[Overview: basically there's
1. And introduction about how perilous the times are
2. A list of the Dirty Dozen
3. Comments here and there about the need to adapt our legal thinking about Free Speech and the internet to be able to stop clear, dangerous, disinformation
4. Some links to sites that offer suggestions for how to do this - though I can't say that I found anything that has anything close to a magic bullet. At least you can get the sense that people are working on this.]
The Center for Countering Digital Hate posted a study March 24, 2021 called The Disinformation Dozen. The first point in the executive summary is:
"1. The Disinformation Dozen are twelve anti-vaxxers who play leading roles in spreading digital misinformation about Covid vaccines. They were selected because they have large numbers of followers, produce high volumes of anti-vaccine content or have seen rapid growth of their social media accounts in the last two months."
I'm a firm believer in the First Amendment protections for free speech. But there comes a point when people say things that do significant damage. We have libel and slander laws. We have hate speech laws. All put limits on speech.
Perilous Times
Right now we are in a battle. On one side is democracy and the rule of law and knowledge and action based on science. On the other side we have the rule of power - based on personal opinion, misinformation, religion, playing on people's emotional weak points.
The Senate did not impeach Trump after the insurrection. Half the Senators still won't publicly acknowledge that Trump lost the election. The GOP refuses to take action against treason. Their personal power and wealth is more important than the survival of democracy. Plus the Monied Right have given us a Supreme Court now that may well support moving to an autocratic theocracy.
US citizens tend to believe their democracy is immortal. It's not. It's being severely tested now. What happens in the next few years will change the world for better or worse. There's no guarantee those on the side of freedom and equality will be the victors in this new civil war.
We must adapt our laws to deal with threats that the internet enables. I don't have the answers, but I do have the questions.
From what I can tell, money is a factor in all of these cases. Tat a minimum they have lots of followers on social media, so ad revenue is an issue. And for a number (if not all) of these folks, there are side hustles - video tapes, alternative medicines, etc. - that bring in a lot of money. Probably speaking engagements add up too.
I'm guessing that for some, the money is the main draw. I don't know how many of these people believe what they are saying. We know that outrageousness generates clicks. But I'm sure a few of these despicable people have convinced themselves they are speaking the truth.
The spreading of disinformation is a key weapon in the arsenal of autocracy.
The List
These are the 12 (really 13) people they Center for Digital Hate identified. The report also has examples of the kinds of post they distribute.
[All these profiles are from Center for Countering Digital Hate a study The Disinformation Dozen. [The pics of the perps didn't transfer over to here and it's more work than I want to do to redo them all, so for the pics I recommend visiting the original source linked two lines up. It also includes examples of their dirty work.]]
1 Joseph Mercola
Facebook: Active
Twitter: Active
Instagram:Active
Joseph Mercola is a successful anti-vaccine entrepreneur, peddling dietary supplementsand false cures as alternatives to vaccines. Mercola’s combined personal social mediaaccounts have around 3.6 million followers.
2 Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Facebook: Active
Twitter: Active
Instagram: Part Removed
Kennedy is a long-standing anti-vaxxer, and his Children’s Health Defense (CHD) hosts a range of anti-vaccine articles.
Kennedy’s account was banned from Instagram on 8 February, yet his Facebook Page remains active, as does the CHD’s Instagram page.
Kennedy and Children’s Health Defense released a film in mid-March targeting members of the Black and Latino communities with tailored anti-vaccine messages. Facebook and Twitter continue to allow him a platform to promote these false claims.
3 Ty & Charlene Bollinger
Facebook: Active
Twitter: Active
Instagram: Active
Ty and Charlene Bollinger are anti-vax entrepreneurs who run a network of accounts that market books and DVDs about vaccines, cancer and COVID-19. In 2020 they launched the United Medical Freedom Super PAC ahead of last year’s United States elections.
The Bollingers have promoted the conspiracy theory that Bill Gates plans to inject everyone with microchips as part of a vaccination program.
“You’re going to love owning the platinum package,” Charlene Bollinger tells viewers, as a picture of a DVD set, booklets and other products flashes on screen. Her husband, Ty, promises a “director’s cut edition,” and over 100 hours of additional footage.
Click the orange button, his wife says, “to join in the fight for health freedom” — or more specifically, to pay $199 to $499 for the Bollingers’ video series, “The Truth About Vaccines 2020.”
The Bollingers are part of an ecosystem of for-profit companies, nonprofit groups, YouTube channels and other social media accounts that stoke fear and distrust of COVID-19 vaccines, resorting to what medical experts say is often misleading and false information.
Wikipedia says he's a former body builder with no medical training.
4 Sherri Tenpenny
Facebook:Part Active
Twitter: Active
Instagram: Active
Sherri Tenpenny is an osteopath physician who spreads anti-vaccine sentiment and false claims about the safety and efficacy of masks via her social media channels. While her Facebook account has been removed, her Twitter and Instagram are still intact.
"Since 2017, Tenpenny and her business partner, Matthew Hunt, have taught a six-week, $623 course titled "Mastering Vaccine Info Boot Camp" designed to "sow seeds of doubt" regarding public health information. During the course, Tenpenny explains her views on the immune system and vaccines, and Hunt instructs participants on how best to use persuasion tactics in conversation to communicate the information.[9]
Tenpenny promotes anti-vaccination videos sold by Ty and Charlene Bollinger and receives a commission whenever her referrals result in a sale,[10] a practice known as affiliate marketing.[11]"
5 Rizza Islam
Facebook: Removed
Twitter: Active
Instagram: Active
Rizza Islam’s anti-vaccine posts aim to spread vaccine hesitancy amongst African Americans. While Facebook removed Rizza Islam’s Facebook Page in February, he continues to post anti-vaccine messages from his Instagram and Twitter accounts.
From Wikipedia entry on the World Literacy Program of which Rizza Islam was Executive Director.
World Literacy Crusade (WLC) is a non-profit organisation formed in 1992 by the Rev. Alfreddie Johnson to fight illiteracy, and supported by the Church of Scientology.[1][2] The group uses "study technologies" and "drug rehabilitation technologies" developed by L. Ron Hubbard, the Church's founder.[3][4] It has been characterized as a "Scientology front group",[5][6] and has been promoted by celebrity Scientologists such as Isaac Hayes and Anne Archer.[1]
Legal issues
The LA Times reported in 2008 that about 100 protestors gathered outside of the World Literacy Crusade offices after being sold fake low cost housing vouchers for as much as $1500. Officials at WLC admitted to selling the free vouchers, but stated they did not know they were fake.[7] The Compton, Californian offices of the WLC housed a drug detox program using “dry heat sweat therapy”.[8] In 2015 the executive director of WLC, Hanan Islam, Ronnie Steven Islam (AKA Rizza Islam) and her adult children were arrested for Medi-Cal fraud and insurance fraud for billing for this detox program.[9][10]
The Anti-Defamation League cites his anti-Semitic and anti-LGBTQ rhetoric.
6 Rashid Buttar
Facebook: Active
Twitter: Active
Instagram: Active
Rashid Buttar is an osteopath physician and conspiracy theorist known for videos posted to his YouTube channel.
Rashid Buttar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rashid Buttar
Nationality American
Education Des Moines University
Occupation Physician
Known for Conspiracy theories,
Anti-vaccine views
Rashid Ali Buttar (born January 20, 1966) is an American osteopathic physician from Charlotte, North Carolina, also known as a conspiracy theory and vaccine hesitancy proponent.[1] He is known for his controversial use of chelation therapy for numerous conditions, including autism and cancer.[2] He has twice been reprimanded by the North Carolina Board of Medical Examiners for unprofessional conduct[3][4] and cited by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for illegal marketing of unapproved and adulterated drugs.[5][6][7]
7 Erin Elizabeth
Facebook: Active
Twitter: Active
Instagram: Active
Erin Elizabeth, partner to Joseph Mercola, runs Health Nut News, a prominent ‘alternative health’ website with affiliated newsletter and social media accounts.
8 Sayer Ji
Facebook: Active
Twitter: Removed
Instagram: Part Removed
Sayer Ji runs a popular alternative health website, GreenMedInfo.com, and affiliated social media accounts that promote pseudoscience and anti-vaccine misinformation. Despite his GreenMedInfo accounts being removed by Twitter and Instagram, it is still available on Facebook.
An article on GreenMedInfo.com falsely claimed that "The FDA knows that rushed-to- market COVID-19 vaccines may cause a wide range of life-threatening side effects, including death."
"Ji obtained a BA in philosophy from Rutgers University in 1995.[2] He has previously owned an organic food market in Bonita Springs.[3][4]
He is the former editor of the defunct International Journal of Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine [5] and a member of the advisory board and a former vice-president of the National Health Federation, a lobby group opposing government regulation of alternative health practitioners and supplements retailers.[5][6][7][8]
Ji became popular promoting common alternative medicine beliefs, such as enthusiasm for ancient healing practices and the claim that the appearance of some foods is meant to indicate which organ of the human body they are meant to cure.[5] While he always invited his readers to be suspicious of governments, health authorities and pharmaceutical companies, during the COVID-19 pandemic Ji joined other proponents of alternative medicine in embracing conspiracy theories about allegedly oppressive global organizations.[1][9]
Ji denies being an anti-vaccination activist, but consistently shares false or misleading messages about vaccine safety and efficacy.[10][5][11][12] He is married to Kelly Brogan, another well-known promoter of medical misinformation.[11] He lives in Florida.[8][13]"
9 Kelly Brogan
Facebook: Removed
Twitter: Active
Instagram: Active
Kelly Brogan is the partner of fellow alternative health entrepreneur Sayer Ji. She claimsto practice “holistic psychiatry” and sells a range of books and courses from her website.
10 Christiane Northrup
Facebook: Active
Twitter: Active
Instagram: Active
Christiane Northrup is an obstetrics and gynecology physician who has embraced alternative medicine and anti-vaccine conspiracies. She has used her social media accounts to spread disinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine.
11 Ben Tapper
Facebook: Active
Twitter: Active
Instagram: Active
Ben Tapper is a chiropractor with a growing following on social media. He has routinely posted COVID disinformation and spoken out against masking.
Example Violations
12 Kevin Jenkins
Facebook: Active
Twitter: Active
Instagram: Active
Kevin Jenkins is an anti-vaccine activist with a growing social media presence who has appeared at public events with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Jenkins has called vaccines a“conspiracy” to “wipe out” black people and is a co-founder of the Freedom Airway & Freedom Travel Alliance, a company founded in late 2020 to help its members travel around the world without observing any masking, quarantining, vaccination, or other pandemic control measures.
The report is pushing for Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to shut down their accounts - and some of these folks have many different accounts.
They succeed because of people like the man below.
The idea that constitutional rights can't be abridged comes up against the fact that the exercise of one person's constitutional rights can curtail the constitutional rights of others. Then we have to evaluate which right is more critical. Letting FB cut people off is not an issue because it's the government, not private companies, that must not abridge people's rights. Companies may set conditions which apply to all users equally - based on behavior, not inherent traits such as race and gender.
What can you do?
I don't want to just offer bad news without giving people some ideas of what can be done about it. People should share such information with policy makers - you can easily email your members of Congress even if you don't have the power to implement these things yourself. Or you can join or donate to organizations that fight these problems. Here are a few ideas just to remind you that every problem has ways to mitigate it and people who have taken on this project.
How to fight lies, tricks,and chaos online - There are a number of sites that offer individuals steps to prevent receiving misinformation. This is one of the best I saw. It also includes when to report to law enforcement. And it recognizes that this is all complicated and no checklist is fool proof. This is definitely worth a look.
A guide to anti-misinformation actions around the world - This offers a list, country by country, of measures to stop the spread of misinformation. Unfortunately, many of the countries are authoritarian regimes that don't offer us much help. But worth a look to see what other democracies are doing.
MITIGATING MEDICAL MISINFORMATION: A WHOLE-OF-SOCIETY APPROACH TO COUNTERING SPAM, SCAMS, AND HOAXES
"This brief addresses how the public health sector, along with a coalition of civil servants, media workers, technology companies, and civil society organizations, can understand and respond to the problem of medical media manipulation, specifically how it spreads online. Here we present a supplementary research-and-response method in correspondence with the World Health Organization (WHO)’s already suggested framework for dealing with the infodemic, with a focus on media manipulation.2"
How to Slow the Spread of Disinformation: A Guide for Newsrooms -
Congressional Panel On Internet And Disinformation... Includes Many Who Spread Disinformation Online - This one has a promising title, but it doesn't live up to the promise. It demonstrates the problem of people writing about complex without really being experts themselves. (Like I'm doing here.) This person writes very little about what was debated. He basically pulls out stuff he disagrees with and throws up his hands. The comments, though, offer a sense of the complexity and conflicts of goals involved in all this.
How Data Privacy Laws Can Fight Fake News - This post argues that by protecting personal privacy online, it would be harder for people to be targeted for mis- and disinformation.
That's enough. People are working on this. Find them and support them.
What is a center for "countering"...??? That's the wrong name. Look, there's nothing new under the sun, no matter how "fast" the internet goes. Its always the same stuff, the basics -
ReplyDeleteDesire, ignorance, aversion.
There's also the cult that has 2.3 BILLION people in it - that believes a wrathful hippy "solo helms" the universe's "death panel". This should be where the focus is - untangling that crock of BS - rather than "countering" webpages. There's no thing to counter. Let's not cover ignorance in vegan fruity icing and call it something else.
DeleteI appreciate your leaving comments. I realize it's sometimes hard for folks to do the comments with a name. Or they prefer not to. But it helps readers if you at least adopt of consistent alias so we can distinguish one anon from another. Just add a moniker at the end of your comments.
DeleteI'd also point out that while you rant against the euphemism "countering", you yourself cryptically refer to a cult you won't name. (I'm assuming these two comments are from the same anon.)
Finally, my perspective is that issues ebb and flow - so sometimes desire, ignorance, aversion are kept in check better than other times. When they get out of hand - and 2021 seems to be a case in point - we need to work harder to minimize them again. And like climbing a giant mountain, you have to break the task down into small manageable steps and work on them to achieve your goal.
And 'vegan fruity icing'? Not sure where that comes from, but on a hot day that could be good.