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Six months since the 6 January “Stop the Steal” attack on the Capitol tried to prevent President Biden’s electoral win from being certified, misinformation of the kind that fueled the Trump supporters’ actions that day continues to hold sway among millions of Americans. It might be more potent now than it was then. New revelations about Donald Trump allies’ attempts to stop the counting of the vote in Arizona this week, however, have added to the body of reporting indicating that Trump was the aggressor, not the victim, when it came to trying use undue influence to stay in power. In Michigan, we got the backstory on the state senator who investigated allegations of election fraud in good faith and found them to be meritless, and we learned that Michigan’s attorney general will explore whether those who profited from election fraud talk are themselves guilty of defrauding others.
In related misinformation news, Trump surrogate Jason Miller launched a new social media platform, Trump filed a lawsuit against Facebook, Google, and Twitter for deplatforming him shortly after the Capitol attack, and Trump lied about the election and 6 January to a rally crowd in Florida.
Meanwhile on the COVID-19 vaccine misinformation front: “Plandemic” is back in book form and available on Amazon, falsehoods are more likely to impact women and are spreading among millions in Asia. Trump claimed credit for the vaccine (again), throwing some who want to believe both that the election was stolen AND that the vaccine is harmful into confusion. Twitter took down one of the most popular vaccine truthers. And, just for fun, Senator Mitch McConnell pretended that he could not understand why so many Americans are choosing not to be vaccinated. On the plus: he probably thinks he is helping. On the minus: c’mon, man!
In Q world, one influencer got press credentials for the Trump rally, the movement is concentrating fire on school boards and other local politics to grow its power, and we got word of new conspiracy theory-enthusiast confabs to be held in the coming weeks (noted and will be watching!).
That, and a lot more, below. This is This Week in Misinformation.
— Kevin
THE 2020 ELECTION
Arizona newspaper takes state Senate, Cyber Ninjas to court for audit info (The Hill)
The Senator Who Decided to Tell the Truth (The Atlantic)
AG accepts GOP lawmaker's request to investigate those peddling election lies (Detroit Free Press)
How Pro-Trump Local News Sites Keep Pushing 2020 Election Misinformation (NPR)
GETTER, THE SOCIAL MEDIA FOR TRUMP FANS
How is QAnon reacting to the launch of Trump’s social platform GETTR? (@_MAArgentino via Twitter)
Big names in the QAnon promoter community are not impressed with GETTR and have no plans to join it (@rothschildmd via Twitter)
QAnon Is Mad at Trumpworld Twitter Clone GETTR Because of All the Porn (VICE)
Conspiracy theories are populating new Gettr platform (First Draft)
TRUMP LAWSUIT AGAINST FACEBOOK, GOOGLE, TWITTER
Trump to sue Facebook, Twitter CEOs: report (The Hill)
QAnon influencers urge ‘Anons,’ ‘Digital Soldiers’ to join Trump's lawsuit against social media platforms (@AlKapDC via Twitter)
Telegram user responses to Donald Trump, Jr. asking for donations to help his dad with the big tech lawsuit (@patriottakes)
TRUMP SAYS THINGS AT FLORIDA RALLY
Five takeaways from Donald Trump’s rally in Sarasota (Sarasota Herald-Tribune)
Trump: "There were no guns in the Capitol, except for the gun that shot Ashli Babbitt" (Newsmax)
Trump says 'no reason' for officer to shoot rioter, pushing conspiracy theory (The Hill)
VACCINES, ETC.
Amazon Is Selling a Bogus ‘Plandemic’ COVID Conspiracy Book in Its ‘Science’ Section (VICE)
Vaccine misinformation: Why fake news about the Covid-19 vaccine is more likely to harm women (Marie Claire)
Anti-Vaccine Disinformation Spreads in Asia (Bloomberg)
Lin Wood interprets Donald Trump’s endorsement of the COVID-19 vaccine for QAnon followers (@PokerPolitics via Twitter)
Twitter has suspended the account of anti-vaccine misinformationist Sherri Tenpenny (@Shayan86 via Twitter)
Sen. McConnell to reporters: “I’m perplexed by the reluctance of some to get vaccinated, totally perplexed." (@AnaCabrera via Twitter)
Disinformation Overdose: A study of the Crisis of Trust among Vaccine Sceptics and Anti-Vaxxers (Institute for Strategic Dialogue)
QANON & COMPANY
Trump Just Got Even Cozier With QAnon (VICE)
QAnon's new 'plan'? Run for school board (NBC News)
QAnon to convene in Las Vegas in October for ‘Patriot Double Down’ (@daithaigilbert via Twitter)
Why Does the QAnon Conspiracy Thrive Despite All its Unfulfilled Prophecies? (Time)
Study: QAnon Conspiracy Theory: Examining its Evolution and Mechanisms of Radicalization (Journal for Deradicalization)
Dominion Subpoenas Giuliani, Sidney Powell, Mike Lindell In Lawsuit Against Fox News (Forbes)
Mike Lindell will hold ‘cyber symposium,’ including voting machines and a ‘mock election,’ in August (@ZTPetrizzo via Twitter)
In court filing, Mike Flynn family members deny taking QAnon oath (@bradheath via Twitter)
PLATFORMS
YouTube Regrets: A crowdsourced investigation into YouTube's recommendation algorithm (mozilla)
Many Americans Get News on YouTube, Where News Organizations and Independent Producers Thrive Side by Side (Pew Research Center)
GENERAL/OTHER
Measuring the Effects of Influence Operations: Key Findings and Gaps From Empirical Research (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace)
Obama says rise of misinformation 'worries me' and should worry everyone (CNN)
Tucker Carlson sought Putin interview at time of spying claim (Axios)
The networks and narratives of anti-refugee disinformation in Europe (Institute for Strategic Dialogue)