Share this page!

Karam Bales Profile picture
Twitter logo
25 Apr, 45 tweets, 15 min read
1/🧵So we enter another cycle of the covid news narrative.

GBD group put out another letter
Typical RW outlets amplify it to top of the news agenda
GBD representatives cover the broadcast media with interviews
Much of the scientific community calls it out
2/ Worth considering how the organised well funded and well connected GBD and the skeptic network uses the techniques of science denial. See how many you can spot in the various threads ill link into this
3/The false binary argument they make between remove all measures and permanent lockdown misrepresents their critics and allows Johnson to claim he's the sensible middle ground no matter how much of a gamble he takes.
4/ When the cherry picking and misrepresentation of skeptic science gets called out by other scientists they will claim victimisation and that they're being cancelled, as they talk on multiple media outlets about it. We know how it works, but it is depressingly effective.
5/ They don't need to win the argument, just blur the facts, create confusion, sow distrust in institutions, its the "fog of war" principle of non-linear warfare, do wonder if the main networks have been using psych-ops targeted messaging tactics as used in Refs and elections.
6/ Elements of the media pushing their owners agendas, give disproportionate platforms to these skeptics to spout their disinformation without properly scrutiny whilst putting out hatchet jobs for those who speak up.
7/ Been cataloguing the gaslighting on safety in schools throughout the pandemic, its where the natural herd immunity lobbyists have been most successful at influencing policy in UK and other parts of the world.

8/ As it was explained in the UK in early March when the media were selling us herd immunity, keeping schools open was an essential part of the strategy.

Netherlands had a similar plan
8/ More on Netherlands
9/ As for Sweden in schools.
Very much a project of distorted data and propoganda.

And this is the issue with the natural herd immunity/GBD scientists, some may be honest but blinkered, however many are intentionally dishonest.
10/ Lnked to politicians through lobbying networks like the #TuftonStreetHydra, a beast with one voice speaking from many mouths, they are backed up by troll and bot networks, and there's clearly a lot of coordination.

11/ The influence is clear in the UK, "scientists disagree" has been used to explain away how often Johnson has failed to listen to his own SAGE advisors. That fog of war principle allows people to skip critical thinking and engage in tribalism

12/ Consider the track record of GBD vs the broad consensus they reject.
In June they said it was over, in Sept they said it was over, they didn't want a lockdown in Jan.
Few months ago claimed Manaus in Brazil and India were just about to hit herd immunity.
13/ The tribalism allows media particularly Spectator, Telegraph, Mail and Exprese to get away with telling their readers to believe the ones who keep getting it wrong.

Previous mistakes are glossed over.
14/ The other most serious gaslighting issue is regarding #LongCovid which they know would be the consequence of their policy of just living with it.
They want you to focus just on deaths and hospitalisations, just deaths would be even more preferable for them.
15/ And while Long Covid was dismissed and minimised for so long, its been even worse for @LongCovidKids.

Having embraced a minimal approach to safety in schools to appease lobbyists,this is an issue they don't want us thinking about.
16/ The behaviour of certain ppl from pediatrics in the UK has been questionable, same was happening in Germany.

There was this bizzare article talking about a surge of Munchausen by Proxy, listing long covid symptoms in children.

17/Sweden covered up covid in children, and when reports came in the winter of an increase in child hospitalisation the pediatrics came out forcefully and the story was taken down as fake news.

UK media ignored Merkels comments about B117 and children
18/ When it comes to children it seems an anti vax message is more acceptable, often linked with "natural immunity" instead
19/As I said, there is a cycle of a semi coordinated, semi symbiotic narrative, its happening in most western countries although the strength and influence differs

They call scientific scrutiny of non peer reviewed papers bullying, then get personal.
20/ The experts whose predictions and analysis has proven much more accurate than GBD have faced an onslaught in recent months.
Attacks on their work, their reputations, complaints to their workplaces, and of course the trolls and bots.
21/ It happened in Sweden, death threats to silence those who speak out, forcing people out of the country, the threats happens here too, even I have had to make reports to police in the past year.
22/ Just posting the evidence base for masks is enough to bring death threats. Women seem to be targeted more than men, and its come as a shock to the scientists and medical professionals I talk to, as has the level of gaslighting.
23/ 3 really rigorous compilations are published on the evidence for airborne transmission.
The skeptic rush out a non peer reviewed paper to say otherwise, their science is challenged, more abuse occurs.

Its not equal sides but "fog of war" works
24/ Overlapping interests of those who want to "live with it" and some level of coordination really is trying to steamroll people into silence with a barage of attacks.

Trying to wear down good people, some days it does get demoralising.
25/ Everyday people are in the media making statements that aren't scrutinised. Either interviewers are complicit or they aren't bothering to do any decent research.
26/ Even experienced journalists are stunned by how some in the scientific community have been coopted into the overlapping skeptic networks of lobbyists and the far right.
27/ The issue is that any attempt to tackle the disinformation leads to claims of cancel culture, raising links to the far right is called abusive.
28/ Absolutely nothing to do with the far right....
29/ Nothing at all to do with the far right..

If you do then you'll be accused of smearing then unequal balance allows them to claim "equally bad on both sides, fog of war again.
30/ These peoples alignment with conspiracy theorists isn't raised when the UK media platform them with tags like senior, eminent, or leading scientists.
31/ There's a large crossover with many of the skeptic scientists with anti vax movements and climate change denial.

By promoting tanti mask studies the media skeptic commentators will be signposting the skeptic public to these other conspiracy theories
32/ But its unsurprising when the billionaires who consider themselves activist investors are the same people funding covid skeptics and climate change denial

RW media use "activist" eg lawyers etc to label ppl the enemy, yet not a peep bout billionaires
33/ So when they argue that social distancing harms people, that masks shouldnt be worn in schools why doesn't any interviewer point out that they were calling for deliberate mass infection of children?
34/ If you start looking through skeptic media it doesn't take long to reach the overlapping networks churning out disgusting racism.

This isn't the conflating criticism of Israel with the Jewish people, this is full on nazi filth.
34/ Skeptic science, RW media and libertarian contrarians, organised troll networks, you can see which countries they've found sympathetic governments by how the narrative is shaped in these countries.
35/ In these countries you can judge how much influence they've had by how negligent they've been to safety in schools.

And an excess of avoidable deaths due to inevitably late lockdown.
A good summary of the tactics around narrative here.
36/ So if Patel really wants to protect police from violence she should be calling out the CRG and the RW rag hacks who are platforming disinformation merchants who lead ppl into conspiracy theories, she should be outraged at PMs secret meetings with GBD
37/ Gov complicit for allowing these people into decision making, opposition complicit for not calling out, and we are being severely let down by most media not just RW rags.

BBC has some reporters who are so poorly informed it looks willfull.

38/ So yesterday Jackie Cassel was all over the news, described as eminent, respected, senior, leading, yet look how she has responded to people for talking about airborne transmission.

Where was the scrutiny? Why aren't these people properly challenged?
39/ If an inquiry comes then the role of GBD and their media fans should be central alongside governments.

Theyve actively contributed to death and destruction on a global scale and contributed to the conditions for deadlier variants to arise.
40/ And so many blue ticks, supposed journalists, pundits punting for fan clubs, and those in these organisations who remained silent, there's blood on your hands.

Yet there's little hope of gov challenging the far right, not with the links they have
bylinetimes.com/2021/04/13/new…
41/ They are just fraudulent snake oil sellers, making dishonest statements they know to be false
"SAGE say we have herd immunity" they claim knowing this is a lie but that our piss poor presenters and interviewers won't pick up on it.

42/ A while ago I joined the international zero covid alliance, its mainly scientists and campaigners from around the world. 10th April they planned a day of Zero Covid awareness, late in the day they were subjected to a sophisticated cyber attack.
43/43 So who runs the troll farms, who are the hackers, and why are so few in the media even willing to seriously look into this these disinformation networks?
End/🧵

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Karam Bales

Karam Bales Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @karamballes

Karam Bales Profile picture
24 Apr
Where are all those who wanted students back in covid unsecure schools because they said they cared about vulnerable and disadvantaged students.

Where are you now?

They never cared.
#edutwitter
@halfon4harlowMP You're chair of the education select committee you're supposed to hold the government to account. Nothing on your TL about this!

But you did find time to talk about a Mail article that proved to be false!
@UsforThemUK and @lensiseethrough we may disagree on what safety measures are needed in education, but surely your horrified at the government failing to provide funding for the most disadvantaged students in society?
Read 5 tweets
Karam Bales Profile picture
22 Apr
1/🧵Thread Part II: 22nd April
Trial experiments in schools to replace isolation with 7 days of LFDs

Prior trials and DfEs scientific basis for continuing.

Still feels like playing guinea pigs to me
2/ A small number of trials went ahead.
Heads opted in, only identified close contacts who chose to replace isolation with DCT had to give consent.

NHS letter to a head setting out the details
3/ I have queried if the data for the November trials has been made available and how these results informed this new round of trials.

Awaiting answers, will share when I get them

Also hoping to find out who makes up the Independent ethics committee that signed this off
Read 21 tweets
Karam Bales Profile picture
15 Apr
1/🧵"This is crazy, how is this ethical?"

Pilots for Daily Testing to replace isolation are starting.

Finally got a copy of the operational handbook and official FAQs

Government isn't following the science
2/ Basics: Close contacts take a LFD at the start of school for 7 days to avoid isolation.
All the experts I know say these tests aren't reliable enough for this purpose.

Book says LFDs will catch the majority of cases, this is a bit of an assumption, but it will miss cases
3/ Close contacts doing DCT can only go to school, they must isolate when not in school. This is because they know this does carry a risk. So why are they doing this, seems like the DfE are balancing risk of higher transmission with reducing isolation.They'e trying to be clever🤦‍♂️
Read 12 tweets
Karam Bales Profile picture
12 Apr
🧵NEU Democracy an example from #NEU21.

Executive Elections are starting, I encourage all members to vote, read the candidate booklet, attend a husting, members have real influence when they get involved, mass involvement makes better policy in my opinion.

#edutwitter
I am standing myself, people in District 11 in the South East can vote for me if they want me to represent them.

Please use your vote, whoever you choose to vote for, this is where members not normally involved in the union have power to improve the NEU
Unfortunately not enough members actively participate in union democracy, this is across all unions and the unions suffer because of it. If you want a better union, get involved, if you want the union to represent you, then use your vote. Candidate choice does matter
Read 53 tweets
Karam Bales Profile picture
7 Apr
1/ 🧵Crackdown on behaviour, banning mobile phones, where have I heard this before?

Leaked DfE policy discussion document August 2019.

The one that talked of backing "reasonable force" to improve discipline, and measures likely to see an increase in exclusion
2/ Thread here with more details on the leak.

Those in the room recognised that the policies would have a disproportionate impact on students from certain backgrounds, particularly Black Caribbean.

3/ Even the language is telling "the SEND lobby" are treated as a nuisance, interesting that UsForThem got meetings with ministers while SEND parents campaigning for their children to get back into school were repeatedly fobbed off.
Read 16 tweets
Karam Bales Profile picture
2 Apr
1/🧵What a term! March Recap

Announcement made in Feb, leaked to papers first.
No rotas, no blended, its the "big bang" for England as Johnson ignores SAGE advice.

LFD testing and masks in secondary classrooms the only improved measures.

DfE Guidence⬇️
2/ Moment announcement was made, even before the 8th, the PR campaign to undermine these safety measures began.

Anti-maskers given plenty of media space to make false claims that go unchallenged
3/DfE uses our money to pay its friends to run a Back to School propoganda campaign.

Includeds several misleading and some entirely false statements including some about good ventilation.

Read 24 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Like this author's thread?

Get emails when @karamballes has new unrolls!

Check out other threads from @karamballes!

Read all threads by @karamballes