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!
Good Thursday to you.
In Arizona, the Cyber Ninjas released details of the millions in private financial support it has received in addition to the $150,000 that the State Senate footed months ago to launch a third audit of the Maricopa County election results. To the surprise of no one, the organizations that gave the most are ones that want to see Donald Trump returned to power. The Senate’s liaison to the operation shared audit data with a third party and was physically barred from the premises as retaliation; he said he would resign as liaison but later walked back the threat. Twitter permanently suspended two accounts being used by the auditors for violating its rules on platform manipulation and spam.
The U.S. House of Representatives finalized the membership of a new committee to investigate the pro-Trump attack on the Capitol on January 6th and held its first hearing. Four law enforcement officers, some of whom sustained injuries in the line of duty, testified to the violence and vulgarity of the mob that attempted to subvert the election that day. Misinformation about the hearing testimony circulated immediately on platforms like Telegram: some falsely maintained the Capitol attack was elaborately staged by anti-Trump groups, while others insisted baselessly that the police officer witnesses were “crisis actors” paid to pretend to have been hurt by the mob and angered by the failure of lawmakers to stand by the people who are sworn to protect them.
Other 2020 election-related misinformation was a bit quieter this week, with the minor exception of Donald Trump using a rally speech in Arizona to retread familiar, untrue--often nonsense--assertions that he won and so forth. Mike Lindell is offering a reward for anyone who can prove a negative, and Sidney Powell and Lin Wood are still making excuses to federal judges for their poor lawyering.
There was new CDC guidance about the need for vaccinated people to wear masks indoors again, which dredged up a lot of big feelings and associated misinformation about the effectiveness of the vaccine. We have reached the point where most of the large number of people who have not been vaccinated are pretty set against ever getting the shot. The decision to take the vaccine, or not, is damaging relationships where one party believes in vaccine misinformation. Getting your news from Facebook makes you more likely to be opposed to the COVID vaccine than getting your news from Fox. Sean Hannity waffled on whether he had expressed support for vaccines last week, and a guy in Montana gave Tucker Carlson a piece of his mind about the host’s anti-vaccine segments. Anti-vaccine groups on Facebook are evading the platform’s COVID information policy enforcement by creatively remaking themselves as “dance parties” or other euphemisms.
President Biden took a dig at the Republican Party’s ongoing flirtation with amazing QAnon tales of Democrat wrongdoing. Probably-Q himself Ron Watkins might be opening a new, internecine front against QAnon folk hero Mike Flynn. The Q Shaman is trying to escape jail time for his unauthorized excursion into the Senate chamber on January 6th, saying he could make a plea that reflects his recent mental health diagnosis. The father of a Parkland shooting survivor fell into Q stuff and came to believe that the incident his child personally witnessed was a false flag hoax.
Facebook is warning shareholders that misinformation-related developments could be a drag on revenues next quarter on one hand, and pursuing a new partnership to combat health misinformation on the other. Protesters who weren’t having any of it laid bodybags outside the Facebook building in Washington, DC to call out the company for not doing enough against COVID misinformation.
That, and a lot more, below. This is This Week in Misinformation.
-- Kevin
ARIZONA AUDIT
Maricopa election audit donor list released (Washington Examiner)
These Trump-Backing Groups Are Largely Funding The Arizona Audit (Forbes)
Arizona election audit contractor raises $5.7M in private donations (The Hill)
Audit team releases names of funders and amount of money that went into the audit: $5.7 million, mostly from #StopTheSteal groups (@jeremyduda via Twitter)
Arizona GOP Audit Director Barred From Recount After Sharing Data Supporting Trump Loss (Newsweek)
Shut out of Arizona audit, Ken Bennett raises concerns about transparency (KTAR)
He Tried to Steal Arizona for Trump. Then He Got Locked Out of the Building. (VICE)
Ken Bennett says he will resign as Arizona Senate's audit liaison (AZ Central)
In reversal, Arizona Senate liaison Ken Bennett says he will continue as liaison (AZ Central)
Twitter suspended the Arizona Audit account and the Audit War Room account (@rvawonk via Twitter)
Twitter Permanently Suspended Nine Accounts That Had Been Promoting Pro-Trump "Audits" Of The 2020 Election (BuzzFeed News)
Trump clings to false election claims at Arizona rally (Politico)
Trump repeats false, debunked claim about 74,000 ballots in Maricopa County (@jeremyduda via Twitter)
New website: Maricopa County Elections Department launches “Just Facts” (Maricopa County)
Maricopa County Recorders Office mistakenly sent mass text message about ballots being prepared for 2021 election (@Garrett_Archer via Twitter)
Audit spokesperson says all the ballots will be ready to be delivered to the County Treasurer by the end of the week (@Garrett_Archer via Twitter)
Maricopa County audit team says ballots not 'at risk' from water leak (Washington Examiner)
JANUARY 6TH CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE
Police recount mayhem and 'attempted coup' in U.S. Capitol riot (Reuters)
‘This is how I’m going to die’: Officers tell Jan. 6 stories (Associated Press)
What You Need To Know About The Officers Testifying Before Jan. 6 Committee (NPR)
Five takeaways from gripping officer testimony at the first January 6 hearing (CNN)
Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn on Jan. 6 mob: 'A hit man sent them' (The Hill)
Officer Gonell slams Trump's comments on rioters: 'I'm still recovering from those hugs and kisses' (MSNBC)
Capitol Police Officer Michael Fanone shared with CNN a threatening voice mail that he received during his testimony before the House of Representatives (@justinbaragona via Twitter)
D.C. police officer Michael Fanone gets vulgar, threatening voicemail during January 6 testimony (CBS News)
Reactions to the Jan 6th committee hearing from Telegram (@2021_karma via Twitter)
Frequent Fox News guest calls officer testifying to January 6 commission a crisis actor (Media Matters)
Maryland's GOP governor slams 'whitewashing' of Jan. 6 riot (The Hill)
Jan. 6 select committee to meet on next steps, move on subpoenas (ABC News)
Jan 6 Select Committee and Social Media Companies: 10 Key Pieces of Information to Subpoena (@justinhendrix via Just Security)
Justice Department declines to defend Rep. Mo Brooks against Jan. 6 incitement lawsuit (Politico)
Trump Ally Brooks Won’t Get U.S. Defense in Suit Over Riot (Bloomberg)
THE 2020 ELECTION
Video: Former President Trump Remarks at Turning Point USA Student Action Summit (C-SPAN)
Video thread: Live tweeting Donald Trump at TPUSA rally in Arizona: claims he won six months ago (@atrupar via Twitter)
Thread: CNN reporter fact-checks Trump’s Arizona speech (@kyunglahcnn via Twitter)
Mike Lindell Offering $5M To Disprove His 2020 Election Fraud Evidence (One America News)
VACCINES, ETC.
CDC to urge vaccinated people to resume wearing masks indoors in certain circumstances, as delta variant spreads (Washington Post)
Experts back CDC change on masks as delta variant spreads (NBC News)
Analysis: CDC fails to publish data needed to judge risk of breakthrough infection (CNN)
AP-NORC poll: Most unvaccinated Americans don’t want shots (Associated Press)
NYPD: Only 43% of workforce vaccinated against COVID-19 (Associated Press)
A Vaccine Or This Marriage: Conspiracy Theories Are Tearing Couples Apart (@JessReports via Huffington Post)
People are more anti-vaccine if they get their covid news from Facebook than from Fox News, data shows (Washington Post)
Larry Kudlow Calls on Twitter, Facebook To Lift Trump Ban So He Can Promote COVID Vaccine (Newsweek)
Rand Paul sends official criminal referral on Anthony Fauci to DOJ (The Hill)
Michael Flynn Criticizes DeSantis, Hannity for Vaccine Push: 'They Know That They Have Influence' (Newsweek)
Sean Hannity walked back his enthusiasm for COVID-19 vaccines after being praised by the White House (Business Insider)
Sean Hannity assures audience he’s “not urging people to get the COVID-19 vaccine” (Media Matters)
Man confronts Tucker Carlson at a store in Montana over his anti-vaccine rhetoric: “You are the worst human being known to man” (@AhmedBaba via Twitter)
After Covid Diagnosis, a Conservative Radio Host Sends a New Message (New York Times)
The HART Files: Inside the Group Trying to Smuggle Anti-Vaccine Myths into Westminster (Logically AI)
Russian disinformation campaigns are trying to sow distrust of COVID vaccines, study finds (Fortune)
THE SPIN WAR: Corporate Media Joins the Anti-Vaxxers When It Comes to Chinese- and Russian-Made Vaccines (Mint Press News)
VAERS: How to stop misinformation related to the US vaccine database (First Draft)
Anti-vaccine groups changing into 'dance parties' on Facebook to avoid detection (NBC News)
The YouTubers who blew the whistle on an anti-vax plot (BBC)
The Most Influential Spreader of Coronavirus Misinformation Online (New York Times)
Viral Posts Misrepresent CDC Announcement on COVID-19 PCR Test (FactCheck.org)
QANON & COMPANY
Video: Biden asks reporter if QAnon beliefs are held in the Republican Party (@ImSpeaking13 via Twitter)
Ron Watkins questions Mike Flynn's "involvement in the companies close to" the Pegasus spyware, saying it could be intentional "distraction" from Arizona audit results (@shayan86 via Twitter)
'QAnon Shaman' in plea negotiations after mental health diagnosis -lawyer (Reuters)
'QAnon Shaman' Attorney Tells Newsmax He's Working on No Jail Time Deal (Newsmax)
I’m a Parkland Shooting Survivor. QAnon Convinced My Dad It Was All a Hoax. (VICE)
Parkland survivor with QAnon dad verified by a second outlet, who then publishes the person’s photograph (@daithaigilbert via Twitter)
QAnon’s Queen of Canada Is Raising Serious Cash on GoFundMe (VICE)
PLATFORMS
How vaccine misinformation spreads on social media (Today Show)
Google is profiting from QAnon and “plandemic” products on its Play Store that seemingly violate its rules (Media Matters)
Facebook warns of slower revenue growth amid fight against fake news (C|NET)
What Facebook Can’t Fix (Alex Kantrowitz via Big Technology)
New Facebook partnership tackles health misinformation (Axios)
Protesters Lay Bodybags Outside Facebook DC HQ to Demonstrate Deadly Effects of Misinformation (Mediaite)
Opinion: Facebook’s disinformation problem is harder than it looks (Columbia Journalism Review)
The Italian disinformation networks flying under Facebook’s radar (Coda Story)
GOVERNMENT/PUBLIC POLICY
Biden Accuses Russia of Already Interfering in 2022 Election (Voice of America)
Tempers flare as some in GOP ignore new House mask mandate (The Hill)
Senators target Section 230 to fight COVID-19 vaccine misinformation (The Verge)
Ofcom Hires Disinformation Auditor to Target Facebook, Google (Bloomberg)
Governments created an informational black hole for Indigenous communities and COVID-19 (Poynter)
GENERAL/OTHER
Disinformation for Hire, a Shadow Industry, Is Quietly Booming (New York Times)
Trump Is Gone, but the Media’s Misinformation Challenge Is Still Here (New York Times)
Donald Trump finally has the obsequious press he always wanted (Washington Post)
Information Defense: Policy measures taken against foreign information manipulation (Atlantic Council)
A Government Practitioner’s Guide to Countering Online Foreign Covert Influence (Lawfare)
Ten Years of Fukushima Disinformation (Skeptical Inquirer)
Adobe targets data literacy with curriculum and analytics platform access (VentureBeat)
Backfire effects after correcting misinformation are strongly associated with reliability (@Briony_Swire, Nicholas Miklaucic, @wihbey, @davidlazer, and Joe DeGutis via PsyArXiv)