Karam Bales Profile picture
May 5, 2021 32 tweets 9 min read Read on X
1/ 🧵Gaslighting and media misrepresentation, May edition.

Currently there's a push to remove masks and isolation in schools,some think nows the time, SAGE and ISAGE think otherwise.

Very tired of the abuse and accusations of an "agenda" just for thinking caution is best
2/ Scientists and Unions put out a letter calling to keep masks up to at least June.Yes we might want them after that but we don't want them forever as some might claim.This is part of the issue, misrepresentation

Some delightful replies to this tweet.⬇️
3/ Of course there will be trolls and the typical blue ticks but there have been ppl I respect who I think are usually thoughtful take an accusing tone.
Too political
Using children for my own agenda
Were the ones that annoyed me.
4/ I think banning masks in a couple of weeks is too soon and I am worried about longcovid,knowing those struggling with it
Thats what I think, thats it, there's not some political game or sinister lockdown forever secret motive
Disagree, debate, but question my intentions?
5/ With cases falling, vaccination going ahead and excitement at the idea of returning to normal,I understand how ppl can come to a different conclusion to me from a position of good faith.

Of course some people aren't acting in good faith.
6/ "Children shouldn't be forced to wear mask full time 8 hours straight"

They arent

Recommended use indoors, not recommended outdoors, DfE says no reason needed for exemption.

7/ So there was a court case about masks in schools, got attention from those who have always argued against safety measures in schools.

This section of local reporting is doing the rounds by some as if its proof masks were found to be harmful. Image
8/ Along with this take on left.

Schools can't force mask use

As if its a victory. Won a battle no one was fighting

Then they claim the witness accounts were accepted regarding harms

Judge on right: doesn't represent universal science

Win?🤷‍♂️ ImageImage
9/ Case to fight against mask use in schools lost.

Why?

Because there is no case. Image
10/ Here's the article.

Why take it to court when the basic premise is false? The school kept saying this, the DfE kept saying this to press, education select committee etc, but they ploughed on anyway.
google.com/amp/s/www.thes…
11/ So which lawyer decided to pursue a fundamentally flawed case knowing there was no case to win?

Francis Hoar, the lawyer who represented Keep Britain Free Simon Dolan when he challenged lockdowns last year. Image
12/ Same Francis Hoar who along with Dolan were among the 10 signatories to a letter to FBI and MI5 that lockdowns are part of a global Chinese conspiracy.

Others included key GBD scientists.
13/ The ppl who claimed we couldn't have a second wave, that Brazil and India were approaching herd immunity are also promoting these conspiracy theories, yet media platform them without ever scrutinising these views or their links
14/ Good thread here of the various skeptic networks, same names heading multiple organisations.
15/ The false case was pursued to generate media attention, to give press and skeptic groups a chance to spout anti mask rhetoric while misrepresenting the guidence on masks in schools.
Thing is media should know the case was based on a false assumption, they pushed it anyway.
16/ Why did the parent not just get their child exempt at school as DfE says they can, why drag the child to court?

It wasn't about the individual child's welfare, this is more about pursing a total ban on masks in classrooms, skeptics have been lobbying hard on this.
17/ So we are getting abuse from trolls and blue ticks and unfair accusations from surprising sources for asking that DfE maintain the recommendations to encourage voluntary mask use in schools for now.

I don't understand how this is unreasonable,only when misrepresented.
18/ ONS Schools infection survey also being used as a reason to remove measures in schools.

Its a snapshot of testing in some selected schools. Issue is that it doesn't include students currently isolating, eg those who tested positive or are identified close contacts
19/ Less infections in March than in December are said to show schools don't impact transmission.
This ignores the ONS positivity data.

It doesn't show what is being claimed, same happened with the last School Infection Surrey.
20/ As always happens the same ppl who have always downplayed transmission in schools jump on the ONS statement, although they must know the issues with the survey

These characters have a history of attacking and seeking to silence opposing views
21/ Munro is often cited as an expert by those seeking to prevent safety measures in schools.

His conduct and use of data is questionable.

Using data on child infections in an area where schools were closed to prove schools don't increase transmission?
22/ This kind of thing has been going on for a year now.
Safety campaigners being expected to defend themselves against a misrepresentation of their views by those peddling misinformation.

This thread is a bit if a 2021 gaslighting so far review⬇️
23/ Ppl will question critism of the ONS, (including some ppl who usually question everything about covid)
They're usually very good, but when it comes to risk in schools, UK Statistics Authority has upheld complaints
24/ Media is terrible at platforming certain groups as unbiased experts without ever informing the public who these people are
They #TuftonStreetHydra has been a regular for years now
Example here of the opaquly funded very right wing Henry Jackson Society
25/ They've done a great job of labelling Zero Covid as "political" while labelling GBD as "common sense".

Ppl may disagree with achievability of ZC, but once again its possible to come to agree or disagree from a position of good faith.
26/ By getting otherwise reasonable ppl to consider those who think ZC is best are pursuing some sort of political agenda, by themselves politicising the subject, certain media types are encouraging a tribal approach. "ZC are too political, dont trust them, dont listen.."
27/ So when it looks like gov are going to ban a safety measure, the media talk of "defying unions" not ignoring scientists.
"Unions are the enemy, the scientists are too political, dont trust them, the gov must be right" That's the mentality they're trying to tap into. Image
28/ So while carrying out experiments to scrap isolation in schools, soon we will be down to LFDs and handwashing. Almost March 2020 conditions, however covid has mutated since then and school population are unvaccinated.

We will get large outbreaks.
bbc.com/news/uk-englan…
29/ Keeping masks isn't political, but waiting until after local elections to release variant data is political, holding off declaring B16172 a VOC is political.

And dangerous, as it means surge testing on outbreaks has been delayed,risking transmission
30/ B16172 outbreaks have occurred in schools, cases are low in most the country but there are clusters. We don't want variants circulating freely in certain communities with schools acting as a reservoir.
Consider the most likely communities which will suffer.
31/ Disadvantaged, diverse, high density, least able to afford isolation, less likely to come forward for testing, lower vaccination rates, those hit hardest already by covid and lockdown.

Is accepting transmission in these communities levelling up?
32/ SAGE are telling government to keep masks. They almost never follow SAGE advice on schools, yet most the media will ignore this.
amp.theguardian.com/education/2021…

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More from @karamballes

Nov 7
There has been ongoing attacks on the CCDH since they published their disinformation dozen report years ago on the biggest antivax promoters online, this named RFK Jr and others who have been embraced by MAGA appearing at a conveyor belt of conferences
2/ The campaign against CCDH comes from the GBD crowd
3/ Despite their claims they aren't political this crowd and their ecosystem of overlapping groups is very close to the centres of power like Thiel who are driving the modern day Republican Party
Read 6 tweets
Nov 1
🧵 Amazing when RW media decide to care about SEND students

When it comes to VAT on private schools they are suddenly worried about SEND pupils, but they backed austerity, the dismantling of CAHMs real terms cuts to school budgets, and loss of 20,000 support staff mainly TAs
2/ I think it was autumn 2017 we had a protest regarding SEND students being let down over 80,000 educators and SEND parents gathered outside Westminster, it didn't get a single mention in the media from any outlet
3/ 2016 ATL conference motions booklet

Look at the issues we were trying to raise, issues largely ignored, and only raised when suits a narrative
Read 10 tweets
Oct 20
🧵 of stories on US Election

The role of the oligarchs Thiel and Musk in this election is absolutely crazy, as are the proposals from the Christian Nationalists

Read 18 tweets
Oct 7
🧵Collateral Global is the UKs successor organisation to the GBD, original board here, a more recent addition is Kevin Bardosh

But if CG are sponsoring the Stanford event, who is funding CG? Image
2/ Initial funding for CG
Von Opels who have been large Conservative Party donors and also gave Gupta £90,000 after her April 2020 paper claiming herd immunity was on the horizon
Luke Johnson, funded anti-lockdown MPs and appeared at a Pandata event
Opaque Baudouin Foundation and Image
3/ The Donors Trust, the dark money ATM of the US right wing, where do they get their money from?⬇️

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donors_Tr…Image
Read 15 tweets
Sep 23
🧵So Shamez Ladhani, the UKs clinical lead on covid in children, member of a WHO TAG for covid in children, lead for most UK gov studies on covid in children, most cited paed in world on covid in children, has written another paper with Hoeg and Noble from Urgency of Normal Image
2/ Hoeg produced the VAERS dumpster dive that made headlines in UK about myocarditis damaging confidence in covid vax for younger age groups, member of Urgency of Normal, Norfollk Group and DeSantis/Ladapo's Ethics committee that includes GBD author Bhattacharya

Image
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3/ Table of evidence collected
Look at choices of evidence, the same sizes, etc worth zooming in to take a look Image
Read 12 tweets
Sep 19
🧵A Russian disinfo influencer promoting the Wellness Company...

Well, well, well, that is interesting...
Image
2/ Wellness Company is fronted by McCullough, of Pandata, Truth for Health Foundation and others
Image
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3/ Long detailed write up of The Wellness Company and associates is here
whowhatwhy.org/science/health…
Read 10 tweets

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