Share this page!

Enter URL or ID to Unroll

You can paste full URL like: https://x.com/threadreaderapp/status/1644127596119195649
or just the ID like: 1644127596119195649

How to get URL link on X (Twitter) App

  1. On the Twitter thread, click on or icon on the bottom
  2. Click again on or Share Via icon
  3. Click on Copy Link to Tweet
  4. Paste it above and click "Unroll Thread"!
  5. More info at Twitter Help
Philipp Markolin Profile picture
@PhilippMarkolin
Oct 27, 2022 • 14 tweets • 7 min read • Read on X
MEME ALERT: There is a new GOP minority report out today 'concluding' SARS-CoV-2 leaked from a lab.

I've read it and it is basically a rehash of outdated #lableak talking points, irrelevant anecdotes, and a strong misrepresentation of scientific studies and data.

Short version: Image
WHAT TO EXPECT:

#Rightwing networks will amplify this anti-scientific report dramatically in hopes of mobilizing their #conspiratorial base before the midterms.

This is the purpose of that content & timing.

#Weaponized conspiracy myths are powerful:
protagonistfuture.substack.com/p/a-tale-of-tw…
WHAT TO DO:

If you are an individual: Ignore & don't amplify.
If you are an influencer: Talk to scientists & don't amplify
If you are a journalist: Investigate & don't amplify.

Everybody: Don't get manipulated by scientific meme content like the report
protagonistfuture.substack.com/p/scientific-m…
UNSURE WHO TO TRUST:

Wait for a week before forming an opinion on the report.

#Lies in the report will spread rapidly through amplification, but will eventually be debunked point by point by scientists.

Form an opinion after the #truth had a chance to get their pants on.

/end Image
POINT BY POINT DEBUNK:

Like announced yesterday, scientists will address the meme report. Here is one scientists whose work has been purposefully misrepresented in the report and he is not okay with it:
MORE DEBUNK

Like announced above, I will be loosely collecting threads and opinions from scientists about the latest GOP meme report so that inclined readers might be able to form an opinion of it's scientific merit

INFORMATION OPERATION:

Information operations are inauthentic actions of a coordinated group, they may include fake identities, content, messaging, or amplification; and they pursue a social, economic, or political purpose.

COORDINATED LIES:

Journalistic malfeasance from @KatherineEban
in service of the lableak myth, conveniently arranged days before the midterm election.

Intentionally misquoting scientists should have professional consequences.

@KatherineEban MORE DEBUNK:

Irrelevant anecdotes and strategic incompetence on top of purposeful misquoting of scientists. 🔽

That is pretty much the depths of all scientific meme content, unethical, dangerous and poisoning the info sphere in hopes of political gain.

MORE DEBUNK:

Scientific and other misrepresentations can be accidental, it is usually good to assume so. This is not true when it comes to manipulation from info combatants, there the twisting of reality is intentional to serve strategic aims.
MORE COORDINATED ACTIONS:

Alina Chan, a prominent lableaker and advisor to the GOP report came out with her worthless scientific meme content.
The timing is no coincidence, just linking to the debunk of her opinionated & flawed 'literature review'
MORE DEBUNK:

The GOP report claims massive breaches of biosecurity. Why this is false🔽

(consider also: even if WIV had 100% leakage rate of every virus they had, scientists can still exclude SARS-CoV-2 came from the WIV given other lines of evidence)

MORE DEBUNK:

Sensationalist claims sweep around the globe and misinform people before the truth has a chance to get the boots on. This is intentional by motivated actors, right before an election on top of it all. Will people ever hear the corrections?

FIRST PUSH TO CORRECT:

@propublica is now starting to fact-check its own flawed story, secretly pulling in professional translators to check the serious errors of translation.

Shouldn't that happen BEFORE writing and amplifying political propaganda?

• • •

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

Keep Current with Philipp Markolin

Philipp Markolin 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 @PhilippMarkolin

Philipp Markolin Profile picture
Apr 13
The Furin-cleavage site (#FCS) in SARS-CoV-2 is one of the most misunderstood genetic elements in the whole #originsofcovid story.

#lableak proponents consider it a "pandemic trigger" that was recklessly inserted by #GoF researchers

Do they have a point?

A thread
1/ Image
Especially an unfunded research proposal from 2018 called DEFUSE that got played up by amplifiers empowered imaginations.

So before we jump into the FCS itself, a quick sidebar here 🔽

While DEFUSE is irrelevant, it hightlights two telling misconceptions

2/ Image
First, the common confusion that the introduction of a single genetic element has the power to make a pandemic pathogen

Second, the deliberate deception about how likely it is that nature or engineering came up with the FCS insertion

Let's clear them up.
3/
Read 16 tweets
Philipp Markolin Profile picture
Mar 9
Very interesting paper from Jijón S. et al., using a population-dynamic approach (not a whole genome seq. approach) to date the first spillover event of the Wuhan outbreak

--> Nov.28

This is a methodologically independent confirmation of previously published estimates.

1/ https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011934
The idea is to look at how an epidemic progresses (based on branching) and infer these dynamical parameters from known progressions

Once the model is calibrated, it can be used to estimate a time window when the first infection likely occurred; which might be before the tMRCA
2/
Image
Image
This is a complementary approach to phylogenetic dating that uses the mutational divergence over time to calculate back when the first cases likely occurred.

Overall, it matches previous estimates. So nothing new?

Let me quickly explain why I think this is important work:

3/
Read 6 tweets
Philipp Markolin Profile picture
Jan 5
As 2024 ushered in a new year of myth, #manipulation & magical thinking, too few have adjusted to counterbalance the #vulnerabilities of our broken information ecosystem

During US elections, this might spell democratic backsliding as online #discourse will be weaponized

A 🧵
1/
The disruption of our information technology broke a few things we needed as guardrails for democracy, such as the free flow of information & journalistic principles for information sharing

Today, gatekeepers have changed to:
#Algorithms, #influencers & #audience demand

2/
The dynamics and incentives between those three largely shape what information average citizens get to see

This is problematic because info #shapers are not aligned with public interest or democracy, but rather with the pursuit of #popularity, #persuasion, #profit, or #power

3/
Read 11 tweets
Philipp Markolin Profile picture
Dec 1, 2023
One thing that is fascinating with the history of the #lableak myth is how many people have been fooled by naïve claims that "one can not tell from the genome" one way or the other whether this is a natural virus.

This is false.
In the case of SARS-CoV-2, there is zero doubt.
1/
People might have encountered arguments such as we can modify viruses with "no see 'um" genetic methods, or just design a sequence & synthesize whole cloth

-> this implies nobody can ever #disprove whether a new genome has been man-made, only sometimes prove that it was
2/ Image
There are multiple reasons why this popularized idea is flawed, both in general, but especially in the #specific circumstances of SARS-CoV-2.

First an analogy:
Merely learning how to write musical notes does not bestow the ability to suddenly create a complete symphony
3/
Read 22 tweets
Philipp Markolin Profile picture
Nov 17, 2023
NEW EXCLUSIVE from me

#Disparage, #disorient, #dispute - the manipulation playbook after anti-science actors, part 3

"In the #battlespace of information, we are civilians in harm’s way."

Please read, share, and take it to heart:
open.substack.com/pub/protagonis…
Image
The full range of tactics and why the work is summarized here. 🔽

➡️ Free-access medium version of the article here:

A thread with more details follows below

1/ protagonist-science.medium.com/disparage-diso…
Image
When confused, we often misinterpret information or situations in a way that conforms to our prior expectations, knowledge, and biases.

The latter is what makes sowing #confusion interesting for anti-science actors as a tool of information warfare.

2/ Image
Read 17 tweets
Philipp Markolin Profile picture
Aug 2, 2023
This is what scientists like @PeterHotez have been screaming from the top of their lungs to anybody willing to listen to facts and reason.

Anti-science activism in public health, no matter if smoking, alternative medicine, or vaccination, comes with a gruesome body count.
It is not a victimless crime to mislead the public about evidence-based interventions and treatments, or selling citizens medical distrust and fake miracle cures.

It is however a lucrative business for media manipulators.

Where are the regulations and accountability? Image
The above paragraphs are from a TheNation article: thenation.com/article/societ…
Read 4 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

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

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

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

Send Email!

:(