Keeping up on misinformation is basically the best thing you can do for your brain. So glad you’re here!
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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 government might be gearing up to regulate deepfakes in political ads.
The Federal Election Commission initiated a process that moves it closer to a discussion about restricting the use of deepfake technology by political campaigns (PBS, 46.17).
AI-produced synthetic media appears generally to be getting quickly out of hand (Wired, 44.42), and humans are already no longer able to reliably spot deepfake audio (Fox News, 36.34).
I’m not there, yet, on government getting involved in what is clearly a speech issue. But I am glad in that we are starting to approach this threat with the urgency it deserves. In that regard, reach out ASAP if you want to take action on synthetic media in politics with other private citizens; we’ve got an idea to bring you in on.
Another chapter or two was written in the Biden family corruption tale.
You’ve read by now that Devon Archer, a convicted criminal and Hunter Biden business associate, testified to Congress in closed session about what he saw and heard and felt about that business (CBS News, 41.43).
But before that testimony, a conspiracy theory swirled that the Biden Justice Department was trying to silence Archer by jailing him. This was based on a letter DoJ sent days before the scheduled testimony (New York Post, 33.41), but the letter didn’t say what the outrage machine insisted it did, and Archer himself didn’t feel intimidated by the letter (@brithume via Twitter). And then he testified as planned. So.
The testimony sparked immediate mischaracterizations about Joe Biden's role in the business in question, what kind of business it was to begin with, and whether these weren’t bribes that could explain why President Biden supports Ukraine against Russia’s invasion (NBC News, 44.71). Generally, it all got pretty overblown compared to what Archer actually said (New York Times, 42.00).
Rep. James Comer, chair of the House Oversight Committee, then published a few bank records he says are suspicious (Newsweek, 35.20), but that don't show direct payments to Joe (The Hill, 42.62), but that are probably still enough for Republicans to get started with an impeachment inquiry (CNN, 42.18).
Trump was arraigned on charges of conspiring to defraud the United States in a new federal indictment.
Those who were betting that the crimes alleged would include the former president’s role in orchestrating the creation and transmission of fake electors from multiple states, congratulations you won the pool (Washington Post, 38.24). There were three other related charges in the indictment, none of which had anything to do with what he said to the crowd or on Twitter (Reuters, 46.68). See the full document here. Arraignment went forward, and there are motions playing out. The trial could happen as soon as January (New York Times), three years or so from the Capitol attack.
Reactions. A MAGA granny who was jailed for her actions on January 6th, and has since turned against Trump, says she is glad he could serve time for manipulating her and others (Newsweek). Police officers who defended the Capitol voiced agreement, with one saying he wants justice to be served (The Hill).
MAGA diehards, though, didn’t love it. Varied hysterical reactions ranged from calling it a civil war and warning the "police state" had arrived to declarations that the indictment had shredded the rule of law and heralds the death of the Republic. Some insisted the Biden administration was trying to criminalize speech or interference in the election. More than a few framed the Special Counsel doing his job as a grand battle playing out between good and evil (but it also might just have been Attorney General Merrick Garland exacting revenge for not getting a SCOTUS nomination hearing back in the day. Overwhelmingly, though, the dominant narrative was that the indictment of Trump had been timed to distract everyone from all the bombshells about Hunter and the Biden crime family.
Most interesting, I thought, was looking at how Trump’s challengers in the GOP primary reacted (NPR, 43.25). Mike Pence in particular, who Trump wanted to play a starring role in the overturning of the election, had some thoughts about his old boss’s actions leading up to January 6th (@Acyn via Twitter). Accounts with large followings trashed Pence as a traitor and coward, and Trump himself got in on the action with renewed attacks on his disloyal VP (The Hill).
G-g-g-grab bag: a look at how the old school conspiracy theory community views QAnon; the 2024 election looks to see even more disinformation targeting voters of color; Meta platforms call it quits with the news in Canada; in COVID times, Facebook removed posts that the White House flagged to the company; Elon sues a nonprofit that studies hate speech and misinformation; the NIH ices research on health communication and misinformation; Russia takes its Ukraine information war into video games; and a Chinese zoo denies its sun bears are people in costume.
All that, and a lot more, below. This is This Week in Misinformation.
-- Kevin