

BRUSSELS - It took just three months for the rumor that the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 was engineered as a bioweapon to spread from the fringes of the Chinese internet and take root in millions of people's minds. By March 2020, belief that the virus had been human-made and possibly weaponized was widespread, multiple surveys indicated. The Pew Research Center found, for example, that one in three Americans believed the new coronavirus had been created in a lab; one in four thought it had been engineered intentionally. This chaos was, at least in part, manufactured. Powerful forces, from Beijing and Washington to Moscow and Tehran, have battled to control the narrative about where the virus came from. Leading officials and allied media in all four countries functioned as super-spreaders of disinformation, using their stature to sow doubt and amplify politically expedient conspiracies already in circulation, a nine-month Associated Press investigation of state-sponsored … [Read more...] about COVID Conspiracy Disinformation Campaign Has Had Vast Reach, Study Finds