1/Just a quick weather update on biolab mis/dis/information and or propaganda. Who is discussing Ukraine and biolabs, and what are they saying? Who are the most retweeted and most influential in the past 48 hours. #ukraine#disinformation
2/ See clusters 1, 2 & 3. Cluster 1 is mostly people criticising the biolabs conspiracy, or the absurdity of it. Cluster 2 are generally those that can be considered active in the spread of propaganda or misinformation. Cluster 3 is a French NWO type spreading Russian propaganda
3/ Zooming in on Cluster 1 for example, @atrupar is calling out @TuckerCarlson for misrepresenting biolab info. @oneunderscore__ wrote a piece on the conspiracy and its 'dumb' origins. @JoeTrippi is sharing Ben's and @kevincollier's critique of the conspiracy
4/ Cluster 2. The most influential are @TulsiGabbard and @TuckerCarlson as well as @repmtg . All are involved in some form of manipulation or propaganda. Right wingpolitician Marjorie T Greene leads in with a 'not only is it true', as if someone were hiding the biolabs
5/ Obviously secrecy and hiding add to the conspiratorial element. @TuckerCarlson uses hyperbole and simplification, claiming EVERYONE who says there are biolabs is accused of treason. He's basically talking about a spat between Tulsi Gabbard and Mitt Romney. Indeed, no one
6/ is denying there are biolabs, so presumably we are all traitors Tucker? Then there is Tulsi Gabbard, who likes talking about biolabs, and who once parroted Kremlin denial propaganda about use of chemical weapons in Syria. See more from @EliotHiggins
8/ Some other cluster 2 members include; @jackposobiec (we all know him), @thevivafrei (this guy keep suggesting the biolabs are a 'secret'), @tomfitton (author), former RT journalist @rachblevins (who is backing up Tulsi & still has the 'russian state-affiliated media' label)
9/ Of course Sputnik are in the mix, defending Tulsi. There are many more in the cluster, but it's clear the right-wing information ecosystem in particular is latching onto this story. At the extreme end, QAnon are using it to blame Ukraine for Covid19!
10/ I want to finish with a few comments. The conspiratorial nature of this biolabs misinfo relies a lot on the trope that it was 'secret', hidden by the US. This trope got a big boost when a journalist falsely claimed US Embassy in Kyiv deleted docs >
11/ This trope has been jumped on by Chinese officials too as well as Russian, as well as the US right - read this thread for more >
12/ An important thing to remember is this. It's not about believing #disinformation that's important. The fact so many are expending media resources to talking about this as opposed to, say, covering the invasion, is a massive distraction that benefits Putin. If the Kremlin
13/ can shift the news agenda, at least in part, to talking about something else, especially if that thing can be used as a stick to beat the current administration with by the opposition, #Ukraine does not benefit.
And now to Tony with the sport
14, also, the French account is >
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🧵1/ There is some confusion going on around the strike in Rafah. This is largely due to awful IDF instructions. In a video on 22nd May IDF spokesman @AvichayAdraee told people that Zones 2371, 2373, 2360 were safe. I have highlighted this below.
2/ The source of the confusion lies in the fact that the image of the highlighted map in @AvichayAdraee's video DOES NOT match the text. The image initially does not include zones 2371, 2373, 2360 yet the text explicitly states they are safe.
3/ However the location of the strike has been reported to be both 2371 and 2372. Existing geolocation by @m_osint and Al Jazeera suggests it was in 2372, not 2371. Zone 2372 was not explicitly mentioned by the IDF. However...
1) Telegraph subtly trying to align pro-Palestinian voices with Chinese and Russian disinformation. No actual evidence is provided here of Chinese and Russian interference, simply a note that some pro-Palestinian accounts have fake followers.
2) (It should be noted that you can't control who follows you). From my point of view there are a LOT of fake accounts on X promoting various points of view. However, there is more evidence for Israel using fake accounts on FB, Insta and X to smear UNRWA aljazeera.com/news/2024/3/19…
3) Interestingly, the network that was focusing on attacking UNRWA, is also focusing on blaming the Chinese/Russian/Iranian 'axis of evil'. While it's plausible China and Russia are trying to influence narratives, the narrative that China and Russia are the only ones operating
🧵1/ Israel are attempting to muddy the waters around the killing of an international UN worker in a clearly marked vehicle. They have released a video claiming that "terrorists" are roaming and shooting at a UNRWA compound. There's no evidence that indicates they are
2/ terrorists. The video shows armed men mingling with what are probably UN workers. There is no sense of coercion or animosity in those shots. Crucially, there is no caveat that these people might not be factions or Hamas police protecting aid convoys.
3/ The US has even asked Israel to stop targeting Hamas police officers trying to protect aid. Naturally the video provides no context, and remember the IDF are an organisation that recently murdered multiple aid workers in clearly marked vehicles.
🧵1/ I am somewhat dismayed (though sadly unsurprised) by this extremely disingenuous and callous reporting about Palestinian death figures. Claims that the UN have revised down its death toll are absolutely untrue but have been repeated by right wing outlets but also the CFR 🤔
2/ These media are focusing on these two infographics by the @ochaopt . The one on the left, published 6th May, the one on the right published 8th May. As you can see, total fatalities INCREASE, as opposed to decrease. What the propaganda is seaking to do is barely sophistry
3/All that's happening is the OCHA has added figures for the dead that have been identified. It quite clearly says that the breakdown DOES NOT include 10000 missing or buried under rubble.
1🧵Lots of lessons on how unreliable information spreads. Here, Hen Mazzig makes an unsubstantiated claim about pro-Palestinian protesters 'combing' the street for Israelis in Athens. Someone asks him for a source. Mazzig provides a source that does not support his own claim.
2/ Another subtle aspect of this the hotel. One widely shared tweet stated that 'rioters' were trying to break into an Israeli-owned hotel. In fact, the crowd are outside the Tiare hotel. The event is filmed FROM an Israeli owned hotel (Brown Acropol). This proximity to the
3/ the Israeli-owned hotel is obviously designed to make the 'attack' seem targeted. In fact, the crowd are closer to a different hotel, that is also in the centre of Athens, where there had just been a pro-Palestine protest.
1/ 🧵I just did a quick corpus analysis of 100 New York Times articles published between 1st April - 5th May on US Campus Protests. Findings indicate that the NYT reporting of the campus protests place a large emphasis on equating protests with antisemitism.
2/ A notable finding was that the terms 'antisemitism' & 'antisemitic' appeared around 296 times, while terms such as Islamophobia/c only appeared 9 times. This is a large discrepancy.
3/ Jewish/Jews/Judaism are mentioned 450 times, Muslims/Islam mentioned 72, and Christian/Christianity 7. The second most common collocate (words that appear together often) of the word 'safety' and 'unsafe' is 'Jewish', (the first is students). Other minorities do not appear