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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I have to say, though I’ve said it before: 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.
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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.
Your boy Elon Musk completed his purchase of the bird app.
Yes, hot off the presses: as of tonight, the world’s richest being is also the owner of Twitter (CNBC, 46.08). A large chunk of the leadership team departed basically the minute Musk walked in the door (Bloomberg, 45.27), including the CEO. His first tweet after: “the bird is freed.”
So, what are the things we’re watching? There’s the mundane, like what will happen to private data that is held on Twitter’s servers (Vox, 40.18) now that the company is delisted and privately controlled by Uncle Elon? Or: is it true that the new boss thinks it would be fine to dismiss 75 percent of Twitter's workforce (NBC News, 45.57)? Seems like a bad idea, but I’m no engineer!
The most immediate concern for misinformation types, though, is who of the formerly departed will be invited to tweet again. Musk has tried to assure advertisers that Twitter will not become a "free-for-all hellscape" (Axios, 44.25), but many who have been booted for spreading harmful falsehoods or otherwise breaking the platform’s terms of service are petitioning the new management for a second--or sometimes third or fourth--chance. Trump has previously said he would not return even if allowed, but it’s clear that his fans really wish for him to go ahead and do it already (@ZTPetrizzo via Twitter).
Meanwhile, the election stuff keeps getting worse.
The New York Times (42.89) ran a number of election-focused pieces, addressing how strong election denialism runs among Republicans and, notably, white Americans in particular, and how Mike Lindell’s pillow business is the lifeblood of the election misinformation industry.
Which matters, because when Americans believe elections are corrupt and hopeless, they do things like demand all ballots be counted by hand (Associated Press, 48.69). Worse, millions who watch Tucker Carlson are being conditioned to reject any Democratic midterm win as fraudulent (Media Matters, 26.44).
But it’s Arizona we need to watch most closely for election shenanigans.
The Republican running for governor has used lies about the election to justify statewide restrictions on early voting (ABC News, 46.70), while the Republican trying to become a U.S. Senator got a phone call from Donald Trump telling him he needs to go harder claiming election fraud (The Hill, 43.53).
Probably more due to the sham film 2,000 Mules than to anything the candidates this cycle have said, masked poll watchers are showing up at voting sites in Mesa with handguns and Kevlar vests (Bloomberg, 45.27). This has understandably unnerved people who feel threatened by this weird behavior.
Motivations for doing this are hard to be certain about, but Media Matters (26.44) reported that a leader of the group responsible is a big fan of the Internet fairytale known as QAnon--and that QAnon influencers and other fringe right-wing media personalities like We The Media are helping her.
There is at least one bright spot to all of this converging in one place, and that is Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer. Do yourself a favor and take 50 minutes to listen to him talk with The New York Times (42.89) about winning his office as a Republican and doing everything he can to conduct the election transparently while protecting it from conspiracy theory worldview attacks. It’s good.
And with that, we must away! But not before we grab bag: how the media handled the Halloween ‘rainbow fentanyl’ scare; why emojis are hard for AI moderators to keep up with; a new California bill on COVID misinformation has doctors divided; YouTube is going to try a thing where it certifies health care professionals' channels; former CBS national security correspondent Lara Logan relegates herself to talking "blood libel" on Mike Lindell's network; NPR (44.45) looks at what changed in Dinesh D'Souza's 2,000 Mules book after it was recalled; and the January 6th rioter who dragged Officer Fanone into the crowd is sentenced to 7.5 years in prison.
All that, and a lot more, below. This is This Week in Misinformation.
-- Kevin