Threats, Fact Checks, and Reads #3.17
A new "Covid Freedom Index" suggests RT is catering to a specific audience, China attempts to tie Atlanta shooting to democracy activists in Hong-Kong with fake content, and new threat assessments.
Threats
Domestic Violent Extremism Poses Heightened Threat in 2021
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today released an unclassified summary of the joint comprehensive threat assessment on domestic violent extremism.
Tweet thread with highlights from the report:
Foreign Threats the US Federal Elections
$4,000 COVID-19 ‘Relief Checks’ Cloak Dridex Malware
PYSA Ransomware Pillages Education Sector, Feds Warn
A major spike of attacks against higher ed, K-12, and seminaries in March has prompted the FBI to issue a special alert.
ADL says white supremacist propaganda hit record levels in 2020
The report logged 5,125 cases last year, compared to 2,724 in 2019. The report did not look at online propaganda and was focused on printed material.
The motive in Georgia spa shootings uncertain, but Asian Americans fearful
As with any crisis, there will be bad actors hoping to exploit our preexisting beliefs to spread disinformation. It’s already happened.
The Daily Mao manufactured Facebook posts from the shooter that make it look like he was a Covid conspiracy believer.
The screenshot was meant to link Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen and Hong Kong democracy activists to the tragedy in Atlanta.
“Cherokee County Captain Jay Baker told the media that the killer has admitted to the shootings while denying they were racially motivated. The shooter had allegedly told the police that he was dealing with “sex addiction” and was trying to ‘eliminate a source of temptation.’”
—ThinkPolThe Captain’s seemingly empathetic explanation that the killer was “having a bad day.”
Has your country slipped into totalitarianism? Russia’s got you.
Introducing the “Covid Freedom Index,” from Russia Today. We suspect this will follow their current trend of nurturing the idea that some Americans are being persecuted and censored.
Last month RT completely updated their website banners and began promoting extremist views in a private telegram channel where they invited Americans for censorship-free conversation. RT frequently shared material painting Putin as an ideal ally and defender of free speech. Yes, we’re serious.
Bio edited. RT has largely played into a grievance narrative, likely to continued dividing Americans. Unfortunately, it appears to be working. 
They have a clear audience in mind.
Fact Checks
The document was published on an Australian-based Facebook page here on March 13, 2021.
The posts, however, are misleading: the full FDA document explains how the Pfizer vaccine was granted emergency use authorization in the US and Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration has also approved the vaccine.
Influence-enza: How Russia, China, and Iran Have Shaped and Manipulated Coronavirus Vaccine Narratives, from Alliance for Securing Democracy
Of the three COVID-19 vaccines authorized for use by the European Commission, the Pfizer vaccine was mentioned more often by Russian, Chinese, and Iranian accounts than the Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines combined.
Russia accounted for 59 percent of the 181 tweets from Russian, Chinese, and Iranian accounts that mentioned the death of a recipient or recipients of the Pfizer vaccine.
Arabic-language Fars News Agency tweeted that the Pfizer vaccine “kill[ed] six people in America,” omitting that four of the six people who died during the vaccine trial had received a placebo and that the deaths were not linked to the vaccine.
Trump falsely claims border wall ‘almost complete’
Did Robert A. Long Post China ‘COVID Cover-Up’ Message Before Mass Shooting?
While police investigated the motive behind the shooting deaths of eight people in Atlanta, social media users were quick to assign their own motive.
Covid-19 vaccination does not impact Canada life insurance coverage
Hagler’s Widow Refutes Rumors About How He Died
There is no evidence that the death of 66-year-old Marvelous Marvin Hagler, a former middleweight boxing champion, was caused by a COVID-19 vaccine, as some have claimed or suggested on social media.
It’s the second time this year that we have written about unsubstantiated claims that the vaccines led to a famous Black athlete’s death.
17 countries haven’t ‘banned’ the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine
A post on Facebook has claimed that 17 countries have “banned” the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, and the UK hasn’t. The post previously claimed that 12 countries had banned it, but has since been edited.
This is not correct. No country has outright banned the vaccine.
Did the Washington Post Correct a Report About Trump’s Call With the Georgia Secretary of State?
No. The correction was to an article about Trump’s call with a different official.
As explained in a previous Health Feedback review, the COVID-19 RNA vaccines cannot modify our DNA. When the mRNA from the vaccine enters human cells, it triggers our cells to produce the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.
Israel's Vaccination Data Do NOT Reveal A 'Frightening' Death Rate
The claim originated in an article published by the Nakim-Israel website on March 4, 2021, titled: "The uncovering of the vaccination data in Israel reveals a frightening picture" (archived here).
No, that's not true: This "new holocaust" conspiracy theory is contradicted by peer-reviewed medical studies and Israel's Health Department. A University of Washington vaccine researcher said that's enough to call into question the methodology behind the claim.
Media Bias Fact Check Downgrades the Washington Post
Fake Covid-19 vaccination certificates for sale on Russian Telegram
With low Covid-19 vaccination rates, Russians are buying counterfeit vaccination documents over concerns about Sputnik V.
Vaccine apartheid and the trouble with dating an anti-lockdown conspiracy theorist