David Gilbert Profile picture
Apr 27, 2020 7 tweets 4 min read Read on X
For the first time ever, Africans saw their leaders stand up to #China over racist attacks against Africans in Guangzhou.

But then Beijing's propaganda machine kicked into action...

vice.com/en_us/article/…
Viral videos from #Guangzhou saw ordinary Africans’ force their governments to act.

"When this all began, we saw for the first time, the power of social media in uniting African governments to mount a united voice in opposition to China,” @eolander

vice.com/en_us/article/…
When @femigbaja, Nigeria’s speaker of parliament, published a video of his meeting with a Chinese ambassador, it was seen as a turning point.

It was the first time an African leader was seen publicly rebuking a Chinese diplomat

vice.com/en_us/article/…
But then Beijing’s propaganda machine kicked into gear, with officials fanning out across the continent.

And within days, the anger among African governments all but disappeared.

vice.com/en_us/article/…
However, on the ground, “the anger is still palpable” according to @tsunga_arnold who said that “people want to see more than diplomatic language but actual measurable action.”

vice.com/en_us/article/…
According to @anthastorm, racial discrimination of Africans in China is nothing new, and is something African leaders have long known about.

“As an African, I actually feel let down by our leaders. There's nothing new about what is going on.”

vice.com/en_us/article/…
But this is not the end. Civil society & human rights groups, as well as ordinary Africans, continue to raise the issue @amnesty’s @sanuxiii says:

"China must not get away with this and people will not stop talking about it until justice is done.”

vice.com/en_us/article/…

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More from @daithaigilbert

Oct 24
For the last six months I've been investigating the #constitutionalsheriffs movement and the threat it poses to next months election.

Here's what I found:

1/11

wired.com/story/constitu…
For those who haven't heard of them, constitutional sheriffs are actual elected sheriffs, but they believe that they hold the ultimate power in their county and that no federal or state agency can overrule them.

They believe their power comes from the constitution—even though there is no mention of sheriffs in the constitution—and God.

2/11
The movement's roots can be traced to the Posse Comitatus group that emerged in the early 70s, after it was founded by William Potter Gale, a member of the antisemitic, quasi-religious group known as Christian Identity.

"The history of law enforcement in America is inextricable from white supremacy," @JessPish write in her incredible book The Highest Law in the Land (which you should definitely read)

3/11

penguinrandomhouse.com/books/707263/t…
Read 11 tweets
Oct 4
A private Facebook group with 27,000 members is pushing dangerous pseudoscience to parents of young children, claiming it can cure a range of ailments—including autism.

Here's what's happening inside that group

1/8

wired.com/story/inside-t…
The group, set up in 2022, is run by Julia Czelazewicz, known online as Detox Mama. In a video on TikTok (where she has 500K followers) she says she first found out about the detox treatment she's peddling from Sherri Tenpenny —an antivaxxer famous for this claim

2/8
The product is a zeolite, classed as a dietary supplement with no medical benefits by its manufacturer.

But it's sold as a cure for everything from cancer to autism by the alternative health community. Renowned antivaxxer Larry Cook sells it via his Detox For Autim website

3/8 Image
Read 8 tweets
Sep 18
For the last seven years, Laura Loomer has spewed a toxic mix of Islamophobic, racist and conspiratorial bile.

That period has also coincided with her relationship with Donald Trump growing ever closer.

Here's how it happened:

1/8

wired.com/story/donald-t…
Loomer likely first came onto Trump's radar for disrupting a version of Julius Caesar in Central Park in 2017 that had a Trump-like figure in the lead role.

She was arrested, but critically, she was also interviewed by Trump's favourite TV star at the time, Sean Hannity

2/8
Loomer worked for a number of far-right disinfo outlets (including InfoWars) but in 2020 decided to run for Congress. After she won the GOP primary, Trump praised her publicly, but it wasn't enough to win the general election.

She ran again in 2022, but lost the primary

3/6 Image
Read 8 tweets
Sep 6
Inside Russia's plan to sway the the US election for Trump:

— A 277-page indictment. unsealed this week, gives unprecedented insight into the goals, target audiences, tactics and resources the Kremlin is using.

This is "Project Good Old USA"

1/11

wired.com/story/project-…
The plan was written in late August 2023 by Moscow-based company Social Design Agency. The company founder Ilya Gambashidze shared his plans with high-ranking officials in the Kremlin, and notes obtained by the FBI show Putin was among those being briefed.

2/11
Central to the plan was not trying to convince Americans that Russia was great, but to expose America's darkest fears

"They are afraid of losing the American way of life and the ‘American dream.' It is these sentiments that should be exploited," Gambashidze wrote.

3/11
Read 11 tweets
Aug 29
There was lots of focus on JD Vance's "childless cat ladies" comment when he was named Trump's VP pick

But our investigation found this was a tiny part of the campaign's deep-seated misogynistic worldview, echoing the darkest corners of the internet

1/6
wired.com/story/trump-va…
Here are some of the things both Trump and Andrew Tate have called women in the past:

• Dumb
• Dogs
• Crazy
• Low IQ
• Bitches

Of course both have also been accused by multiple women of rape and sexual assault.

2/6
Despite the toxic nature of Tate, Trump is actively courting this community.

Or as @TimAlberta put it, the campaign is looking to woo “secluded, MAGA-sympathetic voters who have proved difficult to engage.”

3/6

theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
Read 6 tweets
Aug 12
It has been 10 years since the misogynistic online hate campaign that became known as #Gamergate

Then the hate came from fringe online platforms like 4chan. Today, that hatred comes direct from the GOP.

Here's how it happened

1/6

wired.com/story/gamergat…
Back in 2014, the harassment campaigns were aimed at games developers and commentators who sought to broaden women’s place in gaming.

Those tactics eventually “became embedded into the MAGA movement” and “seeped into the fabric of US democracy,” says @AttorneyNora

2/6
At the, time, the person who saw the terrible potential of Gamergate was Steve Bannon

“What he tried to do with Gamergate was really standardize those tactics so that many more people understood how to do gender trolling or race trolling as a political tactic.” @BostonJoan said

3/6
Read 6 tweets

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