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13 Nov, 4 tweets, 2 min read
NEW from me: YouTube has allowed baseless conspiracy theories about interference with voting machines to rack up around 3 million views (& counting). YouTube also made money from the conspiracy theories due to ads airing on some of the videos. mediamatters.org/google/youtube…
Many of the videos pushing the two conspiracy theories -- "hammer" and "scorecard" and "Dominion" -- are clips from Fox News. Before the election, YouTube listed Fox News as an "authoritative" source "for election-related news and information queries."
Besides having ads, some of the videos pushing the conspiracy theories even sold merchandise below the videos -- from which YouTube may also financially benefit. The image below shows in one screenshot the problem with YouTube's business model.
Additionally, the videos have earned at least 200,000 combined Facebook engagements. This continues the YouTube-to-Facebook pipeline that I and others such as @daveyalba have warned about.

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More from @AlKapDC

Alex Kaplan Profile picture
15 Oct
Major QAnon YouTube channel Patriots' Soapbox has been banned from YouTube following the platform's announced QAnon crackdown.
Other major QAnon channels that appear to now be banned include:

-X22 Report
-Jordan Sather's Destroying the Illusion
-Praying Medic
-RedPill78
-JoeM
More complete list of removed QAnon channels so far:
Read 5 tweets
Alex Kaplan Profile picture
14 Oct
New from me: YouTube has consistently allowed The Next News Network, a conspiracy theory channel with 1.7 million subscribers, to monetize misinformation, including a new video with 2 million+ views pushing a false bin Laden body double conspiracy theory. mediamatters.org/google/youtube…
In recent months, The Next News Network has repeatedly spread misinformation & falsehoods -- about masks, wildfires on the West Coast, the first presidential debate -- & it keeps making money off of those videos because YouTube allows the videos to have ads.
This channel's history of spreading misinformation is well-known. @JessReports last year noted the channel's history of falsehoods & that it was making money off of its videos. huffpost.com/entry/youtube-…
Read 5 tweets
Alex Kaplan Profile picture
2 Sep
A development regarding QAnon's spread that maybe hasn't gotten enough attention is the apparent increasing amount of QAnon content that has been promoted by local Republican Party chapters around the country.
For example, Florida and Georgia county Republican Party chapters have posted QAnon content on Facebook in the past year.
mediamatters.org/qanon-conspira…
In May, an official with a Texas county Republican Party chapter ran a Facebook ad with QAnon hashtags.
Read 4 tweets
Alex Kaplan Profile picture
25 Aug
Key point from @kevinroose about QAnon that I'm not sure has gotten enough attention: besides QAnon's extremism, its supporters repeatedly play major roles in misinformation campaigns on social media. Just to give a few recent examples:
Earlier this month a QAnon Facebook account posted a deceptive clip of Nancy Pelosi that makes her appear drunk, getting millions of views.
Last month, one of the most widely viewed copies of the misinformation-filled Frontline Doctors video on Twitter came from a major QAnon account.
Read 4 tweets
Alex Kaplan Profile picture
21 Aug
Jordan Sather, a QAnon supporter with a major following who helped organize a Washington, D.C. QAnon rally last year & used his account to spread misinformation () & anti-Semitism (), has been suspended from Twitter. (h/t @prag_com) Image
In particular recently, Sather has been a spreader of coronavirus misinformation, such as falsely suggesting drinking bleach could be used to help with the virus & that there was some preexisting patent on the virus. bbc.com/news/53061563
Sather's Twitter suspension has now been reversed.
Read 5 tweets
Alex Kaplan Profile picture
17 Aug
It appears the next part of the coronavirus conspiracy theory video "Plandemic" is coming tomorrow. Question will be if social media platforms are ready this time. The 1st installment earned at least 9 million YouTube views & 16 million FB engagements. mediamatters.org/coronavirus-co… ImageImage
Zach Vorhies, a QAnon supporter who's also pushed Pizzagate & who helped promote Judy Mikovits originally, has announced he will be in part 2 of "Plandemic." Image
It appears that Facebook is applying fact-checks for the first "Plandemic" video to the new "Plandemic" video already. Image
Read 7 tweets

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