Prism Metanews is a media company founded to help Americans become better consumers of the news as they consume the news. We have built an anti-misinformation ethos and commitment to improving our audience’s media literacy directly into our business model--from the ground up, not as an afterthought. Learn more about who we are and what we’re doing on our Substack page, follow us on Twitter, or like us on Facebook!
_______________________________
As misinformationists turn increasingly against law enforcement, a new assertion emerged this week that the FBI was really behind the attack on the Capitol on January 6th. This is based on tenuous logic and a misunderstanding of how the FBI operates, and is false.
The QAnon community continues to translate online enthusiasm into real world activity, with a report this week that a militia of former military and law enforcement individuals is getting ready for a revolution.
Targeted efforts to discredit the Pfizer vaccine resulted in bad actors reaching out to YouTubers to ask them to propagate false messages about the shot.
That, and more, below. This is This Week in Misinformation.
— Kevin
THE JANUARY 6TH CAPITOL ATTACK
No, there is no evidence that the F.B.I. organized the Jan. 6 Capitol riot (New York Times)
Why the new false flag conspiracy theory that FBI orchestrated Capitol attack is wrong (PolitiFact)
QANON & COMPANY
This QAnon Militia of Ex-Cops and Soldiers Is Training ‘Patriots’ for Revolution (VICE)
VACCINES, ETC.
YouTubers say they were sent offers to spread disinformation about Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine (@Seana_Davis via Twitter)
GENERAL/OTHER
Study: Educative Interventions to Combat Misinformation: Evidence from a Field Experiment in India (CambridgeCore)
Study: False Accusation: The Unfounded Claim that Social Media Companies Censor Conservatives (New York University)