Thread by @shellenberger

The individuals who self-selected to secretly censor the American people think they are better than you. They believe that, because they read The New York Times, they are experts in every subject. They are the most dangerous people in America.

public.substack.com/p/the-most-dan…

We've seen a turning inward of the propaganda efforts the United States carried out worldwide for nearly 100 years. As the war on terrorism was won, its proponents looked for new avenues for propaganda, disinformation, and censorship campaigns.

Then, the seismic upheavals of… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

Weltwoche: What did you find most shocking in your research on the Twitter Files?

Shellenberger: Two things were particularly shocking. The first was the intense, orchestrated, and aggressive nature of U.S. government agencies and U.S. government-funded organizations demanding… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

More proof of the arrogance of the hall monitors in the Censorship Industrial Complex:

"The strongest & most reliable predictor of perceived danger of misinformation is the perception that others are more vulnerable to misinformation than the self."

researchgate.net/publication/36…

Your perception that the people demanding censorship are smug snobs turned out to be 100% accurate: "People believe misinformation is a threat because they assume others are gullible"

"In the United States, belief that societal problems have simple solutions and clear causes, perceived difficulty to spot misinformation, and the third-person effect were significantly correlated with perceived danger of misinformation."

Hype about misinformation rests on... misinformation:

It turns out that "on average people are good at identifying fake news... people generally distrust hyperpartisan & fake news sources... humans are endowed with cognitive mechanisms allowing them to... even from a young age,… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

"The third-person effect may fuel a demand for harmful regulations, as people who display a stronger perceptual gap in undesirable media effects are more likely to support censorship"