It's never been more obvious that many if not most of the accounts liking & amplifying controversial views & disinformation are accounts that have either been dormant then suddenly started puking out conspiracies, or they're brand new accounts.
My tweet is NOT about ignoring legitimate concerns, it's about the fact that a key objective of British people's enemies (within & outside Britain) is to stir up division & fear. Disinformation IS being amplified. A scared & divided population is easy to exploit & hard to handle.
"Clear link between susceptibility to #misinformation & both vaccine hesitancy & a reduced likelihood to comply with health guidance measures... interventions which aim to improve critical thinking & trust in science may be a promising avenue".
Almost daily we are faced with contradictory views claiming to be “based on the scientific evidence”. But if you’re not an academic, how can you go about checking the evidence for yourself?
Finland – Europe’s most resistant nation to fake news – teaches media literacy in primary school. Since 2016, multi-platform information literacy & strong critical thinking are a core, cross-subject component of the secondary school national curriculum.
Results of elections over the last five years signal to Progressives that we cannot simply continue thinking in traditional ways, proposing the usual, conventional solutions & hoping the pendulum could shift in their favour.
As a result of growing socio-economic inequality; the acceleration of economic, social & technological changes; changes in the voter base of social democratic parties; as well as numerous other global trends, many liberal democracies are led by populist politicians.
What to do?
In the EU, roughly a quarter of likely voters vote for populist politicians, whose actions centre on fighting against some outside enemy, the rejection of political pluralism & the irreconcilable conflict between the “people” & the elites - all very reminiscent of 1930s Germany.
Fascinating, wide-ranging analysis by @jemgilbert on the strengths, weaknesses & challenges facing the contemporary Left, on both sides of the Atlantic.
The professional political class, & the interests it represents (finance capital/Big Tech) have fought off a democratic assault by convincing affluent professionals that the Left is a threat to their most cherished values: meritocratic, individualistic, cosmopolitan liberalism.
"The world-view of older voters with low-education is heavily shaped by the power of the tabloid press & its ideological allies online in the UK; by the media constellation organised around Fox News in the US."
Here in the UK most people aren't familiar with Trump-fanatic 'Dan Bongini', but he regularly features in lists of top-performing link posts on @Facebook. Which given FB's reach, is terrifying.
In 2018, he said "My entire life right now is about owning the libs. That's it."
Bongino has called the investigation of the Russian interference in the 2016 US elections a "total scam," and is a proponent of the Spygate conspiracy theory.
I'm what some people might describe as a fairly typical "Corbynista".
I certainly don't speak for all Corbyn supporters - not least because like any large group, we have among us a very wide range of views & backgrounds.
Time to put a few myths to bed...
Q How do you feel about being called a #Corbynista?
A Many people use the term 'Corbynista' as a pejorative, in order to scapegoat, demonize or negatively stereotype a large group of diverse people they tend to disagree with - but some Corbyn supporters embrace the term.
Q Aren't you part of an extremist Cult?
A LOL! All Corbyn supporters recognise & accept that Corbyn (like everyone else) has made mistakes. In fact, we often disagree about & debate exactly what they were, but the policies we support are popular, & normal across much of Europe.
Spelling aside, I genuinely thought this Express front page from 2005 was a spoof.
It's not.
They're fucking unhinged.
The relentless poison it pukes out daily isn't about "free speech" - it should be seen for what it truly is: vile, dangerous #propaganda that harms all of us.
Here's some Express front pages from the run up to the EU Referendum:
The xenophobic, jingoistic, dangerously nationalistic Express appears to have a problem with one European country in particular:
How long before it's illegal to support any left-wing Party or criticise capitalism?
US libertarian billionaires scapegoat & demonize ‘Big Government’, 'identity politics' & the Left, using propaganda to manipulate citizens into voting against their interests, so they can continue to exploit workers & nature.
The Global 1% have so far siphoned off $158 TRILLION.
They put vast resources into fueling the "culture war", which acts as a distraction, & an ideological assault on the values of fairness, justice & equality by promoting individualism, while keeping voters divided so they can continue their corruption & exploitation uninterrupted.