This Week in Misinformation: LibsofTikTok Revealed, Alex Jones Defeated, Mike Lee Caught Out, Obama Being Obama
21 April 2022
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!
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We did a fun thing this week, hosting expert fact-checkers in an audio chat on Twitter to talk about a range of issues in the business of debunking! Check it out.
Now, on to our top stories.
A story about misinformation on social media and how it gets plugged into the mainstream stirred controversy.
Taylor Lorenz, writing for The Washington Post (42.87), published details about the previously anonymous person who runs the Twitter account “LibsofTikTok.” The headline and crux of the article are about the influence the woman has gained and the way conservative media have turned repeatedly to her posts for material, sometimes false, to help them keep their enormous audiences outraged about LGBTQ issues.
A lot of right-wing personalities went out of their way to rebuke Ms. Lorenz for revealing the woman’s identity (Forbes, 43.59). Pundit Glenn Greenwald, who made an unflattering appearance in the article, tweeted how much he wished that people would go to Ms. Lorenz’s home, as she did in reporting on the LibsofTikTok owner. Alex Pareene wrote a widely shared piece on Substack, of potential interest to Prism readers, that called out critics’ pretense of not knowing how journalism works.
Ultimately the decision to deanonymize a person of notable profile, considering the question of newsworthiness and weighing potential harms, is one taken between reporter, editor, and the publication. After the backlash both Ms. Lorenz (Newsweek, 38.36) and a Washington Post senior editor (via Twitter) defended what she wrote as an important treatment of how the conservative media ecosystem, which affects tens of millions of Americans, operates. (Washington Post, 42.87)
Alex Jones is embarking on a forgiveness tour, but he is having trouble with it already.
Arch-conspiracist Jones is reported to have gone to the Department of Justice with an offer to cooperate with its January 6th investigation in exchange for immunity (New York Times, 44.31). It’s another sign that law enforcement inquiries are moving solidly beyond just rallygoers who committed acts of violence and vandalism.
In something of a surprise move, Jones’s show InfoWars filed for bankruptcy protection (NPR, 44.54). The show and its host have been under pressure from courtroom losses in the defamation lawsuits filed against him by the parents of Sandy Hook victims.
Unfortunately for those parents, after the bankruptcy announcement a judge halted the Sandy Hook proceedings (Forbes, 43.59). A Department of Justice lawyer floated the possibility that the bankruptcy move itself might be punishable as an “abuse” of the bankruptcy protection system (Reuters, 48.03). Maybe someday we’ll have Alex Jones to thank for an overhaul.
More text messages between Mark Meadows and individuals in Congress further implicated Mike Lee in Trump’s post-election machinations.
The senior senator from Utah implored the White House Chief of Staff under Trump to “tell me what I should be saying” about the 2020 election (Salt Lake Tribune, 46.89)--after it was clear Trump had lost and there were no legal avenues to reversing that loss.
The texts also make clear Lee genuinely tried to find such legal avenues for the outgoing president (Associated Press, 48.82) and knew, contrary to his previous statements, that there was a scheme afoot to send “alternate,” unauthorized electors to confound the Electoral College certification.
By Lee’s telling there was nothing improper about any of it. (To his credit, Lee did vote to certify on January 6th.) And junior senator Mitt Romney seemed to also give Lee a caveated pass, saying he didn’t think Lee had “done anything illegal” (Salt Lake Tribune, 46.89). But it can’t be good for Lee’s reelection, where he faces a real challenger in the form of Independent Evan McMullin.
You really shouldn’t leave home without this ONE thing, a grab bag: Obama says tech companies have made democracy more vulnerable; Dorsey takes aim at Twitter's board amid Elon Musk’s move to buy the platform; proponents of 2020 election disinformation have a losing week in court; the January 6th Committee will focus its hearings on Trump’s attempt at a coup, according to a key Democrat on the panel; a COVID-19 scammer with 'Top Secret' Clearance hookup is arrested; a water filter company finds itself clarifying that its products don’t remove snake venom; and the QAnon personality promoting the harassment of school boards is a follower of the JFK/Dallas/QAnon splinter cult.
That, and a lot more, below. This is This Week in Misinformation.
-- Kevin