Thread by @DrDannielle

1) Here is an op-ed attacking free speech, but it has some good content and I think we should talk about it. bigleaguepolitics.com/media-matters-…

2) The op ed is embedded in an analysis by @bigleaguepol but if you want to see just the video go here:

3) The title of this video op-ed is: “How The Far-Right Is Dividing Americans With Social Media.”

It is published by “Now This” and features Melissa Ryan, “Editor, Ctrl-Alt-Delete” and a “Visiting Fellow, Media Matters.”

#propaganda
#journalism
#fakenews

4) The title of the video suggests that the problem to be solved is “far right speech,” and the title of the project suggests that the solution is to censor it.

5) The content of the video suggests that far-right speech is a “coalition” between Americans, amplified by paid foreign nationals (“Russian trolls,”) which has unacceptable effects.

6) These include a feeling of being unsafe, actual harassment (doxxing), distorted impressions of the news, and withdrawal from social media as a civic platform altogether.

7) The op-ed suggests that people on their own can’t fix this problem, but they can pressure social media platforms to do something about it.

8) In this thread I am going to look at who these people are and then suggest that we examine their proposed solutions independent of their political bent.

9) Now This (nowthisnews.com) is a mobile video news content provider founded by 2 executives from the Huffington Post.

While I enjoy their videos, they are clearly not objective in nature. The content is center-left at most.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NowThis_N…

10) It used to be a broader platform. Did you know that Andrew Breitbart helped start HuffPo and David Seaman used to write for it?

11) Ariana Huffington of course cofounded the Huffington Post and is a Hillary Clinton friend.

medium.com/thrive-global/…

12) Interesting fact: Someone talked to Arianna Huffington about using the Huffington Post to secretly support Hillary Clinton’s run for President in 2016. (Email to David Brock, founder of Media Matters, and John Podesta, among others.)

wikileaks.org/podesta-emails…

13) Quote from the email: “She...asks if she’s more useful to us not being on the Board and, instead, USING HUFFPO TO ECHO OUR MESSAGE WITHOUT ANY PERCEIVED CONFLICTS.”

Oh, okay.

14) Article at @zerohedge about this story you can read if you want.

zerohedge.com/news/2016-11-0…

15) Another article by Jon Rappoport called “Arianna Huffington, journalist: echo chamber for Hillary Clinton”

jonrappoport.wordpress.com/2016/11/08/ari…

16) I am intensely curious how Andrew Breitbart went from being a HuffPo cofounder (2005) to a calling John Podesta a “world class underage sex slave op cover-upperer defending unspeakable dregs ”(2011).

washingtontimes.com/news/2016/nov/…

17) Andrew Breitbart and his coroner both of course died in 2012, just a short time after Breitbart made that accusation.

thedailybeast.com/no-answers-in-…

18) During the campaign, David Seaman’s column about Hillary’s failing health was scrubbed from the Huffington Post site after it was initially published.

dailycaller.com/2016/08/29/huf…

19) David Brock founded Media Matters to focus on “comprehensively monitoring, analyzing and correcting” conservative journalism.

He was once a conservative journalist.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Bro…

20) David Brock is the author of a book whose title suggests that there is a (vast?) right-wing plot (conspiracy?) specifically aimed to “derail” Hillary Clinton (“and hijack your government.”

You can buy it here. It has 92 reviews and 4 stars.
amazon.com/Killing-Messen…

21) Before that, David Brock wrote another book,” The Seduction of Hillary Rodham” (1998)

17 reviews 4 stars
amazon.com/Seduction-Hill…

“one strong-willed woman's struggle 2 maintain her personal & political integrity in the face of powerfully seductive forces, incl. the appeal of Bill Clinton,a charismatic,talented, but deeply flawed man who may have been both the best&the worst thing that ever happened tkgNSAr79

23) David Brock regrets being a conservative he says. In 2003 he wrote a book about his guilty conscience.

4 stars 272 reviews
amazon.com/Blinded-Right-…

24) Although it seems “Media Matters has a policy” of not telling us who its donors are, Wikipedia records a $1,000,000 donation from George Soros in 2010.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_Mat…

25) Here is a very good article from the NY Times on Soros’ compulsion to interfere in matters of national governance both domestically and internationally.
nytimes.com/2018/07/17/mag…

26) I don’t really care about Hillary Clinton or George Soros by the way. I care about the young people who regurgitate their garbage.

27) I care that Media Matters would cynically use a woman who is not physically appealing in a video aimed at the so called far right (as @bigleaguepol points out, Tucker Carlson hardly fits that bill.)

28) I think women are beautiful because of who they are as people, and I think Now This and Media Matters are trying to provoke people to say cruel things rather than engage with the content of their video.

Hopefully I am wrong

29) Melissa Ryan is in fact very good on camera and I agree totally with the sentiments she expresses about safety online — except the culprits are who?

30) From what I can tell, it’s the left that has been doxxing and bullying people; trolling Trump supporters; attacking them in person; and so on.

31) I get that Media Matters is trying to help CNN but let’s face it, CNN has been abusing its power for a long, long time. To make everyone hate candidate then President Trump.

32) Here is an image of Alex Jones. I think people find his act entertaining and sometimes informative. I also think they see him as controlled opposition due to his CIA ties.

33) It tips their hand to use President Trump in the video. The real message is that Hillary lost.

She lost.

34) Let’s get to the ideas. Definitely as consumers we should demand that social media is safe. For all.

35) Definitely we should protect people who are vulnerable online, and targeted. Whoever they are.

36) Definitely on the better society part.

37) Definitely we should out trolls because they’re not really participating organically. If they’re not real people delete the account. If they’re paid to shill expose that.

38) Definitely call out tactics to spread lies and distortions. And DEFINITELY end online harassment on all sides.

39) There is a lot of good in this video. And I have to say, I REALLY LIKED that it was narrated on camera by an intelligent woman who is not a Barbie doll.

40) Believe it or not, the left and the right can be partners in progress. It’s all about the choices we make — how we decide to narrate our own story.

(End.)

@threadreaderapp unroll