Two Disinformation Campaigns Unmasked, Democratic Allies Face China, Russia, and QAnon May Pivot to Satanic Panic
Threats, Fact Checks, and Reads #6.14.21
An Argument Against No One
Highly polarized, defensive language appeared in stories with no provocation. That is, left-leaning outlets were not discussing or advancing the issue but right-leaning coverage implied a catalyst.
Media discussion is nonexistent, and then--BAM--it's an urgent issue that appears nearly exclusively in right-leaning media. After an uptick in right-leaning CRT stories, we see a delayed, tepid response from left-leaning outlets. The delay and magnitude of response suggest left-leaning outlets are not driving coverage. Now we know what was driving it.
A well-funded astroturf campaign drove Critical Race Theory into headlines and into public discussion. An astroturf is an influence tactic used to mimic and stimulate a grassroots effort. It gets real citizens to act like the astroturfing personalities.
Covid
Novavax Covid-19 Vaccine Is 90% Effective in Key Study
Two-dose shot also worked well against coronavirus variants, including alpha, now dominant in the U.S.
Coronavirus Watch: Judge sides with a hospital in first federal ruling on vaccine mandates
Viral Rumor Check: No, Pennsylvania's mask mandate not over until June 28
The US FDA issued its most serious recall yet on a rapid COVID-19 test, accusing its manufacturer, Innova, of distributing them without authorization and using fake data to tout its performance.
University of Shandong scientists say the Cell paper sheds light on how many coronaviruses bats harbor and how many can potentially jump to humans. CNN
A former Wisconsin pharmacist was sentenced to 3 years behind bars for deliberately ruining 500+ doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine by removing them from a refrigerator; 57 people received doses from the tainted supply.
U.S. Suspends J&J Vaccine Shipments as States Face a Surplus of Expiring Doses. States unable to receive new shipments as FDA extends vaccine’s shelf life as part of steps to encourage the use of stockpiled shots
Experts say Disney vacations are generally safe and are becoming increasingly safer each day.
On 1 June 2021, Washington Post and Buzzfeed News published reports on several thousands of emails sent by Anthony Fauci, the director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The emails, sent during the first half of 2020, were provided in response to a Freedom of Information request filed by the Post and Buzzfeed. The emails documented Fauci’s exchanges with people across multiple sectors, including people seeking Fauci’s advice. Others showed his discussions with colleagues in the scientific community.
However, some interpreted the emails as evidence that masks don’t work against the spread of COVID-19, that hydroxychloroquine is an effective COVID-19 treatment, that the virus SARS-CoV-2 was likely engineered in a laboratory, and that COVID-19 survivors don’t need to be vaccinated (see examples here, here, here, and here).
These claims aren’t new—they have circulated constantly throughout the pandemic, despite the fact that the claims aren’t supported by scientific evidence, and in some cases contradicted by evidence, as previous HealthFeedback reviews showed. Altogether, these claims received more than hundreds of thousands of interactions on social media platforms like Facebook.
Overall, the claims surrounding Fauci’s emails build a narrative that attempts to discredit a prominent public health official, and in turn, cast doubt over the necessity of public health measures taken to combat the pandemic.
Hoaxlines detected a concerted effort to malign Dr. Anthony Fauci. The initial report detailed platform manipulation on Facebook from US sources, as well as the efforts of Russia, China, and Iran across platforms. Concrete evidence shows significant amplification in the US and France. What we found will be in the recommended reading section.
Threats
QAnon type beliefs are pivoting back toward the Satanic Panic of the 1980s. Groups have begun organizing in-person events in late June and are likely to appeal to disenchanted QAnon believers uncertain how to move forward following the former President’s defeat in Nov 2020.
Why Satanic Panic never really ended. The collective fears that consumed the US in the 1980s and ’90s are still alive and well — all the way through QAnon and beyond.
These conspiracy theories have their root in Nazi-era disinformation and the blood libel myth, which dates back to 1235 at the latest. People of the time explained the death of a child—with no supporting evidence—as a Christian child sacrificed by Jewish people.
QAnon and Satanic Panic are modern iterations of these myths.
NATO leaders are expected to announce Monday a tougher stance on China being a security risk to the Western alliance. “Diplomats said the NATO summit’s final communique would not call China an adversary – and Stoltenberg said China was not an enemy – but would demonstrate concern, calling it a ‘systemic’ challenge to Atlantic security as it joins Russia with military drills, launches cyberattacks and rapidly builds up its navy,” reports Reuters.
In a DOJ investigation into the unauthorized disclosure of information about the Russia inquiry, prosecutors sent Apple a subpoena for data on congressional staff members, their families and at least two House Intelligence Committee members, Reps. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) and Adam B. Schiff (D-CA), which appeared to have been primarily focused on Michael Bahar, then a staff member on the committee. “It remains unclear whether agents were pursuing a theory that Mr. Bahar had leaked on his own or whether they suspected him of talking to reporters with the approval of lawmakers. Either way, it appears they were unable to prove their suspicions that he was the source of any unauthorized disclosures; the case has been closed, and no charges were brought,” Michael S. Schmidt and Charlie Savage report for the New York Times.
The DOJ under Trump sent a broad request to Apple in February 2018 requesting metadata on 73 phone numbers and 36 email addresses, as part of the DOJ investigation that collected data on members of Congress, staffers and their families, Apple said Friday evening. A nondisclosure order prevented Apple from informing the customers and Apple has said that “it limited the information it provided to metadata and account subscriber information and did not provide any content such as emails or pictures,” Brian Fung and Evan Perez report for CNN.
Iran Steps up Efforts to Sow Discord Inside the U.S.
Iranian state actors are intensifying their disinformation campaign on social media to spread discord and anti-Semitic tropes inside the U.S., two U.S. intelligence officials say.
Social media accounts tracked to troll farms run by the Iranian government have ramped up disinformation after several major events this year, including Biden’s effort to return the U.S. to the Iran nuclear deal, the April 14 announcement of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, the guilty verdict of Derek Chauvin on April 20, and the 11-day war between Israel and Hamas that started on May 10.
“It’s a significant level of activity,” one official tells TIME. “It’s active enough that we’re tracking it.”
The officials did not offer details on the specific disinformation activity after the events.
Investigation reveals link between Flávio Bolsonaro advisor and 2020 Facebook takedown
MITIGATION
Biden Issues Executive Orders on Chinese Companies and Apps
NATO will discuss topics including the challenge posed by Russia and China, including the need to respond to Moscow’s disinformation campaign, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said today when arriving at the summit. Merkel also said that the leaders would “discuss ways in which they could work with Georgia and Ukraine, two countries seeking closer ties with NATO as a bulwark against the threat from their giant neighbor Russia,” Reuters reports.
President Biden and G7 leaders issued a joint communique on Sunday about Russian and Chinese government behavior, but they had trouble finding consensus on some big issues. The communique includes calls on Beijing “to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms,” especially in relation to Xinjiang and Hong Kong’s, and on Moscow to “urgently investigate and credibly explain the use of a chemical weapon on its soil, to end its systematic crackdown on independent civil society and media, and to identify, disrupt, and hold to account those within its borders who conduct ransomware attacks, abuse virtual currency to launder ransoms, and other cybercrimes.”
Although the communique shows a degree of unity, “it did not settle on a timeline to eliminate the use of coal for generating electric power, and climate activists said that signaled a lack of resolve to confront one of the world’s leading causes of global warming … And while the leaders called on China to respect ‘fundamental freedoms, especially in relation to Xinjiang,’ there was no agreement on banning Western participation in projects that benefited from forced labor,” report David E. Sanger and Michael D. Shear for the New York Times.
China denounced the communique and urged the grouping to stop slandering China. “China’s embassy in London said it was strongly dissatisfied and resolutely opposed to mentions of Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Taiwan that distorted the facts and exposed the ‘sinister intentions of a few countries such as the United States,’” reports Reuters.
Mis/Mal/Disinformation
DEVELOPING NARRATIVES
Apocalyptic WSJ Op-Ed Not Based on A Study, Written by Fake Expert
The author has no relevant experience in the field of virology and does not explain data selection protocol or research processes that lead to bombastic conclusions. This same article was listed under factual reads on Polygraph, although the website is typically reliable.
FACT CHECKS
Claim: The American Red Cross is refusing blood donations from people who have received COVID-19 vaccines.
Verdict: False, see Check Your Fact
Videos suggest that COVID-19 vaccines cause catatonia.
Verdict: False, see Reuters
We may never know where the virus came from. But the evidence still suggests nature.
Labs like the one in Wuhan are essential to preparing for future pandemics.
There’s no evidence Covid-19 vaccines make the disease worse
Covid-19 is real and not a government euthanasia policy
Blatant falsehoods.
The available COVID-19 vaccines do not contain microchips or metallic ingredients that could cause a magnet to stick to a recipient’s body.
The CDC says on its website that the vaccines “will not make you magnetic, including at the site of vaccination which is usually your arm. COVID-19 vaccines do not contain ingredients that can produce an electromagnetic field at the site of your injection.”
Dr. Sherri Tenpenny is an anti-vaccine activist who has spread false claims about the COVID-19 vaccines before.
Studies Put The Rate Of Officer-Perpetrated Domestic Violence Between 5% and 40%
The unproven lab leak theory, Wuhan lab, and virus origin: Reporting best practices
Over the past few weeks, the unproven lab-leak theory that the SARS-CoV-2 virus might have originated from a Wuhan lab (China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology) has crept back into the headlines.
Uncertainty about Covid-19’s origin and media treatment of the various theories have not only drawn criticism of news organizations but have also placed audiences in a murky environment where they are left on their own to untangle theories from political influences and conspiratorial disinformation.
What can we as journalists and researchers learn from this, to ensure that this investigation — and similar ones in the future — are properly covered without contributing to more public confusion? Here are First Draft’s tips on best practices for reporting on the so-called lab-leak theory, a sensitive subject with major geopolitical implications.
False claims about ‘magnetic’ Covid-19 vaccines continue to spread
False claims that Covid-19 vaccines contain microchips or are magnetically charged continue to circulate on social media. The claims are now creeping into offline political discourse.
The latest example came from Sherri Tenpenny, among the most notorious anti-vaccine influencers on social media. Testifying at an Ohio legislative hearing, Tenpenny, who has profited from conspiracy theories and who once described Covid-19 vaccines as “a perfect killing machine,” told lawmakers that viral online videos suggested the vaccines bear a protein with “a metal attached to it.”
“I’m sure you’ve seen the pictures all over the Internet of people who have had these shots and now they’re magnetized,” she said. A video of her testimony posted on Twitter by a local reporter has garnered at least 3 million views and attracted coverage from The Washington Post, The Daily Beast, and other major news outlets.
Two US Senators promote misleading Covid-19 claims
This is mostly false.
President Joe Biden’s 2022 budget plan includes $75 million to increase lithium supplies with less environmental impact through battery recycling.
The administration now oversees a large new lithium mine in Nevada that has drawn lawsuits for its environmental impacts. It was approved by the Trump administration.
The Bureau of Land Management is vetting another proposed lithium mine against a full menu of environmental concerns.
Marjorie Taylor Greene Did NOT Say 'People Are Dying Who Have Never Died Before
Does a doctor prove he has cured thousands of COVID-19 patients with chlorine dioxide? No, that's not true. A doctor who made the claim offers no evidence or details about the people he says he has saved from the disease with the toxic chemical. Chlorine dioxide is a disinfectant and is not a "cure or treatment for medical ailments." The United States Food and Drug Administration has warned people that chlorine dioxide should not be used to treat COVID-19, as it could cause illness.
Research
From Jun 2 to 12, 2021, Fox Ran 118 related to Dr. Anthony Fauci. Most were misleading. They devoted just 3 stories to the Gaetz scandal and Flynn Coup Comment combined, in that time.
Facebook Misinformation Threatened COVID-19 Public Health Information
Researchers said COVID-19 public health information was marred by bot-fueled Facebook misinformation campaigns. The researchers first set out by analyzing 563 Facebook groups in which a link to DANMASK-19 hashtag.
The team then looked at the nature of the different posts containing a link to DANMASK-19.
As it turns out, those Facebook groups least affected by bots were also least likely to have posts about DANMASK-19 that spread misinformation.
In high-bot-risk groups, 19.8 percent of all DANMASK-19 posts falsely claimed that masks harm the wearer.
Another 50.8 percent made conspiratorial claims that the study authors were under political or corporate control.
Just under 44 percent of posts in high-bot-risk groups made neither claim about DANMASK-19.
Conversely, low-bot-risk groups had fewer posts about DANMASK-19 that spread misinformation. A total of 8.5 percent of posts claimed masks harm the wearer, 20.3 percent made conspiratorial claims, and a solid 72.9 percent of posts made neither claim.
All said, the rate of posts claiming masks harm the wearer were 2.3 times higher in high-bot-risk groups than low-risk groups.
This analysis underscores the prevalence of misinformation and the way bots and social media can perpetuate that, the researchers said.
"COVID-19 misinformation propaganda appears to be spreading faster than the virus itself," Dr. Eric Leas, study co-author and assistant professor at UC San Diego, said in a statement. "This is fueled by bots that can amplify misinformation at a rate far greater than ordinary users."
Recommended Reads
President Biden has welcomed Israel’s new government, reaffirming that the U.S. remains “unwavering in its support for Israel’s security” and would work with its new government. “I look forward to working with Prime Minister Bennett to strengthen all aspects of the close and enduring relationship between our two nations,” Biden said in a statement, adding that “Israel has no better friend than the United States,” Reuters reports.
For recommended reads, we’re just leaving Rosalie’s Twitter thread on what we’ve released of our analyses of disinformation surrounding Dr. Anthony Fauci. Please excuse the Twitter typos.
