#foreign disinformation

[trendynewsnow]

Foreign Disinformation Campaigns Threaten U.S. Election Integrity

Concerns Over Foreign Disinformation Campaigns Targeting U.S. Elections In the lead-up to the critical elections, Russian groups along with other foreign adversaries have initiated a vast disinformation campaign aimed at eroding public confidence in the electoral process. Senior officials within the United States are increasingly alarmed that Moscow’s tactics may further incite political discord,…

[reynard61]

Perhaps, though, the very real, immediate damage MAGA’s disinformation about Hurricane Helene is causing might finally be a step too far. In what is at least a muted rebuke to Trump, Republican governors across the damaged area have stepped up to praise President Joe Biden and the federal response to the disaster.

Maybe, but it raises a very relevant and important question: Who are they going to *vote* for in November? The MAGA liars? Or the Democrats who have been making sure that they get aid in a non-partisan manner? 🤔

[gwydionmisha]

Be careful what you watch and read and believe.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Guy Parsons

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

October 17, 2024

Heather Cox Richardson

Oct 18, 2024

In a new rule released yesterday, the Federal Trade Commission requires sellers to make it as easy to cancel a subscription to a gym or a service as it is to sign up for one. In a statement, FTC chair Lina Khan explained the reasoning behind the “click-to-cancel” rule: “Too often, businesses make people jump through endless hoops just to cancel a subscription,” she said. “Nobody should be stuck paying for a service they no longer want.” Although most of the new requirements won’t take effect for about six months, David Dayen of The American Prospect noted that the stock price of Planet Fitness fell 8% after the announcement. 

When he took office in January 2021, with democracy under siege from autocratic governments abroad and an authoritarian movement at home, President Joe Biden set out to prove that democracy could deliver for the ordinary people who had lost faith in it. The click-to-cancel rule is an illustration of an obvious and long-overdue protection, but it is only one of many ways—$35 insulin, new bridges, loan forgiveness, higher wages, good jobs—in which policies designed to benefit ordinary people have demonstrated that a democratic government can improve lives.

When Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen spoke to the Council on Foreign Relations yesterday, she noted that the administration “has driven a historic economic recovery” with strong growth, very low unemployment rates, and inflation returning to normal. Now it is focused on lowering costs for families and expanding the economy while reducing inequality. That strong economy at home is helping to power the global economy, Yellen noted, and the U.S. has been working to strengthen that economy by reinforcing global policies, investments, and institutions that reinforce economic stability. 

“Over the past four years, the world has been through a lot,” Yellen said, “from a once-in-a-century pandemic, to the largest land war in Europe since World War II, to increasingly frequent and severe climate disasters. This has only underlined that we are all in it together. America’s economic well-being depends on the world’s, and America’s economic leadership is key to global prosperity and security.” She warned against isolationism that would undermine such prosperity both at home and abroad.

The numbers behind the proven experience that government protection of ordinary people is good for economic growth got the blessing of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on Monday, when it awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences to Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson, both of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and to James Robinson of the University of Chicago. Their research explains why “[s]ocieties with a poor rule of law and institutions that exploit the population do not generate growth or change for the better,” while democracies do.   

Although democracy has been delivering for Americans, Donald Trump and MAGAs rose to power by convincing those left behind by 40 years of supply-side economics that their problem was not the people in charge of the government, but rather the government itself. 

Trump wants to get rid of the current government so that he can enrich himself, do whatever he wants to his enemies, and avoid answering to the law. The Christian nationalists who wrote Project 2025 want to destroy the federal government so they can put in place an authoritarian who will force Americans to live under religious rule. Tech elites like Elon Musk and Peter Thiel want to get rid of the federal government so they can control the future without having to worry about regulations. 

In place of what they insist is a democratic system that has failed, they are offering a strongman who, they claim, will take care of people more efficiently than a democratic government can. The focus on masculinity and portrayals of Trump as a muscled hero‚ much as Russian president Vladimir Putin portrays himself, fit the mold of an authoritarian leader.

But the argument that Americans need a strongman depends on the argument that democracy does not work. In the last three-and-a-half years, Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and the Democrats have proved that it can, so long as it operates with the best interests of ordinary people in mind. Trump and Vance’s outlandish lies about the federal response to Hurricane Helene are designed to override the reality of a competent administration addressing a crisis with all the tools it has. In its place, the lies provide a false narrative of federal officials ignoring people and trying to steal their property.  

Their attack on democracy has another problem, as well. In addition to the reality that democracy has been delivering for Americans for more than three years now—and pretty dramatically—Trump is no longer a strongman. Vice President Kamala Harris is outperforming  him in the theater of political dominance. And as she does so, his image is crumbling.

In an article in US News and World Report yesterday, NBC’s former chief marketer John D. Miller apologized to America for helping to “create a monster.” Miller led the team that marketed The Apprentice, the reality TV show that made Trump a household name. “To sell the show,” Miller wrote, “we created the narrative that Trump was a super-successful businessman who lived like royalty.” But the truth was that he declared bankruptcy six times, and “[t]he imposing board room where he famously fired contestants was a set, because his real boardroom was too old and shabby for TV,” Miller wrote. While Trump loved the attention the show provided, “more successful CEOs were too busy to get involved in reality TV.” 

Miller says they “promoted the show relentlessly,” blanketing the country with a “highly exaggerated” image of Trump as a successful businessman “like a heavy snowstorm.” “[W]e…did irreparable harm by creating the false image of Trump as a successful leader,” Miller wrote. “I deeply regret that. And I regret that it has taken me so long to go public.” 

Speaking as a “born-and-bred Republican,” Miller warned: “If you believe that Trump will be better for you or better for the country, that is an illusion, much like The Apprentice was.” He strongly urged people to vote for Kamala Harris. “The country will be better off and so will you.” 

A new video shown last night on Jimmy Kimmel Live even more powerfully illustrated the collapse of Trump’s tough guy image. Written by Jesse Joyce of Comedy Central, the two-minute video featured actor and retired professional wrestler Dave Bautista dominating his sparring partner in a boxing ring and then telling those who think Trump is “some sort of tough guy” that “he’s not.” 

Working out in a gym, Bautista insults Trump’s heavy makeup, out-of-shape body, draft dodging, and physical weakness, and notes that “he sells imaginary baseball cards pretending to be a cowboy fireman” when “he’s barely strong enough to hold an umbrella.” Bautista says Trump’s two-handed method of drinking water looks “like a little pink chickadee,” and goes on to make a raunchy observation about Trump’s stage dancing. “He’s moody, he pouts, he throws tantrums,” Bautista goes on. “He’s cattier on social media than a middle-school mean girl.”

Bautista ends by listing Trump’s fears of rain, dogs, windmills…and being laughed at.” “And mostly,” Bautista concludes, “he’s terrified that real, red-blooded American men will find out that he’s a weak, tubby toddler.” Calling Trump a “whiny b*tch,” Bautista walks away from the camera. 

The sketch was billed as comedy, but it was deadly serious in its takedown of the key element of Trump’s political power.

And he seems vulnerable. Forbes and Newsweek have recently questioned his mental health; yesterday the Boston Globe ran an op-ed saying, “Trump’s decline is too dangerous to ignore. We can see the decline in the former president’s ability to hold a train of thought, speak coherently, or demonstrate a command of the English language, to say nothing of policy.” 

Trump’s Fox News Channel town hall yesterday got 2.9 million viewers; Harris’s interview got 7.1 million. Today, Trump canceled yet another appearance, this one with the National Rifle Association in Savannah, Georgia, scheduled for October 22, where he was supposed to be the keynote speaker.

Meanwhile, Vice President Harris today held rallies in Milwaukee, Green Bay, and La Crosse, Wisconsin. In La Crosse, MAGA hecklers tried to interrupt her while she was speaking about the centrality of the three Trump-appointed Supreme Court justices to the overturning of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that recognized the constitutional right to abortion. 

“Oh, you guys are at the wrong rally,” Harris called to them with a smile and a wave. As the crowd roared with approval, she added: “No, I think you meant to go to the smaller one down the street.” 

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[odinsblog]

The Republican impeachment push against President Joe Biden has always rested on the thinnest of evidentiary ice, but with one of their key informants facing criminal charges for lying to federal investigators, the charade is now on the verge of falling apart.

On Wednesday, the House Oversight Committee — one of the three Republican-controlled committees overseeing the Biden impeachment inquiry — held a hearing in an attempt to salvage the effort.

Democrats brought in Lev Parnas, a former Rudy Giuliani crony who was a key figure in the Ukraine scandal that led to Trump’s first impeachment. During his testimony, Parnas declared that he had found “zero evidence of the Bidens’ corruption in Ukraine” and that “no credible source has ever provided proof of criminal activity […] no respectable Ukrainian official has ever said that the Biden’s did anything illegal.”

“The only information ever pushed on the Biden’s in Ukraine has come from one source, and one source only: Russia and Russian agents,” Parnas said. “The impeachment proceedings that bring us here now are predicated on false information spread by the Kremlin.”

(continue reading)

[hezigler]

How Russia Today Infiltrated Right Wing Media | Coming to your country soon if they are not already there.

Such fronts for Russian propaganda have opened in many countries since the beginning of the Russian Ukrainian War. Particularly democratic countries with right wing governments, such as India.

[faith-in-democracy]

The rise in polarization and negative sentiments in the United States

This is a multifaceted issue influenced by various factors, including media dynamics, political rhetoric, social media proliferation, and foreign interference.

Media Dynamics:

Media outlets play a significant role in shaping public opinion. Some critics argue that certain networks, including Fox News, have adopted partisan perspectives that contribute to societal divisions. The emphasis on sensationalism and opinion-based programming over objective journalism can exacerbate misunderstandings and foster distrust among different groups.

Political Rhetoric:

Political leaders and commentators may use divisive language to mobilize support, sometimes prioritizing short-term gains over long-term unity. This approach can deepen societal rifts and promote an “us versus them” mentality, making constructive dialogue more challenging.

Social Media Influence:

Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and others have transformed how information is consumed and shared. Algorithms often amplify content that elicits strong emotional reactions, which can include anger or fear. This environment can accelerate the spread of misinformation and reinforce echo chambers, where individuals are exposed primarily to views that align with their own.

Misinformation and Disinformation:

The spread of false or misleading information contributes significantly to societal tensions. Disinformation campaigns can distort facts and create confusion about important issues. Being critical of information sources and verifying facts through reputable outlets is essential in combating this problem.

Foreign Interference:

There is evidence that foreign entities, including Russia, have engaged in disinformation efforts aimed at influencing U.S. public opinion and elections. According to investigations by U.S. intelligence agencies, these campaigns seek to exploit existing divisions and undermine trust in democratic institutions. While foreign interference can aggravate tensions, it operates within a landscape where domestic issues already exist.

Socioeconomic Factors:

Economic disparities, cultural shifts, and changing demographics can also contribute to feelings of uncertainty or resentment. When people face economic hardships or perceive threats to their way of life, they may be more susceptible to divisive messaging.

Conclusion:

Addressing the increase in negativity and division requires a comprehensive approach:

• Media Literacy: Educate the public on evaluating information critically and recognizing biases.

• Responsible Journalism: Encourage media outlets to prioritize accuracy and balanced reporting.

• Constructive Political Discourse: Promote dialogue that focuses on solutions rather than blame.

• Community Engagement: Foster local initiatives that build bridges between different groups.

• Addressing Root Causes: Tackle underlying socioeconomic issues that contribute to division.

By acknowledging the complexity of these challenges and working collaboratively, it is possible to reduce hostility and strengthen societal cohesion.

[every-day-updates]

Post-Election Disinformation: A Looming Threat

As Election Day approaches in the U.S., the threat of foreign and domestic interference remains a concern, with intelligence officials warning that efforts to spread disinformation may intensify after the polls close. Russia, Iran, China, and extremist groups could exploit the post-election period to create confusion and distrust in the election results. Tactics may include AI-generated videos, manipulated photos, or misleading content aimed at swing states or targeted voter groups.

Sen. Mark Warner expressed concerns over misinformation’s impact after Election Day, warning that adversaries may seek to undermine confidence in the democratic process. Experts worry that false narratives, similar to those following the 2020 election, could resurface, causing real-world consequences before authorities can verify the facts.

Tech companies and election officials are prepared, but the window of vulnerability remains, especially with the rise of deepfakes and AI-manipulated content. Ryan LaSalle, CEO of Nisos, emphasizes the importance of maintaining vigilance through the transition of power. The risks are not only limited to foreign disinformation but also potential cyberattacks aimed at destabilizing voter confidence in local systems.

Despite these concerns, officials reassure that the U.S. election system is resilient, with safeguards in place to prevent any significant disruption to the election's integrity.

[trendynewsnow]

Election Integrity and Foreign Interference: Challenges and Responses

Election Integrity Amidst Misinformation Challenges A relatively trouble-free presidential election brought some much-needed optimism for those striving to restore public trust in the electoral process. However, the spread of misinformation aimed at undermining confidence in voting systems and creating chaos was a significant concern. Experts caution that this trend is likely to escalate in the…

[creativemedianews]

TikTok Bans Russian State Media Accounts for "Covert Influence Operations" Ahead of US Election

TikTok Bans Russian State Media Accounts for "Covert Influence Operations" Ahead of US Election #disinformation

[immaculatasknight]

Royal bull feces

[stephen-barry]

"I don't think it's defensible": Under Trump, a Pentagon campaign spread anti-vaccine misinformation

Pentagon ran secret anti-vax campaign to undermine China during pandemic

https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-covid-propaganda/

Biggest Bombshells About Pentagon's Anti-Vax Campaign from New Report

[mossadegh]

In a brazen act of libel, columnist Drew Pearson wrote a 100% fabricated item about Iranian politician Hossein Fatemi being a convicted criminal and political gangster.

The Mossadegh Project

[anyonghalimaw]

i rlly do not think white global northerners understand how fucking bad the anti sinovac psyop was in context of the philippines and other targeted countries being from the global south, with a history of economic and military intervention and destabilization by the usa specifically.

i live in the philippines and sinovac was the only available vaccine for MONTHS of the pandemic. people were fucking dying and we had no pfizer, no j&j, no astrazeneca, no moderna. sinovac was the ONLY vaccine supply we had. and the supply wasnt even enough for even my small city. we do not have the infrastructure to manufacture our own vaccines and tests. we were entirely reliant on imports from other countries who Did have the capacity to manufacture such things

i got up early for several days straight to go to a pop up walk in vaccination site (were talking there by 7:30am) set up in a fucking public basketball court because it was the only way to get vaccinated, and 3 times i had to go back empty handed so to speak after exposing myself to this massive opportunity for transmission because they fucking ran out of shots and prioritized the elderly and disabled and i didnt have my legal pwd (person with disability) card yet. i had to go to a different barangay (local unit of government) to get my shot MONTHS LATER and only got mine because one of my family was in the local govt and reserved some shots for us.

many filipinos use facebook which is where some of the psyop was conducted because you can use it for free on your phone and it is often where news is disseminated. i know we have that joke about People Believing Anything They See On Facebook but i cannot stress enough that people here get local news from fb the same way you (used to) get news from twitter about shit like localized emergencies and whatnot.

because we are third world, you know that the state of our education system is nothing compared to the states. media and news literacy here is dangerously low and the population is sensitive to mis/disinformation, as can be seen during the 2022 presidential elections where the usa Also interfered lol. i cannot stress enough how much of the population was susceptible to this psyop, especially those in poverty who couldnt afford proper education. hell, even educated people fell for this shit. do you think jhunjhun who didnt finish grade 6 would be able to identify disguised foreign intervention that was in his own language?

we were already recovering from public scrutiny of a different vaccine, a dengue vaccine, which lowered public trust in inoculation. and then the usa goes and does THIS??? i cannot emphasize enough that they are directly responsible for the tens and thousands of unvaccinated covid deaths. they are responsible for my friends having to bury their unvaxxed parents and grandparents at the age of 19. they are responsible for mass death and disability.

but were just a country in the periphery. so who cares about us? our lives are worthless to the usa, which is why they admitted that they did this when they would otherwise "never" to their own population. third worlders arent real people to your government. we are merely statistics and a petri dish for experimentation. so who cares if we die? the real important thing isnt our lives, its that the usa has more control over us than china.

[kesarijournal]

Cluster Munitions Diplomacy

Cluster In a surprising twist of international diplomacy, the United States has decided to dust off the old and controversial cluster bombs, sending them as a special delivery to Ukraine. This decision, made amidst the ongoing conflict with Russia, has been defended with the kind of unwavering conviction that could only be found in the corridors of political power.The Biden administration…

[beauty-funny-trippy]

Republicans want to use the U.S. Military for domestic law enforcement and to crush protesters' right to free speech. Fascism 101.

And think about it. Why would anybody in their right mind want to prohibit the FBI from combating misinformation and disinformation, especially when it comes from foreign governments hostile to the U.S.?

Republicans are actually trying to encourage more election interference. They know America's enemies, China and Russia, are trying to spread lies to get Trump elected. And Republicans want their help with promoting lies in future elections.

Our enemies have seen that Trump, and the Republican Party, are people they can manipulate. If our enemies can see that, why can't you?

In this election, not voting, is a dangerous choice.