Category Archives: cheap speech

“‘They Have Not Legitimately Won’: Pro-Trump Media Keeps the Disinformation Flowing

January 21, 2021, 8:22 amcheap speech, fraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

NYT: Forgoing any appeals for healing or reflection, right-wing media organizations that spread former President Donald J. Trump’s distortions about the 2020 election continued on Wednesday to push conspiracy theories about large-scale fraud, with some predicting more political conflict in… Continue reading

“Misinformation dropped dramatically the week after Twitter banned Trump”

January 16, 2021, 4:19 pmcheap speech, chicaneryRick Hasen

WaPo: Online misinformation about election fraud plunged 73 percent after several social media sites suspended President Trump and key allies last week, research firm Zignal Labs has found, underscoring the power of tech companies to limit the falsehoods poisoning public… Continue reading

“YouTube Suspends Trump’s Channel for at Least Seven Days”

January 13, 2021, 7:16 amcheap speechRick Hasen

NYT: YouTube said on Tuesday that it had suspended President Trump’s channel over concern about “ongoing potential for violence,” the latest move by one of the large technology companies to limit the president online.In a post on YouTube’s official Twitter… Continue reading

“Trump’s Census Director Is Trying To Rush Out Data On Noncitizens, Watchdog Says”

January 12, 2021, 5:58 pmcheap speechRick Hasen

NPR: In the last days of the Trump administration, Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham has pressured employees at the agency to speed up the production of a data report about noncitizens, including unauthorized immigrants, the bureau’s internal watchdog group says.… Continue reading

“Fringe Groups Splinter Online After Facebook and Twitter Bans”

January 12, 2021, 7:48 amcheap speech, chicaneryRick Hasen

NYT: Social media has played a crucial role in the support of Mr. Trump since he announced his intention to run for president five years ago. And the rioters who attacked the Capitol last week did much of their planning… Continue reading

Facebook Suspends Trump Until After Biden Inauguration So Trump Doesn’t Interfere with Peaceful Transition of Power

January 7, 2021, 8:16 amcheap speech, Election MeltdownRick Hasen

Zuckerberg statement.

“Have Trump’s Lies Wrecked Free Speech?”

January 6, 2021, 7:16 amcheap speechRick Hasen

Tom Edsall NYT column: In the closing days of his presidency, Donald Trump has demonstrated that he can make innumerable false claims and assertions that millions of Republican voters will believe and more than 150 Republican members of the… Continue reading

“Misinformation Amplifiers Target Georgia Senate Races; The conservative social media personalities who spread baseless rumors of election fraud are starting to focus on the races that will decide control of the Senate.”

December 22, 2020, 11:14 amcheap speech, chicanery, fraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

NYT: Two weeks ago, the conservative media personalities Diamond and Silk falsely claimed on their Facebook page that people who were not eligible to vote were receiving ballots in Georgia’s special elections next month. Their post was shared more than… Continue reading

“From Voter Fraud to Vaccine Lies: Misinformation Peddlers Shift Gears”

December 16, 2020, 7:04 amcheap speech, fraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

NYT: Sidney Powell, a lawyer who was part of President Trump’s legal team, spread a conspiracy theory last month about election fraud. For days, she claimed that she would “release the Kraken” by showing voluminous evidence… Continue reading

“Social media bet on labels to combat election misinformation. Trump proved it’s not enough”

December 8, 2020, 8:35 pmcheap speech, fraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

CNN: Around the election, social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter were praised for how quickly and widely they applied warning labels to misinformation.But President Donald Trump’s 46-minute video last week, which was riddled with election misinformation and conspiracy theories… Continue reading

“Facebook didn’t label some Georgia-related election misinformation, activist group says”

December 4, 2020, 5:21 pmcheap speechRick Hasen

CNN: Facebook failed to apply fact-check labels on some election misinformation related to Georgia, according to a report from activist group Avaaz. Facebook has relied on fact-checking and contextual labels as a centerpiece of its strategy for combating misinformation… Continue reading

“Right-Wing Social Media Finalizes Its Divorce From Reality”

November 24, 2020, 12:03 pmcheap speech, Election MeltdownRick Hasen

Renee DiResta for The Atlantic: Yet reducing the supply of misinformation doesn’t eliminate the demand. Powerful online influencers and the right-wing demi-media—intensely partisan outlets, such as One America News and Newsmax, that amplify ideas that bubble up from internet message… Continue reading

“Roiled by Election, Facebook Struggles to Balance Civility and Growth”

November 24, 2020, 7:06 amcheap speechRick Hasen

NYT: In the tense days after the presidential election, a team of Facebook employees presented the chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, with an alarming finding: Election-related misinformation was going viral on the site.President Trump was already casting the election as rigged,… Continue reading

“How Misinformation ‘Superspreaders’ Seed False Election Theories”

November 23, 2020, 4:52 pmcheap speech, chicanery, fraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

NYT: On the morning of Nov. 5, Eric Trump, one of the president’s sons, asked his Facebook followers to report cases of voter fraud with the hashtag, Stop the Steal. His post was shared over 5,000 times.By late afternoon, the… Continue reading