Thread by @karamballes

1/ 🧵Gaslighting and media misrepresentation, May edition.

Currently there's a push to remove masks and isolation in schools,some think nows the time, SAGE and ISAGE think otherwise.

Very tired of the abuse and accusations of an "agenda" just for thinking caution is best

2/ Scientists and Unions put out a letter calling to keep masks up to at least June.Yes we might want them after that but we don't want them forever as some might claim.This is part of the issue, misrepresentation

Some delightful replies to this tweet.⬇️

3/ Of course there will be trolls and the typical blue ticks but there have been ppl I respect who I think are usually thoughtful take an accusing tone.
Too political
Using children for my own agenda
Were the ones that annoyed me.

4/ I think banning masks in a couple of weeks is too soon and I am worried about longcovid,knowing those struggling with it
Thats what I think, thats it, there's not some political game or sinister lockdown forever secret motive
Disagree, debate, but question my intentions?

5/ With cases falling, vaccination going ahead and excitement at the idea of returning to normal,I understand how ppl can come to a different conclusion to me from a position of good faith.

Of course some people aren't acting in good faith.

6/ "Children shouldn't be forced to wear mask full time 8 hours straight"

They arent

Recommended use indoors, not recommended outdoors, DfE says no reason needed for exemption.

7/ So there was a court case about masks in schools, got attention from those who have always argued against safety measures in schools.

This section of local reporting is doing the rounds by some as if its proof masks were found to be harmful.

8/ Along with this take on left.

Schools can't force mask use

As if its a victory. Won a battle no one was fighting

Then they claim the witness accounts were accepted regarding harms

Judge on right: doesn't represent universal science

Win?🤷‍♂️

9/ Case to fight against mask use in schools lost.

Why?

Because there is no case.

10/ Here's the article.

Why take it to court when the basic premise is false? The school kept saying this, the DfE kept saying this to press, education select committee etc, but they ploughed on anyway.
google.com/amp/s/www.thes…

11/ So which lawyer decided to pursue a fundamentally flawed case knowing there was no case to win?

Francis Hoar, the lawyer who represented Keep Britain Free Simon Dolan when he challenged lockdowns last year.

12/ Same Francis Hoar who along with Dolan were among the 10 signatories to a letter to FBI and MI5 that lockdowns are part of a global Chinese conspiracy.

Others included key GBD scientists.

13/ The ppl who claimed we couldn't have a second wave, that Brazil and India were approaching herd immunity are also promoting these conspiracy theories, yet media platform them without ever scrutinising these views or their links

14/ Good thread here of the various skeptic networks, same names heading multiple organisations.

15/ The false case was pursued to generate media attention, to give press and skeptic groups a chance to spout anti mask rhetoric while misrepresenting the guidence on masks in schools.
Thing is media should know the case was based on a false assumption, they pushed it anyway.

16/ Why did the parent not just get their child exempt at school as DfE says they can, why drag the child to court?

It wasn't about the individual child's welfare, this is more about pursing a total ban on masks in classrooms, skeptics have been lobbying hard on this.

17/ So we are getting abuse from trolls and blue ticks and unfair accusations from surprising sources for asking that DfE maintain the recommendations to encourage voluntary mask use in schools for now.

I don't understand how this is unreasonable,only when misrepresented.

18/ ONS Schools infection survey also being used as a reason to remove measures in schools.

Its a snapshot of testing in some selected schools. Issue is that it doesn't include students currently isolating, eg those who tested positive or are identified close contacts

19/ Less infections in March than in December are said to show schools don't impact transmission.
This ignores the ONS positivity data.

It doesn't show what is being claimed, same happened with the last School Infection Surrey.

20/ As always happens the same ppl who have always downplayed transmission in schools jump on the ONS statement, although they must know the issues with the survey

These characters have a history of attacking and seeking to silence opposing views

21/ Munro is often cited as an expert by those seeking to prevent safety measures in schools.

His conduct and use of data is questionable.

Using data on child infections in an area where schools were closed to prove schools don't increase transmission?

22/ This kind of thing has been going on for a year now.
Safety campaigners being expected to defend themselves against a misrepresentation of their views by those peddling misinformation.

This thread is a bit if a 2021 gaslighting so far review⬇️

23/ Ppl will question critism of the ONS, (including some ppl who usually question everything about covid)
They're usually very good, but when it comes to risk in schools, UK Statistics Authority has upheld complaints

24/ Media is terrible at platforming certain groups as unbiased experts without ever informing the public who these people are
They #TuftonStreetHydra has been a regular for years now
Example here of the opaquly funded very right wing Henry Jackson Society

25/ They've done a great job of labelling Zero Covid as "political" while labelling GBD as "common sense".

Ppl may disagree with achievability of ZC, but once again its possible to come to agree or disagree from a position of good faith.

26/ By getting otherwise reasonable ppl to consider those who think ZC is best are pursuing some sort of political agenda, by themselves politicising the subject, certain media types are encouraging a tribal approach. "ZC are too political, dont trust them, dont listen.."

27/ So when it looks like gov are going to ban a safety measure, the media talk of "defying unions" not ignoring scientists.
"Unions are the enemy, the scientists are too political, dont trust them, the gov must be right" That's the mentality they're trying to tap into.

28/ So while carrying out experiments to scrap isolation in schools, soon we will be down to LFDs and handwashing. Almost March 2020 conditions, however covid has mutated since then and school population are unvaccinated.

We will get large outbreaks.
bbc.com/news/uk-englan…

29/ Keeping masks isn't political, but waiting until after local elections to release variant data is political, holding off declaring B16172 a VOC is political.

And dangerous, as it means surge testing on outbreaks has been delayed,risking transmission

30/ B16172 outbreaks have occurred in schools, cases are low in most the country but there are clusters. We don't want variants circulating freely in certain communities with schools acting as a reservoir.
Consider the most likely communities which will suffer.

31/ Disadvantaged, diverse, high density, least able to afford isolation, less likely to come forward for testing, lower vaccination rates, those hit hardest already by covid and lockdown.

Is accepting transmission in these communities levelling up?

32/ SAGE are telling government to keep masks. They almost never follow SAGE advice on schools, yet most the media will ignore this.
amp.theguardian.com/education/2021…