This Week in Misinformation: Facebook Whistleblower, J6-Park Police, Election Lie-DoJ, Alex Jones-Sandy Hook, House Oversight-#AZAudit, Lin Wood-Twin Towers
7 October 2021
This Prism newsletter strives to be the paper of record for all that’s happening in misinformation. 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!
If you’re new to the ‘letter this week: welcome! If you’re old to the ‘letter: hey again! If you’re reading this and loving it: why not forward to a couple friends this week?
Reliability scores for media outlets in the summary are in parentheses in the citation for each, courtesy of the terrific folks at Ad Fontes Media.
Our sincerest apologies for the late delivery of this week’s edition. Your editor had minor surgery and has been playing catchup! Now, on to our top four stories.
The whistleblower who was The Wall Street Journal’s source for its Facebook Files series made her public debut—in a prime-time television interview.
Frances Haugen, a former Facebook employee and member of its now-dissolved Civic Integrity team, appeared on CBS News (46.95) 60 Minutes on Sunday, ending the secrecy that had surrounded her identity (Twitter account of Wall Street Journal reporter @JeffHorwitz).
Haugen later spoke before a committee of the U.S. Senate (Wall Street Journal, 46.06), elaborating on why she resolved to leak internal company documents to the press and answering questions about her views on regulation.
Haugen’s proposal for a “Data Protection Agency” to curb Facebook’s most harmful tendencies was met with enthusiasm by some, including Senator Kristen Gillibrand.
Conservative media personalities who make a living from Facebook clicks came out strongly against everything Haugen said (Forbes, 43.74). Mark Zuckerberg, who also makes a living from Facebook clicks, denied that Haugen made any valid points (ABC News, 46.65).
New reports paint a picture of a violent, lawless January 6th that capped a weekslong attempt by Donald Trump to subvert the will of the people. Trump wants to hide as much of it from investigators as possible.
First, the violence and lawlessness: an ethics in government watchdog group published a report detailing the Park Police being overrun—and being told to not resist in some cases—by Trump supporters advancing on their positions at various points across the National Mall (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, -).
Next, the long game: beginning about a month after he lost the election to Joe Biden and a week after the Electoral College voted, President Trump shifted his efforts to remain in power toward pressuring his appointees at the Department of Justice to help overturn the results. The Senate Judiciary Committee published a detailed report on Trump’s failed pressure campaign based on testimonies senior Justice officials gave last month.
Trump, meanwhile, has instructed top aides not to comply with subpoenas from the House January 6th Committee (New York Times, 44.73). The Biden White House has authority to grant, or not, executive privilege for any information belonging to the executive branch, but lawsuits could drag this fight out (Washington Post, 43.81).
The New York Times (44.73) Editorial Board weighed in this week, saying January 6th was “worse than we knew” at the time because of what we now understand about the memo written by John Eastman that outlined how Pence could try to declare Trump the winner contrary to the ballots cast by the Electoral College.
InfoWars host and master misinformationist Alex Jones, who for years has denied essential realities of school shootings, lost two lawsuits filed against him by the parents of children slain at Sandy Hook in 2012.
The parents, whom Jones frequently claims are “crisis actors” perpetuating the “hoax” of the Sandy Hook mass shooting, had filed against Jones for defamation.
For failure to produce documents ordered by the court, Jones was found liable for damages, to be determined by a jury, under a default judgment (CNN, 43.52).
Jones called the decision “stunning” and asserted that “the first amendment was crucified” by it (Newsweek, 39.26).
Fallout from the dramatic final chapter of the Maricopa County “audit” continued in a Congressional hearing and between misinformationists and their followers on the Internet.
The House of Representatives Oversight Committee heard from several Republican elected officials who supervised Arizona’s 2020 election, experts on election processes and law, and the Arizona Senate’s liaison to the audit operation (via FOX 10 Phoenix on YouTube). The Committee also called Cyber Ninjas CEO Doug Logan, but he declined to appear because he wanted to do a conspiracist Internet show instead (Arizona Mirror, -).
During the hearing, Representative Andy Biggs, an Arizona Trump supporter who happens to be on the Oversight Committee, answered a colleague’s question of which candidate won Arizona by falsely saying “we don’t know” whether it was Joe Biden or Donald Trump (NBC News, 45.66).
Probably-Q Ron Watkins documented himself showing up at the office of Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich (Twitter account of QAnon researcher @2021_Karma), failing to get an audience, and leaving a note expressing his feeling that someone should be indicted over the election (Twitter account of misinformation researcher @get_innocuous).
Separately, Ron (Twitter account of QAnon researcher @2021_Karma) and other Q-world personalities (Twitter account of misinformation researcher @get_innocuous) set followers against Karen Fann, the Arizona Senate president who ordered the audit and shelled out taxpayer money to fund part of it, for complicity in the settlement agreement with Maricopa County.
Arizona State Senator and conspiracy theorist Wendy Rogers boasted about getting one million signatures for a petition to have the Arizona results “decertified.” Her followers on Gab, however, were angry when she suggested she might try for a second million instead of taking real action against the perpetrators of the supposed election crimes (Twitter account of @az_rww).
And, finally, a hearty grab bag: Trump said he took the Pfizer vaccine but Lin Wood and others questioned if it was really him, Senator Lindsey Graham was shouted down for encouraging vaccines, Lin Wood said planes didn’t really hit the Twin Towers on 9/11, Trump asked a judge to force Twitter to reinstate his tweeting privileges, the Justice Department said it will investigate threats and intimidation against school boards, former White House spokesperson Stephanie Grisham said she “probably” lied in Fox News interviews, Ron Watkins’s NFT auction stalled out, and The Washington Post published a helpful quiz to gauge whether you are in the conspiracy theory rabbit hole.
That, and a lot more, below. This is This Week in Misinformation.
-- Kevin
JANUARY 6TH
“We’re not going to be able to hold that base”: Park Police overwhelmed hours before Capitol breach on Jan 6th (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington)
Key points from Senate Democrats’ report on DoJ and Trump’s attempt to overturn the election (@manuraju via Twitter)
Subverting Justice: How the Former President and His Allies Pressured DOJ to Overturn the 2020 Election (Senate Judiciary Committee)
Senate Republicans also issue report (@manuraju via Twitter)
In Their Own Words: A Factual Summary of Testimony from Senior Justice Department Officials Relating to Events from December 14, 2020 to January 3, 2021 (Senate Judiciary Committee Minority Staff Report)
Full transcripts of Justice Department testimonies (Senate Judiciary Committee)
Takeaways from the Senate Judiciary Committee report on Trump's attempted coup (CNN)
Senate report reveals new details about Trump's efforts to push Justice Department to overturn election (CBS News)
Video: Newsmax reports that Trump is planning to invoke ‘executive privilege’ to prevent former aides from giving testimony to the January 6th committee (@RonFilipkowski via Twitter)
Trump Tells Former Aides to Defy Subpoenas From Jan. 6 Panel (New York Times)
Top Trump aides set to defy subpoenas in Capitol attack investigation (The Guardian)
Trump indicates he will try to assert executive privilege to prevent House investigators from getting information (CNN)
Opinion: Jan. 6 Was Worse Than It Looked (The New York Times Editorial Board)
The Lawyer Behind the Memo on How Trump Could Stay in Office (New York Times)
Facebook whistleblower to talk to January 6 committee (CNN Business)
ELECTIONS
Trump applies more pressure on Abbott to support Texas election audit (The Hill)
ARIZONA AUDIT
Arizona election audit: House hearing to assess audit of 2020 election in Maricopa County (FOX 10 Phoenix via YouTube)
House Oversight Committee hearing: Maricopa County supervisor details some of the threats he and his colleagues and their families have been subjected to (@az_rww via PBS News Hour)
GOP Rep. Biggs falsely claims 'we don't know' who won Arizona in hearing on partisan ballot review (NBC News)
Instead of testifying to Congress, Cyber Ninjas CEO Doug Logan went on a right-wing podcast (Arizona Mirror)
Video: Probably-Q Ron Watkins goes to Arizona Attorney General’s office to demand he ‘indict’ (@2021_Karma via Twitter)
Arizona Attorney General refuses to meet with Ron Watkins, so Ron leaves a handwritten note demanding he ‘indict’ (@get_innocuous via Twitter)
Arizona Senate president Karen Fann is being labeled ‘deep state’ by election truthers, Jovan Pulitzer calls for threats to end but his followers suggest threatening her is justified (@get_innocuous via Twitter)
Probably-Q Ron Watkins turns on Arizona Senate President Karen Fann over the deal with Maricopa County (@2021_Karma via Twitter)
State Senator Wendy Rogers floats idea of going for another million signatures for ‘decertification’; her followers on Gab accuse her of doing nothing and demand action (@az_rww via Twitter)
Conspiracist show host Joe Oltmann tells Cyber Ninjas CEO Doug Logan that he was the one who put the ‘draft’ report calling for decertification out (@az_rww via Twitter)
COVID — VACCINES
Trump says he ‘got the Pfizer’ but Lin Wood and others question of it was really him (@2021_Karma via Twitter)
Lindsey Graham shouted down after encouraging vaccines (MSNBC)
LA passes one of the strictest COVID-19 vaccine mandates in US (ABC News)
Fact Check-Pre-print study that claimed 1 in 1,000 risk of myocarditis following COVID-19 vaccine was withdrawn due to miscalculation (Reuters)
COVID — NOT VACCINES
Justice Department Addresses Violent Threats Against School Officials and Teachers (U.S. Department of Justice)
Garland says authorities will target school board threats (NBC News)
The Justice Department will address threats against school officials and staff (NPR)
Justice Dept. Will Address ‘Disturbing Spike’ in Threats Against School Personnel (New York Times)
U.S. Justice Dept defends efforts to step up monitoring threats to school boards (Reuters)
AG Garland Directs FBI to Investigate Alleged ‘Violent Threats’ by Parents against School Officials (National Review)
Hawley, Cotton grill DOJ official on memo targeting threats against teachers, school board members (Fox News)
Arizona AG accuses DOJ of trying to 'prevent and intimidate' parents with new school board directive (Fox News)
Missouri AG blasts DOJ directive as 'unconstitutional expansion' of federal power as criticism mounts (Fox News)
Network of Right-Wing Health Care Providers is Making Millions Off Hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin, Hacked Data Reveals (The Intercept)
Ivermectin: How false science created a Covid 'miracle' drug (BBC)
The ‘Slap a Teacher’ TikTok Challenge Is a Hoax (@daithaigilbert via VICE)
PLATFORMS
Wall Street Journal Facebook Files source goes public (@JeffHorwitz via Twitter)
The Facebook Whistleblower, Frances Haugen, Says She Wants to Fix the Company, Not Harm It (Wall Street Journal)
Whistleblower: Facebook is misleading the public on progress against hate speech, violence, misinformation (CBS News 60 Minutes)
Former Facebook employee Frances Haugen revealed as ‘whistleblower’ behind leaked documents that plunged the company into scandal (Washington Post)
Facebook's response to 60 Minutes' report, "The Facebook Whistleblower" (CBS News 60 Minutes)
Whistleblower says Facebook put profit before reining in hate speech (Reuters)
Facebook whistleblower says the company could reduce the harm it causes by ending algorithmic amplification that is optimized for maximum engagement (@evan_greer via Twitter)
Facebook Struggles to Quell Uproar Over Instagram’s Effect on Teens (New York Times)
Internal Facebook documents detail how misinformation spreads to users (CBS News)
Facebook Whistleblower Hearing: Frances Haugen Testified Before Senate Panel (Wall Street Journal)
Key takeaways from Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen's Senate testimony (ABC News)
Facebook whistleblower asks Congress to regulate tech giant’s influence on users (PBS News Hour)
Facebook whistleblower to Senate: company ‘amplifies division, extremism, and polarization’ (MarketWatch)
Zuckerberg breaks silence, denies Facebook whistleblower's claims (ABC News)
Video: Appearing on OAN, Rep. Matt Gaetz says people should be asking whether Frances Haugen is a ‘false flag’ (@RonFilipkowski via Twitter)
There’s A Brewing Battle Among Conservatives Over Facebook Whistle-Blower Frances Haugen (Forbes)
A Call for Legislated Transparency of Facebook’s Content Moderation (Brennan Center)
Opinion: I Designed Algorithms at Facebook. Here’s How to Regulate Them. (Roddy Lindsay via New York Times)
Expert: Why Facebook’s business model is ‘incommensurable with democracy’ (Tristan Harris via MSNBC)
Faceoff against Facebook: Stopping the flow of misinformation (CBS News)
Trump asks judge to force Twitter to lift ban (The Hill)
Social media health myths are destroying the lives of teenage girls (Coda Story)
YouTube’s Ban on Misinformation (New York Times)
QANON & COMPANY
Video: Lin Wood tells a crowd in Georgia that planes did not hit the World Trade Center on 9/11 (@AccountableGOP via Twitter)
Ron Watkins’s auction selling his ‘NFTs’ stuck at under reserve price, just a handful of bids, after two weeks (@daithaigilbert via Twitter)
GOVERNMENT AND POLICY
Senator Gillibrand calls for ‘Data Protection Agency’ after Frances Haugen testimony (@gillibrandny via Twitter)
Stanford professor proposes draft legislation to require Facebook and other platforms to share data with outside researchers (@persily via Twitter)
Twitch leak reveals prominent QAnon streamer made $150,000 in 2 years (Daily Dot)
GENERAL/OTHER