Thread by @gauravsabnis

So much #FactCheckBait being put out by IT Cell today and so many people biting.

What is #FactCheckBait? Fascists putting out tweets or messages with very obvious rebuttal properties. So non-fascists are distracted by rebutting or fact checking them. And the fascists get more name recognition. What have the top sanghi twitter accounts done other than provoke?

Why are so many sanghi bigot handles famous & well followed on Twitter despite having no notable quality other than getting called out by liberals? Cos that's all it takes. If they can fool liberals into QTing or even screenshot-ing them, they become heroes and then are like

Another example of #FactCheckBait. This sanghi wants you to identify them while pointing out the very obvious flaws in their logic. This sanghi is counting on it to improve their visibility. Don't give them that oxygen. Call them out like this, without IDs, if you must.

As pointed out by @bongopondit, peak #FactCheckBait was Ted Cruz saying rejoining the Paris climate agreement was about appeasing Paris not Pittsburgh. He knows it's BS. He's an evil psychopath but not dumb. He wants you to QT him and distract from his insurrection efforts.

Sanghis comparing protesting farmers raising a flag at red fort with trump terrorists at the Capitol is latest #FactCheckBait. They KNOW it's a ludicrous parallel. They are counting on you to QT them or screenshot them (as long as their handle is visible) in rebuttal.

Don't!

After what happened in Delhi, Malviya and gang will be putting out #FactCheckBait every few minutes. All sanghi twitter stars will be posting stuff with factual or logical errors on purpose. So you QT/SS them with "Look at this Shef 🙄". And then Shef and her ilk are like

Few people excel at #FactCheckBait like one actor from Revolver Rani. This person is doing it again with the red fort thing. If you RT or QT anything that gets this person's name further out there, they win. Even if you're saying they are horrible. They win when you engage.

I saw Trump go from failed real estate heir, someone who went bankrupt running casinos (where the house literally always wins) to the most powerful man in the world by doing exactly what this actor person is doing in india. You're making a future PM by engaging by name.

I think I've found my main Twitter cause for 2021. Spread awareness of #FactCheckBait and suggest strategies to combat it without staying silent. So if I show up in your mentions when you're giving a fascist exactly the visibility they want, please understand.

Also #sealioning. But they are different. Sealioning at least requires the fascist to keep making an effort to engage you personally. #FactCheckBait is when they just put out a lie in the universe and wait for good people to amplify it by debunking it. Do not do it.