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This Week in Misinformation: Certifying Arizona, Oath Keepers Convicted, The Elon-Apple Skirmish of 2022
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This Week in Misinformation: Certifying Arizona, Oath Keepers Convicted, The Elon-Apple Skirmish of 2022

1 December 2022

Prism Metanews
Dec 2, 2022
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This Week in Misinformation: Certifying Arizona, Oath Keepers Convicted, The Elon-Apple Skirmish of 2022
prismmetanews.substack.com

This Prism newsletter strives to be the paper of record for all that’s happening in misinformation in the United States. For any citizen whose life is impacted by misinformation, it helps you see how storylines evolve from multiple, sourced angles on important stories in one place. For amateur and professional misinformation watchers, it is your go-to resource for updates on peers, platforms, propagandists, and politicians. Learn more about Prism and our other products on our Substack page, follow us on Twitter, or like us on Facebook!

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Still true: misinformation is THE BEST lens through which to understand news about the world. Remove the garbage cluttering your view, and you can see things clearly for what they are. 

Thank you for reading and letting others know what we’re up to here. It makes a big difference every time. 

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Reliability scores for media outlets cited in the summary are in parentheses for each, courtesy of the terrific folks at Ad Fontes Media.

Now, on to our top stories. 

The Arizona election has ended, but election trutherism will go on.

  • Kari Lake, who is refusing to concede the race she lost for governor (Associated Press, 48.80), tried suing Maricopa County (The Hill, 43.37), the state’s largest jurisdiction. The accusations were so unsubstantiated, however, that the judge applied sanctions to Lake’s lawyers for filing such a shoddy case (Forbes, 43.33).

  • On a parallel track, Lake’s supporters worked the court of public opinion angle by turning out for the Maricopa canvass hearing (AZ Central, 43.97). They addressed the officials aggressively, rattling off many of the same debunked nonsense that has been going around for weeks. Some QAnon types called for a “revote” (AZ Mirror, 43.70). Probably the greatest hope Lake supporters had was to prove that the malfunctioning of machines at a large share of the polling locations on Election Day disenfranchised her voters, but it turns out that didn't happen (Washington Post, 39.79). Maricopa ultimately certified its election without further drama (AZ Mirror, 43.70), while in Mohave County (AZ Central, 43.97); and Cochise County (Reuters, 47.48) election truther officials caused delays by trying, contrary to the law, not to certify. But, eventually, they all did (NPR, 43.09).

  • Lake and others have vowed to keep “fighting” (read: fundraising) using the machine-induced disenfranchisement theory (New York Times, 42.65). This defeat at the polls does not appear to have persuaded everyone in the Republican Party that campaigning on 2020 denial was a mistake (CNN, 42.44).

Several Oath Keepers were found guilty of very serious federal charges for what they did before and on January 6th.

  • The Oath Keepers have been defending themselves in court on a number of crimes and counts including seditious conspiracy, and the trial went to jury this week (Associated Press, 48.40).

  • Leader Steward Rhodes and one other were found guilty of seditious conspiracy (NBC News, 45.46), while all those tried were convicted of at least one of the charges brought.

  • This outcome might offer a preview as to the many other January 6th-related cases that will soon go to trial (New York Times, 42.65), for example the one that will decide if Proud Boys also committed sedition (Law and Crime, -).

Elon Musk went to war with Apple over a thing that never happened in reality.

  • First, some facts: a) Apple is still dropping a lot of money advertising on Twitter (Gizmodo, -), and b) by Musk’s own later reckoning, at no time did Apple threaten to pull the bird app from the App Store (via Twitter). But Uncle Elon, along with a good number of friendly Republican electeds (Forbes, 43.33), launched an intense rhetorical assault against Apple because they believed that the tech giant had virtually stopped its advertising and issued the App Store threat (CBS News, 46.07). Things got patched up only Tim Cook told Musk personally that there was no basis to any of what he was mad about.

  • Musk made big moves with respect to accounts previously suspended for violating terms of service, for example announcing after (another!) Twitter poll that there would be a general ‘amnesty’ (Associated Press, 48.40) in which essentially all of these users would have their accesses restored. Though Elon had pledged that a ‘council’ would decide all cases before restorals took effect (@MattGertz via Twitter), the amnesty and individual decisions he made about Alex Jones (definitely not) and Donald Trump (it’s already happened) appear to be moving forward solely on Musk’s say-so.

  • This is all happening against a backdrop of Twitter gradually rendering itself incapable of handling harmful, unpleasant content. Two weeks ago the company saw a 'mass exodus' of employees (CNN, 42.44), including many who operated the content moderation machinery. The recently departed head of Trust and Safety has begun speaking out about how much less safe Twitter is due to Elon Musk's management style (CNN, 42.44). It’s hard to quantify degradation of the user experience, but this downward spiral has already prompted high-profile quittings from the platform by the likes of Moby, Jim Carrey, and 50 of Twitter’s top 100 advertisers (NPR, 43.09). It has also caught the attention of regulators in the EU and US (Financial Times, 45.13).

And a-one, and a-two, and a one-two-grab bag: Twitter ends its enforcement against COVID misinformation; a text message suggests SBF might be invested in Elon's Twitter deal; the guy who wants to be House Speaker lies about Trump condemning the white nationalist he dined with; a QAnon influencer’s lawsuit reveals allegations he is a child predator; a New York Times (42.65) piece links QAnon with the Balenciaga thing; doctors in California are challenging a medical misinformation law on First Amendment grounds; the January 6th Committee gathers information from folks like Kellyanne Conway, Stephen Miller, and Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos; and Vlad Putin’s go-to conspiracy theory is called 'golden billion.'

All that, and a lot more, below. This is This Week in Misinformation.

-- Kevin


JANUARY 6TH

Feds: Oath Keepers sought 'violent overthrow' of government (Associated Press)
Jan. 6 sedition trial of Oath Keepers founder goes to jury (Associated Press)
Oath Keepers Trial: Prosecution and Defense Present Closing Arguments (New York Times)
Two Oath Keepers, including founder, convicted of seditious conspiracy in Jan. 6 case (NBC News)
Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes convicted of seditious conspiracy in Jan. 6 trial (NPR)
Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes guilty of Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy (Washington Post)
Oath Keepers: ‘How I escaped my father’s militia’ (BBC)
From Yale Law to Oath Keepers: Stewart Rhodes’s Unlikely Journey (New York Times)
Jury convicts Oath Keepers leader of seditious conspiracy (Politico)
Outcome in Oath Keepers Trial Could Hold Lessons for Coming Jan. 6 Cases (New York Times)
Judge Refuses to Toss Jan. 6 Charges Against Proud Boys, Keeps Seditious Conspiracy Case in D.C. (Law and Crime)
Kellyanne Conway meets with Jan. 6 committee for nearly 5 hours (NBC News)
Kellyanne Conway Testifies To House Jan. 6 Committee As Panel Wraps Up Its Work (Forbes)
Top Trump adviser Stephen Miller testifies to January 6 federal grand jury (CNN)
Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos meets with House January 6 committee (CNN)
January 6 committee to discuss potential criminal referrals at Friday meeting (CNN)
Final January 6 committee report expected to focus on issues beyond Trump efforts (CNN)
Thompson & Cheney statement on verdicts in January 6th Oath Keepers seditious conspiracy trial (January 6th Committee)

ELECTIONS

Why misinformation didn't wreck the midterms (Axios)
New state voter fraud units finding few cases from midterms (Associated Press)
Tips on countering misinformation as election denial persists (CNN)
Lake refuses to concede in Arizona governor's race she lost (Associated Press)
Kari Lake Signals She May Contest Loss in Arizona Governor’s Race (New York Times)
Kari Lake Claims Her Voters Were Disenfranchised. Her Voters Tell a Different Story. (New York Times)
Defeated Arizona hopeful Kari Lake sues Maricopa County election officials (The Hill)
Kari Lake files elections records suit after losing Arizona governor’s race (PBS)
Kari Lake files lawsuit against Maricopa County over elections (AZ Central) 
Kari Lake’s lonely and deeply absurd quest to challenge the Arizona election results (Vox)
Kari Lake’s election denialism in Arizona, explained (Vox)
‘False, Misleading’ Accusations: Federal Judge Sanctions Kari Lake For Challenging Arizona’s Voting Procedures (Forbes)
Judge Sanctions Kari Lake’s Legal Team, Which Includes Alan Dershowitz, for ‘Recklessly’ Filing ‘False, Misleading, and Unsupported’ Claims in Election Lawsuit (Law & Crime)
Election deniers faced defeat but election denialism is still swirling in Arizona (CNN)
Maricopa County hears calls for new election (AZ Central)
Maricopa County Says Tabulator Issues Did Not Disenfranchise Midterm Voters (National Review)
Arizona's Maricopa County says printer problems did not prevent voting on Election Day (CNN)
Maricopa County says printer glitches didn’t prevent anyone from voting (Washington Post)
AG's Elections Integrity Unit asks Maricopa County to respond to ballot complaints (AZ Central)
Arizona’s AG wades into post-election tension in Maricopa County (The Hill)
Cernovich claims ‘voter suppression’ caused Hamadeh’s loss in Maricopa County (Twitter via @Cernovich)
Maricopa County certified the 2022 election amid controversy and complaints (AZ Mirror)
Maricopa County elections official moved to undisclosed location on Election Day due to threats (CNN)
Counties in Arizona, Pennsylvania fail to certify election results by legal deadlines (NPR)
Maricopa, Mohave counties approve canvass of election, Cochise County refuses to certify (Arizona’s Family)
Republicans in one Arizona county refuse to certify election results (Reuters)
Republican-controlled Arizona county refuses to certify 2022 election (PBS)
Three weeks after election, Arizona remains in turmoil over results (Washington Post)
Cochise County officials have no legal representation, are seeking a lawyer (@maryjpitzl via Twitter)
Arizona's Cochise County finally certifies its election results after a court order (NPR)
Cochise County certifies election results after judge's order (Axios)
Ariz. county ordered to certify election as GOP lawyers are sanctioned (Washington Post)
Arizona’s Cochise County Certifies Election Results as Officials End Protest (New York Times)
Republican-controlled Mohave County delays certifying election, for now (12 News Phoenix)
Mohave County officials delay election certification (AZ Central)
Lake Claims that Mohave County Supervisor voted to certify ‘against his will’ (Twitter via @KariLake)
Mohave County Board of Supervisors chairman reluctantly certifies election (KTAR)
Charlie Kirk advances election denialism in Arizona’s Pima County on Steve Bannon’s show (Twitter via @KariLakeWarRoom)
Facebook Failed to Stop Ads Threatening Election Workers (New York Times)
Election conspiracists claim some races for local offices (Associated Press)

QANON & COMPANY

QAnon Leader Inadvertently Outs Himself as a Groomer (Daily Beast)
QAnon Influencer Sues Newspaper, Gets Exposed as Alleged Child Predator (Rolling Stone)
QAnon Is Back on Twitter—and It’s About to Get Much Worse (@daithaigilber via VICE)
Trump, Who Wants to Be President, Can’t Stop Promoting QAnon Memes (Rolling Stone)
Trump Embraces Extremism as He Seeks to Reclaim Presidency (New York Times)
The out-of-state conspiracy theorists pushing for a ‘revote’ in Arizona (AZ Mirror)
How the QAnon movement has evolved beyond needing Q – or even Trump (Insider)
Adam Schiff: Kevin McCarthy will follow the will of 'QAnon caucus' (Insider)
What to Know About Balenciaga’s Campaign Controversy (New York Times)

COVID & HEALTH

Is Spreading Medical Misinformation a Doctor’s Free Speech Right? (New York Times)
In wake of pandemic, record 40 million kids missed measles vaccine dose last year, CDC and WHO say (PBS)
Twitter is no longer enforcing its Covid misinformation policy (CNN)
Twitter ends its ban on covid misinformation (@taylorlorenz via Washington Post)
Twitter's COVID misinformation policy will no longer be enforced (NPR)
Twitter stops enforcing COVID misinformation policy (The Hill)
Twitter Says It Stopped Policing Covid Misinformation Under Musk (Bloomberg)
Twitter no longer enforcing COVID misinformation policy (Axios)
Twitter ends enforcement of COVID misinformation policy (ABC News)
Twitter stops enforcing Covid-19 misinformation policy (Politico)
How Covid Myths Spread on Far-Right Social Media Platforms (New York Times)

PLATFORMS

Democratic U.S. senators accuse Musk of undermining Twitter, urge FTC probe (Reuters)
In less than a month, Elon Musk has driven away half of Twitter’s top 100 advertisers (Media Matters)
Twitter has lost 50 of its top 100 advertisers since Elon Musk took over, report says (NPR)
Elon Musk has himself to blame for Twitter's advertising woes, civil rights groups say (CNBC)
Elon Musk's Twitter Faces Civil Rights Groups' Ad Boycott Call (Gizmodo)
Stephen King: Twitter’s Only Advertiser Will Soon Be MyPillow. Here’s Elon Musk’s Response. (Barron’s)
Elon Musk says Apple stopped advertising and threatened to boot Twitter from app store (CBS News)
Elon Musk says Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter (LA Times)
DeSantis Attacks Apple For Allegedly Threatening To Remove Musk-Run Twitter From App Store—Joining Other Republicans (Forbes)
Apple Spent $84,000 on Twitter Ads the Same Day Elon Tweeted It 'Mostly Stopped' Advertising There, New Data Shows (Gizmodo)
Musk says the ‘misunderstanding’ with Apple has been resolved (@elonmusk via Twitter)
Sam Bankman-Fried, Elon Musk, and a secret text (Semafor)
FTC Chief’s Former Boss Wants Her to Investigate Musk’s $44 Billion Twitter Deal (Bloomberg)
Elon Musk sets the record straight on FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried and Twitter shares: 'He owns zero percent' (Fox Business)
Elon praises Community Notes for fact-checking his tweet with fake CNN headline (@elonmusk via Twitter)
Elon Musk says Twitter is 'holding off' restarting paid verification over impersonation concerns (CNN)
Inside Twitter as 'mass exodus' of staffers throws platform's future into uncertainty (CNN)
Twitter employees quit after Elon Musk gives ultimatum (NPR)
Sympathy, and Job Offers, for Twitter’s Misinformation Experts (New York Times)
Musk jumps ahead of account reinstatement pledge for a ‘council’ to decide cases (@MattGertz via Twitter)
Elon says he will not reinstate Alex Jones (@mmasnick via Twitter)
Elon Musk allows Donald Trump to return to Twitter (NPR)
Musk is ‘turning Trump’s reinstatement into entertainment,’ regardless of the high stakes (@WillOremus via Twitter)
Musk agrees with Dinesh D’Souza that Twitter has deployed ‘one-way’ censorship against conservatives (@DineshDSouza via Twitter)
Left-Wing Voices Are Silenced on Twitter as Far-Right Trolls Advise Elon Musk (The Intercept)
Musk says granting ‘amnesty’ to suspended Twitter accounts (Associated Press)
‘Opening the gates of hell’: Musk says he will revive banned accounts (The Washington Post)
Twitter to grant 'amnesty' for suspended accounts (NPR)
Musk polls ‘amnesty’ for suspended accounts, and pledges to un-suspend accounts (@elonmusk via Twitter)
Musk’s ‘freedom of speech’ is not ‘freedom of reach,’ effectively creating official shadowbanning (@rothschildmd via Twitter)
Twitter becomes too much for Moby, who quits the site (@thelittleidiot via Twitter) 
Jim Carrey also leaves Twitter (@MichaelEHayden via Twitter)
Yoel Roth speaks to Kara Swisher about Twitter and his thoughts on the state of the site under Musk (@atrupar via Twitter) 
Twitter is less safe due to Elon Musk's management style, says former top official CNN)
Twitter's ex-safety chief Yoel Roth finally admits mistake of censoring Post's Hunter Biden scoop (New York Post)
Musk: Twitter ‘interfered in elections’ (@mmasnick via Twitter)
Trump won’t be fact-checked on Facebook, per Meta (Poynter)
A 2024 reminder: Facebook isn’t fact-checking Trump or any other politician (The Hill)
TikTok's and Reddit's Security Shortcomings Could Lead to Disinformation, Study Shows (Info Security Magazine)
Google and YouTube are investing to fight misinformation (Mashable)
MAGA Hellhole Parler Says Kanye Deal Is Off After Horrific Alex Jones Sit-Down (Daily Beast)
Kanye West’s Deal to Buy Parler Unravels (New York Times)

GOVERNMENT & POLICY

After Pushing Conspiracies, Tulsi Gabbard Lectures Special Ops Students on Avoiding Disinformation (military.com)
EU and US turn up the heat on Elon Musk over Twitter (Financial Times)
Britain tempers controversial plans to make Big Tech remove harmful content (CNBC)
Twitter lacks transparency in misinformation fight -French regulator (Reuters)
White House's Jha: Social media platform owners should consider role in COVID misinformation (Reuters)
Analysis: Lawmakers want to know Musk’s plan to fight misinformation in Spanish (Cristiano Lima via Washington Post)

RUSSIA/UKRAINE

'Golden billion,' Putin's favorite conspiracy, explains his worldview and strategy (NPR)

GENERAL/OTHER

Kevin McCarthy falsely claims Trump condemned White nationalist Nick Fuentes (@ddale8 via CNN Facts First)
Contagion in Crypto From FTX’s Fall Is Growing (New York Times)
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