Jeff Bezos' former housekeeper is suing the Amazon founder for workplace discrimination that she says forced her to literally climb out out the window of his house to use the bathroom.

In the suit, filed this week in a Washington state court, the former housekeeper claimed that she and Bezos' other household staff were not provided with legally-mandated eating or restroom breaks, and that because there was no "readily accessible bathroom" for them to use, they had to clamber out a laundry room window to get to one.

In the complaint, lawyers for the ex-housekeeper, who is described as having worked for wealthy families for nearly 20 years, wrote that household staff were initially allowed to use a small bathroom in the security room of Bezos' main house, but "this soon stopped... because it was decided that housekeepers using the bathroom was a breach of security protocol."

The suit also alleges that housekeepers in the billionaire's employ "frequently developed Urinary Tract Infections" that they believed was related to not being able to use the bathroom when they needed to at work.

"There was no breakroom for the housekeepers," the complaint adds. "Even though Plaintiff worked 10, 12, and sometimes 14 hours a day, there was no designated area for her to sit down and rest."

The housekeeper — who, like almost all of her coworkers, is Latino — was allegedly not aware that she was entitled to breaks for lunch or rest, and was only able to have a lunch break when Bezos or his family were not on the premises, the lawsuit alleges.

The Washington Post owner has denied his former housekeeper's claims of discrimination through an attorney.

"We have investigated the claims, and they lack merit," Harry Korrell, a Bezos attorney, told Insider of the suit. "[The former employee] made over six figures annually and was the lead housekeeper."

He added that the former housekeeper "was responsible for her own break and meal times, and there were several bathrooms and breakrooms available to her and other staff."

"The evidence will show that [the former housekeeper] was terminated for performance reasons," he continued. "She initially demanded over $9M, and when the company refused, she decided to file this suit."

As the suit was just filed and may well end in a settlement, it'll likely be a long time, if ever, before we find out what really happened at Bezos' house — but if we do, it'll be a fascinating peek behind the curtain at the home life of one of the world's most powerful and wealthy men.

More on billionaires: Tesla Morale Low As Workers Still Don't Have Desks, Face Increased Attendance Surveillance

The post Jeff Bezos' Housekeeper Says She Had to Climb Out the Window to Use the Bathroom appeared first on Futurism.

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Jeff Bezos' Housekeeper Says She Had to Climb Out the Window to Use the Bathroom

You know that "research" going around saying humans are going to evolve to have hunchbacks and claws because of the way we use our smartphones? Though our posture could certainly use some work, you'll be glad to know that it's just lazy spam intended to juice search engine results.

Let's back up. Today the Daily Mail published a viral story about "how humans may look in the year 3000." Among its predictions: hunched backs, clawed hands, a second eyelid, a thicker skull and a smaller brain.

Sure, that's fascinating! The only problem? The Mail's only source is a post published a year ago by the renowned scientists at... uh... TollFreeForwarding.com, a site that sells, as its name suggests, virtual phone numbers.

If the idea that phone salespeople are purporting to be making predictions about human evolution didn't tip you off, this "research" doesn't seem very scientific at all. Instead, it more closely resembles what it actually is — a blog post written by some poor grunt, intended to get backlinks from sites like the Mail that'll juice TollFreeForwarding's position in search engine results.

To get those delicious backlinks, the top minds at TollFreeForwarding leveraged renders of a "future human" by a 3D model artist. The result of these efforts is "Mindy," a creepy-looking hunchback in black skinny jeans (which is how you can tell she's from a different era).

Grotesque model reveals what humans could look like in the year 3000 due to our reliance on technology

Full story: https://t.co/vQzyMZPNBv pic.twitter.com/vqBuYOBrcg

— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) November 3, 2022

"To fully realize the impact everyday tech has on us, we sourced scientific research and expert opinion on the subject," the TollFreeForwarding post reads, "before working with a 3D designer to create a future human whose body has physically changed due to consistent use of smartphones, laptops, and other tech."

Its sources, though, are dubious. Its authority on spinal development, for instance, is a "health and wellness expert" at a site that sells massage lotion. His highest academic achievement? A business degree.

We could go on and on about TollFreeForwarding's dismal sourcing — some of which looks suspiciously like even more SEO spam for entirely different clients — but you get the idea.

It's probably not surprising that the this gambit for clicks took off among dingbats on Twitter. What is somewhat disappointing is that it ended up on StudyFinds, a generally reliable blog about academic research. This time, though, for inscrutable reasons it treated this egregious SEO spam as a legitimate scientific study.

The site's readers, though, were quick to call it out, leading to a comically enormous editor's note appended to the story.

"Our content is intended to stir debate and conversation, and we always encourage our readers to discuss why or why not they agree with the findings," it reads in part. "If you heavily disagree with a report — please debunk to your delight in the comments below."

You heard them! Get debunking, people.

More conspiracy theories: If You Think Joe Rogan Is Credible, This Bizarre Clip of Him Yelling at a Scientist Will Probably Change Your Mind

The post That "Research" About How Smartphones Are Causing Deformed Human Bodies Is SEO Spam, You Idiots appeared first on Futurism.

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That "Research" About How Smartphones Are Causing Deformed Human Bodies Is SEO Spam, You Idiots

Just a few years ago, fake news" was something you'd find in supermarket tabloids.

Now, though, the line between fake news" and real news" can seem awfully blurry. Fake news" has been blamed for everything from swaying the U.S. presidential election to prompting a man to open fire at a Washington, DC pizza parlor.

A real news" outlet, such as a major newspaper or television network, might make mistakes, but it doesn't distribute false information on purpose. Reporters and editors who report real news have a code of ethics that includes using reputable sources, checking facts, and getting comments from people on both sides of an issue.

Fake news outlets, on the other hand, are designed to deceive. They might have URLs that sound like legitimate news organizations, and they might even copy other news sites' design. They may invent news" stories or republish stories from other internet sources without checking to see if they are true. Their purpose is usually to get clicks" and generate ad revenue or to promote their owners' political viewpoint.

Some fake news" is published on satire sites that are usually clearly labeled as satire. However, when people share articles without reading beyond the headline, a story that was supposed to be a parody can end up being taken as the truth.

The First Amendment protects Americans' rights to freely exchange ideaseven false or controversial ones. If the government passed laws outlawing fake news, that would be censorship that would also have a chilling effect on real news that people disagree with.

The main legal recourse against fake news is a defamation lawsuit. You can sue someone for defamation if they published a false fact about you and you suffered some sort of damage as a resultsuch as a lost job, a decline in revenue, or a tarnished reputation. If you are an ordinary, private person, you also must show that the news outlet was negligent (or careless).

But most fake news relates to public figures, who can only win a defamation lawsuit by showing that the news outlet acted with actual malice." This means that the author must have known the story was false or must have had a reckless disregard" for whether it was true or not. It's usually a difficult standard to meet, but defamation suits may become more common as concern about fake news grows.

For example, Chobani yogurt recently filed a defamation suit against conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his site, Infowars, over a video and tweet headlined Idaho Yogurt Maker Caught Importing Migrant Rapists." Jones' tweet led to a boycott of the popular yogurt brand.

Defamation liability isn't limited to the person who first published a fake storyit extends to anyone who republishes it on a website or blog. Melania Trump, for example, recently settled defamation lawsuits against a Maryland blogger, who published an article in August 2016, and the online Daily Mail that published a similar false article later that month.

Fake news can be hard to identify, with some fake news sites looking and sounding almost exactly like well-known media outlets. Here are some tips for figuring out what's fake and what's real:

In the end, the law can't protect you from fake news. Get your news from sources that you know are reputable, do your research, and read beyond the headlines. And, if you find out an article is fake, don't share it. That's the surest way to stop a false story from spreading.

Excerpt from:

Fake News: What Laws Are Designed to Protect | LegalZoom

For Rohit Chandra, vice president of engineering at Yahoo, more humans in the loop would help. I see a need in the market to develop standards, he says. "We cant fact-check every story, but there must be enough eyes on the content that we know the quality bar stays high.

Google is also helping fact-checking organisations like Full Fact, which is developing new technologies that can identify and even correct false claims. Full Fact is creating an automated fact-checker that will monitor claims made on TV, in newspapers, in parliament or on the internet.

Initially it will be targeting claims that have already been fact-checked by humans and send out corrections automatically in an attempt to shut down rumours before they get started. As artificial intelligence gets smarter, the system will also do some fact-checking of its own.

For a claim like crime is rising, it is relatively easy for a computer to check, says Moy. We know where to get the crime figures and we can write an algorithm that can make a judgement about whether crime is rising. We did a demonstration project last summer to prove we can automate the checking of claims like that. The challenge is going to be writing tools that can check specific types of claims, but over time it will become more powerful.

What would Watson do?

It is an approach being attempted by a number of different groups around the world. Researchers at the University of Mississippi and Indiana University are both working on an automated fact-checking system. One of the worlds most advanced AIs has also had a crack at tackling this problem. IBM has spent several years working on ways that its Watson AI could help internet users distinguish fact from fiction. They built a fact-checker app that could sit in a browser and use Watsons language skills to scan the page and give a percentage likelihood of whether it was true. But according to Ben Fletcher, senior software engineer at IBM Watson Research who built the system, it was unsuccessful in tests - but not because it couldnt spot a lie.

We got a lot of feedback that people did not want to be told what was true or not, he says. At the heart of what they want, was actually the ability to see all sides and make the decision for themselves. A major issue most people face without knowing it is the bubble they live in. If they were shown views outside that bubble they would be much more open to talking about them.

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Lies, propaganda and fake news: A challenge for our age

from the until-all-that's-left-are-government-approved-journalists dept

Turkey continues to fall back in the freedom field. Or maybe its surging ahead in the oppression field! Maybe thats the list it wants to top.

Whatever the case, Turkeys government has followed the lead of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, converting critics to criminals and seizing control of a large percentage of the press apparatus so Erdogan and his government lackeys seldom have to hear a discouraging word.

The governments Communications Directorate directly controls several press outlets. Those who havent been taken over are routinely hit in the pocketbook when the government pulls ad buys in response to reporting not deemed sufficiently ethical. Truly independent outlets are going extinct, thanks to the governments insistence on jailing as many critical journalists as possible, all while pretending critical coverage is pretty much just terrorism.

The government has also gotten into the fake news business. It is combating disinformation in its own particularly brutish way. With elections on the way, the ruling party is doing what it can to ensure it stays in the ruling position. A recently-passed law targeting disinformation was just made much worse, tacking on jail time for those who share content the government has declared suddenly illegal.

Turkey criminalized the spread of what authorities describe as false information on digital platforms, giving the government new powers in the months remaining before elections.

The measure, proposed by the governing AK Party and its nationalist ally MHP, is part of a broader disinformation law that was adopted by parliament on Thursday. It mandates a jail term of one to three years for users who share online content that contains false information on the countrys security, public order and overall welfare in an attempt to incite panic or fear.

Its nice that in an attempt to incite panic is tacked on at the end. It almost makes it appear as though Turkish prosecutors might have to prove intent. Somehow, I doubt that last phrase will matter much when the government starts enforcing this law. It will be the rest of it that matters most.

This will allow the government to jail anyone who contradicts the official narrative when discussing matters related to national security, public order, or overall welfare. Discussing terrorist attacks or document leaks? Security. Talking about protests against the Turkish government? Public order. Pointing out public utility problems or social services failures? Overall welfare

Theres enough in this vague wording to criminalize nearly any criticism of the government, especially if the government takes the step (and it will) of denying allegations are true. If the official response is ignored (or maybe even if it isnt!), the content becomes disinformation and the government can start rounding people up.

Journalists will be the most natural target since everything covered by this vague wording is of public interest. Those sharing this content will be next. And the few brave souls who venture onto social media platforms to discuss their subjective experiences will be right there with them.

The Turkish government is little more than a bundle of chilling effects at this point. This latest law just converts implied threats into actual jail time.

Filed Under: disinformation, fake news, free speech, journalism, recep tayyip erdogan, turkey

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Turkey Still Thinks It Hasn't Jailed Enough Journalists, Add Prison Sentences To Its 'Fake News' Law - Techdirt

The internet is teeming with fake news sites. That's not a political statement, but the conclusion of a new study by DomainTools, a security analysts company.

The new study analyzed some of the top media outlets in the U.S. to determine their susceptibility to domain-squatting and spoofed domains. The bogus URLs may spread disinformation or malicious code, according to DomainTools.

As distrust of traditional media continues to grow, protecting the public from disinformation campaigns has become pertinent to the democratic process, says Corin Imai, a senior security advisor of DomainTools.

So which news sites have the highest fake scores? And what does it mean for the average news consumer? You'll probably be surprised by the answers.

Why study fake news sites?

Authenticity and trust are the building blocks of a terrific customer service experience. So, as a consumer advocate, and as a heavy consumer of news, I followstudies like this closely.

DomainTools' research shows how malicious actors use tricks like typosquatting and spoofing on domains as tactics to carry out malicious campaigns.

Typosquatting, also called URL hijacking, relies on mistakes made by Internet users when typing a website address into a web browser. Spoofing happens when a scammer pretends to be a premium publisher. These criminal activities can potentially extract personally identifiable information, download malware to a device, or spoof news sites to spread disinformation.

"Its no secret that disinformation campaigns have been on the rise," Imai told me. "With the uptick in fake news sites in recent years, we were curious about the possible connection between typosquatting campaigns and the dissemination of disinformation. What we found is that domain names of top news outlets have indeed been spoofed, and subject to typosquatting techniques."

These are the most fake news sites

Among the news site rankings, there are a few surprises. The top news site, for example, is not a national newspaper or a computer-security site but has still managed to draw a record 52 "high risk" domains, according to DomainTools. The "safest" of the sites also fits the same description.

Here's the list of publishers with the most high-risk domains:

1. Newsday (52 historical high-risk domains)

2. The New York Times (49 historical high-risk domains)

3. The Washington Post (20 historical high-risk domains)

4. The New York Post (16 historical high-risk domains)

5. Los Angeles Times (13 historical high-risk domains)

6. New York Daily News (10 historical high-risk domains)

7. USA Today (9 historical high-risk domains)

8. The Boston Globe (6 historical high-risk domains)

9. CSO (5 historical high-risk domains)

10. Chicago Tribune (5 historical high-risk domains)

DomainTools chose an initial list of media organizations based on traffic to the legitimate site.

"We had a hunch that the media organizations with the highest readerships were likely to be more lucrative for scammers seeking to spoof domain names," says Imai. "Our team compiled a list of the top media organizations based on audience size. This methodology gave us not only a set of online properties to investigate, but also a sense of the potential pool of the criminals targets."

(Oh, and in case you're wondering -- Forbes didn't make the list. It's squeaky clean.)

Why fake new sites matter

For news consumers, the biggest threat is what's referred to as "typosquatting," according to DomainTools (registering Forbs.it, for example, and posting bogus posts). It's particularly important, considering how frequently users misspell words, and how easy it is to fool even vigilant internet users.

Typosquatters can look legitimate, with legitimate SSL certificates and professional websites, used to trick Internet users into a false sense of security.

The bad guys also re-purpose once valid Internet real-estate, squatting on old, once-legitimate domains. That buys them time to iron out any inconsistencies with their attack infrastructure, allowing them to escape detection, according to DomainTools.

How to avoid fake news sites

Sites that spread disinformation often take advantage of the pace at which users skim the internet and their preferred news sources for breaking news. These campaigns could potentially steal and harvest personally identifiable information, download malware to a device or spoof news sites to spread disinformation to the public, according to DomainTools.

How do you avoid a fake news site?

Think before you click. Hover your mouse over any suspicious domain names or links to find out if theyre legit. "By hovering over a domain name, youll be able to get a glimpse to find out if they are who they say they are," says Imai.

Consider bookmarking your favorite news sources. That allows you to avoid misspelling the domain name when typing into the search bar.

Watch out for domains that have COM-[text] in them. "We're so accustomed to seeing .com that we can easily overlook the extra text appended to it with a dash," says Imai.

Go directly to the news source website. Don't follow a link through a newsletter or email.

Stay security savvy. "Remain educated and up-to-date on the latest scams that circulate through the web," says Imai. "Flagging suspicious emails and sending them straight to spam is also another great method to consider when steering clear from unusual activity."

Use a reliable search tool. Type in the name of the news site into Google search instead of into the address field. This will prevent any typos you may make from pulling up a fake site.

Will this change how people consume news?

As part of my research, I asked regular news consumers if the presence of fake news sites would affect their trust in the news media. Would it surprise you to hear that the answer was "no"?

Roughly one-third of my readers said they don't trust any mainstream media outlets, including all the ones for which I write. Ouch. Another third only trusts established mainstream media outlets like this one. And the balance reflected the sentiments of Patricia Seward, a retired health care executive from Kansas City.

"I dont trust any of the news outlets," she says.

In other words, the DomainTools research, while interesting, is unlikely to change the highly polarized view of the news media in the United States.

Continue reading here:

Here Are The Real Fake News Sites - Forbes

An Iranian female competitive climber left South Korea Tuesday after competing at an event in which she climbed without her nations mandatory headscarf covering, authorities said.

Farsi-language media outside of Iran warned she may have been forced to leave early by Iranian officials and could face arrest back home, which Tehran quickly denied.

The decision by Elnaz Rekabi, a multiple medalist in competitions, to forgo the headscarf, or hijab, came as protests sparked by the September 16 death in custody of a 22-year-old woman have entered the fifth week. Mahsa Amini was detained by the countrys morality police over her clothing.

The demonstrations, drawing school-age children, oil workers and others to the street, represent the most serious challenge to Irans theocracy since the mass protests surrounding its disputed 2009 presidential election.

Rekabi left Seoul on a Tuesday morning flight, the Iranian Embassy in South Korea said. The BBCs Persian service, which has extensive contacts within Iran despite being banned from operating there, quoted an unnamed informed source who described Iranian officials as seizing both Rekabis mobile phone and passport.

BBC Persian also said she initially had been scheduled to return on Wednesday, but her flight apparently had been moved up unexpectedly.

IranWire, another website focusing on the country founded by Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari who once was detained by Iran, alleged that Rekabi would be immediately transferred to Tehrans notorious Evin Prison after arriving in the country. Evin Prison was the site of a massive fire this weekend that killed at least eight prisoners.

In a tweet, the Iranian Embassy in Seoul denied all the fake, false news and disinformation regarding Rekabis departure on Tuesday. But instead of posting a photo of her from the Seoul competition, it posted an image of her wearing a headscarf at a previous competition in Moscow, where she also took a bronze medal.

Calls to the Iranian Embassy in Seoul were unanswered Tuesday.

Rekabi didnt put on a hijab during Sundays final at the International Federation of Sport Climbings Asia Championship, according to the Seoul-based Korea Alpine Federation, the organisers of the event.

Federation officials said Rekabi wore a hijab during her initial appearances at the one-week climbing event. Rekabi was a member of Irans 11-member delegation, which comprises eight athletes and three coaches, to the event, according to the federation.

Federation officials said they were not initially aware of Rekabi competing without the hijab but looked into the case after receiving inquires about her. They said the event doesnt have any rules on requiring female athletes wearing or not wearing headscarves. However, Iranian women competing abroad under the Iranian flag always wear the hijab.

South Koreas Justice Ministry refused to confirm whether the Iranian athlete is still in South Korea or has left the country, citing privacy-related regulations. South Koreas Foreign Ministry said it has no comments on the issue.

Rekabi, 33, has finished on the podium three times in the Asian Championships, taking one silver and two bronze medals for her efforts.

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Iran: Competitive climber Elnaz Rekabi may be imprisoned after competing without hijab; Tehran terms it 'fake news' - The Indian Express

Read this in The Manila Times digital edition.

POLICYMAKERS and others should look more closely at the Pulse Asia survey on fake news before reacting. With so many Filipinos concerned about it, the tendency might be to clamp down so hard on the problem that even free speech is affected.

For starters, the questions Pulse Asia asked seem problematic. It does not actually define fake news, relying only on the respondent's understanding of that term. Second, the survey questions inaccurately equate fake news with words like "untrue," "false" and "misinformation." For instance, one survey question reads: "How often do you read, hear, or watch news about government and politics that are untrue or fake news?"

Granted, no universal definition of fake news exists, but the concept suggests that it refers to something deliberate or intentional and perhaps motivated by something sinister. As such, it would be more appropriate to liken fake news with black propaganda and disinformation.

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In contrast, information that is false merely because of an error or is inadvertently misleading in other words, misinformation does not make it fake. More importantly, opinion that is disagreeable or unpopular should not be lumped into that category.

Far too often in recent years, political figures have used fake news as a shield when their views and interpretation of facts are challenged, often by mainstream media or by rivals and critics. Admittedly, that tactic has had some success in blunting legitimate criticism, but prevailing in an argument does not make one right or truthful. Certainly, slapping on that label does not make the challenger or the questions posed to dubious politicians as false or fake.

Moreover, it may be simplistic, inadequate or even inappropriate to identify fake news by invoking that famous quote from the late American politician, Daniel Patrick Moynihan. "You are entitled to your own opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts," he said.

There are many things in life which are not, as they say, black and white. Take for instance the depreciation of the Philippine peso. Is it good or bad? According to economists, that depends on whom one asks. Recipients of dollar remittances will say it is good, even as importers insist that it is bad.

The problem is not limited to economists, who often give more than one answer to a question. In Philippine history, the locals who fought the Americans in the 1900s were called insurrectionists, but in the eyes of Filipinos, they were freedom fighters fighting against colonialists who merely supplanted the Spaniards in exploiting this country.

The examples mentioned in this space demonstrate the complexity in legislating or legally prohibiting fake news. And it is not hard to imagine how some powerful people might misuse the campaign against fake news to silence contrarian views, disagreeable comments, and generally the right of people to question them. Even in history, progress happened after enough people questioned norms and other widely held beliefs.

Positive take

There is another way to interpret Pulse Asia's survey results. The overwhelming concern about fake news, whatever that may be to every respondent, suggests that people are beginning to develop a habit of questioning news and other information that they consume. That is relevant because the best defense against fake news is critical thinking.

The survey also reported that 55 percent of the respondents were confident in their ability to detect fake news. Only 7 percent said that they were not confident. That seems encouraging, but not surprising.

After all, fake news is not new, neither are echo chambers which are also blamed for spreading and amplifying disinformation. Published studies give many examples of fake news that date back more than a century. And despite the longtime presence of that menace, the world has not ended. Life went on, as people became better educated, more experienced, and generally less impressionable.

Also, previous generations have given people today several aphorisms that may serve as antidotes against fake news, like do not believe everything you read or watch on television. One could also turn to great philosophers, like Ren Descartes who said: "Doubt is the origin of wisdom."

See original here:

Think before reacting to survey on fake news - The Manila Times

Actor Akshay Kumar Goes After Publication Publishing Fake News About Him, Fans Love Him For It(Pic Credit: Movie Still)

Akshay Kumar is one of the biggest stars of the country and his fans blindly put their trust in him. Thats the reason why he calls out fake news whenever he sees it. One such incident has happened now where the actor rubbished an article put out by a website.

Recently, Akshay called out a popular news website for eyebrow-raising news about him. The article claimed that the actor was in possession of a private jet thats worth a whopping 260 crores! He hit back at the publication.

Akshay Kumar said, Liar, Liarpants on fire! Heard this in childhood? Well, some people have clearly not grown up, and Im just not in a mood to let them get away with it. Write baseless lies about me, and Ill call it out. Here, a Pants on Fire (POF) gem for you. (thumbs down emoji) #POFbyAK.

Along with this statement Akshay Kumar also shared a poem he had read in his childhood. All done to reiterate his point. His fans loved his online punch to the fake news and came out to support him in droves.

Check out Akshays tweet below:

One Twitter user shared a popular meme from the Hera Pheri movie and added, Can we keep Pants on Fire at the same level with jali Naateri jali na.

Another fan said, Arey sir aise kon expose karta hai, nice to see your aggressive mood after long time.

Meanwhile, Akshay Kumar is gearing up for his upcoming release, Ram Setu. The movie also stars Nushrratt Bharuccha, Jacqueline Fernandez, Nassar, and Satyadev. The movie will hit theaters on October 25, around Diwali. His previous releases of 2022 include Samrat Prithviraj, Bachchhan Paandey, Cuttputlli, and Raksha Bandhan. None of them were able to make a noise at the box office.

What did you think about Akshay Kumars rowdy avatar online? Let us know and stay tuned for more Bollywood updates.

Must Read: Salman Khan Fan Says Sona Mohapatra Has Hijrah Jaisi Shakal, She Responds Getting D*cks Hard Might Be Job Of Women Supporting Sajid Khan & Riding Horses At Bhais Farmhouse

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Akshay Kumar Rips Apart Online Publication For Fake News, Fans Say, Nice To See Your Aggressive Mood After Long Time - Koimoi

Since Russia launched its "special military operation" into neighbouring Ukraine, media, political organisations and researchers in Ukrainian allied countries have accused Moscowof launching a propaganda blitzkriegmeant to justify the invasion.

Most notably the Kremlin has claimed Ukraine was committing "genocide"against its Russian-speaking population in the country's east.

It has also accused Kyiv of beingalignedwith Nazism, citing the"denazification" of Ukraine as a key reason fortheinvasion, and of operating biological weapons laboratories with USsupport.

However, experts say the Ukrainianshave also been running a propaganda campaign of theirown.

And while Ukraine hasproved surprisingly effective againstbetterequipped Russian forces on the battleground while still suffering some heavy losses, the story is much the same inthe information war as well.

War propaganda is the use of either real or fake information to manipulate opinion and evoke strong emotional reactions, such as fear, anger, guilt, admiration or outrage, explained Paul Baines, Professor of Political Marketing at the University of Leicester.

It has been used throughout history as a key tool of war and hasbecome a "necessity" of conflict that can take many forms, Mr Baines told the ABC.

While Russian claims of great victories against Ukrainian "Nazis" may be regarded aslaughable in the West where in some cases evidence to the contrary has been publicised before the claim itself researchers say these tactics have proved highly effective within Russia and among Russian allies.

Russia has spent decades perfecting a propaganda machine, through media control, censorship and harsh laws that forbid the dissemination of "false information" about the Russian army.

But early in the conflict, myths began to emerge from Ukraine as well.

Photos from other conflicts, movies and even video gameswere posted on social media claiming to be Russian attacks.

While researchers say these did not appear to originate from state-sanctionedinternet "trolls", as was the case in Russia, there were other narratives that were spread by government sources.

One story that was debunked by experts was that ofthe so-called Ghost of Kyiv, a mystery fighter pilot who was credited by the Ukrainian government with having shot down 10 Russian fighter jets.

The imagebelow turned out to befootagefrom a video game.

It's not just states or citizens involved in the conflict who have been spreading disinformation.

People "who have no apparent stake in the war have also been spinning conspiracy theories", said Esther Chan,APAC bureau editor at the Information Futures Lab.

Ms Chan said they were often just looking to boost their own social media following.

However, Ukraine needsthe backing of NATO and Western allies, whereexuberant claims canbackfire in the face of independent media and non-government watchdogs and think tanks.

While Ukraine supporters do still periodically post fake videos and false claims, the Ukrainiangovernmenthas in more recent times taken a different approach.

While the Kremlinfocusedon deception anddefamation along withcensorship, Ukrainefocused on diplomacy with the West, highlighting Russian atrocities and Ukrainian combat wins,Mr Baines said.

As Russia used fear and anger in attempts to justify it's invasion, Ukraine, who had been plunged into the war and by many counts held the moral high ground, used guilt and outrage to gain support from the West, he explained.

"Talking about their dire situation is not untrue, but the Ukrainians can play on that feeling of guilt," Mr Baines said.

Headdedthat President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a former comedian and actor hadeffectively weaponised the suffering of Ukrainians to exacerbate feelings of guilt and responsibility in the West.

"Zelenskyy's efforts at guilt tripping the West have resulted in probably one of the biggest shifts in military material to another country in history."

Kyiv and Mr Zelenskyyhimself havefurther built up an image of the "brave Ukrainian", helping with recruitment efforts as well as morale, Mr Baines said.

In recent weeks, Western media has been flooded with accounts of Russians fleeing conscription, with both real and fake images of convoys of fleeing Russians spreading on social media.

Meanwhile, Mr Baines said the"overarching narrative" in Ukraine has focusedonthe thousands of Ukrainians whovolunteeredto fight.

But conscription has also long existed in Ukraine and at the beginning of the conflict, the Ukraine governmentbanned all men aged 18-60 from leaving the country, instead instructing them toreport for duty at a military recruitment office.

While Ukraine may be winning hearts and minds in the West, elsewhere, Russia's more blatant tactics are succeeding, according to Darren Linvill, an associate professor at Clemson who co-leads the Media Forensics Hub.

"Whilewe like to think Ukraine is winning the information war, outside of the West, they are just not," Mr Linvill said.

"It's an uncomfortable reality ... but alot of the world is on Putin's side."

MrLinvill has been researching Russian propaganda and social media troll farms since their involvement inthe2016 US presidential election, identifying many millions of accounts with hundreds of thousands of followers on multipleplatforms.

But the Kremlin's disinformation campaigns against Ukraine are not primarily aimed at English language news outlets.

"The main target audience of most disinformation is a country's own people," he said.

He said it wasclear Moscow's defamation campaigns had gained traction everywhere besides English-language social media and western Europe.

One remarkably effective tactic used by Russia early in the war was disinformation false-flag operations, Mr Linvill said.

Dozens of videos were circulated claimingto debunk apparently nonexistent Ukrainian fakes.

The goal was to cast doubt over real images of Russian defeats, civilian deaths and destruction caused by the Ukraine invasion, he said.

Russian troll accounts, that were created to spread propaganda and fake news, began postingwarnings to beware ofpropaganda and fake news, he said.

"It's because of disinformation that that particular form of disinformation was so effective at reaching a broadaudience," he said.

"We were primed to look for disinformation."

Mr Linvill said the distrust that has resulted from fake news has led to unhealthy levels of distrust in society and has spurred harmful conspiracy theories.

While critical thinking is important, so is being able to trust.

"You can't simply distrust everything you read," he said.

"You just have to learn what to trust and learn the processes by which information flows."

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Ukraine and Russia's second front is a propaganda war. But who is winning? - ABC News

NEW YORK (AP) It was the kind of story that media reporter Brian Stelter would normally sink his teeth into if only it didnt involve him.

CNN said last week it was cancelling Reliable Sources, its 30-year-old program on the media, and letting Stelter go, part of a nascent effort by new management to reclaim a brand identity that it feels was damaged during the Trump era.

The news network, now under the Warner Discovery corporate banner and led since spring by CNN Worldwide Chairman Chris Licht, is trying to inject more balance into its programming and become less radioactive to Republicans. How and whether that can be accomplished remains a mystery.

CNN has to figure out what it wants to be, said Carol Costello, a former anchor there and now a journalism instructor at Loyola Marymount University.

Former President Donald Trump portrayed CNN as an enemy, and a Pew Research Center study illustrated the impact that had with his followers. In 2014, Pew found that one-third of people who identify or lean Republican said they distrusted CNN as a source for political news. By 2019, that number had shot up to 58 percent higher distrust than The New York Times, The Washington Post or MSNBC.

And that was before the overheated 2020 election campaign and the anger over its outcome.

Last years firing of CNN anchor Chris Cuomo after he helped his brother, former Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, behind the scenes, also hurt CNNs reputation among Republicans, said Carlos Curbelo, a former GOP congressman from Florida.

As Trump attacked the network, CNN returned fire. Under previous leader Jeff Zucker, CNN figures became more opinionated on the air than they ever had before. Anderson Cooper once likened Trump to an obese turtle on its back, flailing in the hot sun, realizing his time is over, a remark he later apologized for.

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All mainstream media took a hit with the ascent of Donald Trump, Costello said. I really think he did a number on journalism in general, not just CNN. For a time we all played into it, and our reporting was kind of hysterical.

CNNs tone had a lot to do with changes in the networks reputation, said Mark Whitaker, a veteran newsman and former CNN executive. CNN had higher ratings and more buzz under Zucker, but, Whitaker asked, Was it worth it in terms of the way it changed the brand perception?

Being seen as a liberal alternative to Fox News Channel isnt an issue for a news outlet that plays up partisanship. But for a company that has sold itself as an unbiased news source for more than 40 years to viewers, to advertisers, to cable or satellite operators that presents a problem.

Since Licht took over, morning anchor Brianna Keilars occasional takedowns of Fox coverage have disappeared. Although Licht hasnt commented publicly on Stelters exit, the media reporters criticism of Fox was a regular feature of Reliable Sources.

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It received little notice at the time, but cable news executive John Malone, now a member of the Warner Discovery board of directors, said in a CNBC interview last November that I would like to see CNN evolve back to the kind of journalism it started with, and actually have journalists, which would be unique and refreshing.

Similarly, Warner Discovery President and CEO David Zaslav said at a company town hall in April that CNN should set itself apart from a cable news industry that is dominated by advocacy networks. CNN needs to be about reporting, truth and facts, he said.

If we get that, we can have a civilized society, said Zaslav, who appointed Licht. And without it, if it all becomes advocacy, we dont have a civilized society.

Licht has given few interviews to outside journalists since taking over, and a CNN spokesman turned down a request for this article.

Licht has taken steps toward the goals his bosses have elucidated. He wants CNN anchors to be conscious of a perspective that they sometime talk down to people. He wants panel discussions to be informative, not dominated by extreme points of view. He wants to resist outrage porn. He ordered that the on-air breaking news banner be reserved for real breaking news.

Licht also went to Washington to meet with Republican leaders, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy, his counterpart at the House.

Licht would like to see more Republicans appear on CNN for meaningful interviews, not necessarily to be used by them to appear tough to supporters for standing up to hostility. There have already been small signs of success in recent weeks: appearances by South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and Texas U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw.

This is true of all three (cable news) networks: When you can get only members of one party to show up, it shows that your news division is lacking in credibility with essentially half the country, said Curbelo, an NBC News contributor. Its early, but Curbelo said he has liked what hes seen with Licht so far.

The outreach with Republicans has raised some eyebrows, with Democratic strategist Kurt Bardella suggesting in a Los Angeles Times column that CNN was eager to pander to politicians detached from reality. And Eric Deggans, NPRs television critic, said hes worried about the risk of normalizing lies like the last presidential election was stolen.

Sometimes journalists have been accused of being partisan when what theyve really been doing is insisting upon the truth and refusing to go along with a political party that is redefining the truth to serve its own ends, Deggans said.

CNN points out that Licht made a similar pitch to aides at President Joe Bidens White House, showing demographic information of viewers to illustrate it would be worthwhile to appear for interviews. The network resists suggestions that lies would not be challenged, but said wants all Americans to feel their opinions are listened to.

No matter what they do, theyll be attacked, Whitaker said. Trump and others will continue to cry fake news about anything they dont like from the media. But, he said, CNN has the best chance of any cable news network to reach an audience looking for a more balance in journalism.

Other visible moves are likely to come soon. Licht has been eyeing a shakeup of CNNs morning hours and recently hired Ryan Kadro, a former CBS News colleague who handled that networks morning show. CNN still has a hole in prime time, too: Chris Cuomo hasnt been replaced since he was fired last December.

But whats next remains unclear, which Deggans advised against. He called on CNNs leaders to be clear with viewers about whats being done. The attitude of the new management seems to be, Trust us, we have a plan.'

View original post here:

CNN trying to ditch image as liberal purveyor of 'fake news' - Fort Worth Business Press

Controlling the spread of misinformation on social media platforms has spurred important conversations about censorship and freedom of speech.

A tacit assumption has been that censorship, fact-checking and education are the only tools to fight misinformation, says Duke University economist David McAdams. Innew researchpublished in the journal of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, McAdams and collaborators explore ways to improve the quality of information being shared on networks without making any entity responsible for policing content and decidingwhat is true and false.

The model suggests that to cut down on the spread of false information, the network can set limits on how widely certain messages are shared, and do so in a way that is not overly restrictive to users.

We show that caps on either how many times messages can be forwarded (network depth) or the number of others to whom messages can be forwarded (network breadth) increase the relative number of true versus false messages circulating in a network, regardless of whether messages are accidentally or deliberately distorted, McAdams says.

For example, Twitter could limit the breadth of sharing on its site by limiting how many people see any given retweet in theirTwitter feeds, he says.

Both Facebook and WhatsApp, two apps owned by parent company Meta that allow users to message each other, have used methods similar to the researchers model to limit the spread of misinformation.

In 2020, Facebookannouncedlimits on how many people or groups users could forward messages to, capping it at five, in part to combat misinformation about COVID-19 and voting. Earlier that year, WhatsApp introduced similar limits, prohibiting its more than two billion users from forwarding messages to more than five people at once, in part because of more thana dozen deathsthat public officials in India have linked to false information that was spreading on the app, the researchers noted.

This approach does not eliminate misinformation, but in the absence of other methods, it can reduce the severity of the issue until other solutions can be developed to address the heart of the problem, McAdams says.

When misinformation spreads through a social network, it can cause harm, says McAdams, who has faculty appointments in the economics department and the Fuqua School of Business. Some people might start believing things that are false and that can harm them or others.

It can also cause some people to lose trust in the platform, which means they may be less likely to believe or take action on correct information that actually could help them or other people, he says.

If you limit sharing, you could also be limiting the spread of good information, so you might be throwing the baby out with the bathwater and that doesnt really help you, McAdams warns. Our analysis explores how to strike that balance.

(Stanford University economist Matthew Jackson and Cornell University economist Suraj Malladi co-authored the research with McAdams.)

The rest is here:

Economists Have a Method for Reducing Fake News on Social Media - Duke Today

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

Boy, did I miss you guys. What I didn't miss was the news. Nothing calms your senses like a total news blackout. It beats an alcoholic blackout. Right, JB?

In fact, I realize when you don't look at the news, it's like one of those eye exams, it only matters if you're told to look at it. And when there's no news, you find the best replacement is hysteria from those miserable wretches.

GREG GUTFELD: YOUR PRIORITIES DON'T MATTER TO THE GOVERNMENT OR MEDIA

Take Democratic Colorado Secretary of State Jenna Griswold, who told The Guardian that if Republicans win, the country could lose the right to vote in less than three months. Yes. That's not insane. So did she tell The Guardian the newspaper or her own personal legal guardian who keeps her from eating her own hair? Because that's the news. When there isn't any, you reach for the unhinged stars.

MSNB HOST:Our democracy has been put in peril. And there are not just there's several crimes here that could have been committed, including obstruction.

MSNBC HOST:If any member of the intelligence agency had taken this many documents out, they would be in jail.

MSNBC GUEST: My top-level expert legal analysis of the affidavit is why ain't this dude in jail? President sticky fingers already stole classified documents. Top secret documents.

See, I love him mainly because he looks like my dad's shaving brush. That's a compliment. But on crazy cable, to maintain eyeballs, you got to get even crazier. Eli Mystal, seen there impersonating a dandelion, has cracked the code of cable television say the most absurd thing and it never has to come true because no one is keeping score.

It's not news. It's simply stuffing coins into the Twitter slot machine hoping for a payoff. Except no matter how dumb your ideas are, you never have to pay for it because it's like taking out a student loan, because just like the family photos on my desk, it's not real.

And you notice that when something real comes along like this. The widely respected statistician, Nate Silver, claims liberal public health elites pressurized Pfizer to delay fast track approval of its COVID-19 vaccine well until after the 2020 election, thus denying Trump a win before voters headed to the polls. Calling them public health elites is like calling a tapeworm a weight loss consultant.

Now, whatever you think about the vaccines, okay, we're talking about people who believe that the vaccines work yet still wanted them from the public. So who's worse than Hitler? Come again? That means they were ready to sacrifice lives to keep Trump from looking good. Yet they wanted to call him a killer. As if that's not the pot calling the kettle Justin Trudeau.

Look, Silver is no Trump fan, but he points out that Trump's action likely saved hundreds of thousands of lives and a delay would have killed tons. Yet those people's names would still have probably ended up on the Dems voting rolls. Because the dead people.

Yeah. But again, if you believe Trump is Hitler, then what's a few thousand deaths to keep him from killing millions? Even though Trump kept us away from wars, the way Joe keeps us away from complete sentences.

Maybe it's unproven, but you're talking about the same people who suppressed the laptop story in order to win an election. So why wouldn't they do that here? Meanwhile, they keep squeezing the remaining drops of juice from the Mar-a-Lago raid like it's a Florida orange.

Those are the most unimpressive documents since the first draft of Kilmeades new book. Yeah. What happened to those nuclear codes, anyway? Maybe they're under the bed where the pee tape got filmed. Right. By the way, that's the most action Jimmy Fallon saw in years. That was a needless crack, but videos of a cracked-out hunter and his hookers playing hide the hard drive -- no story there, at least until months or years after the election. Then you get the confession from a battery powered popsicle named Mark Zuckerberg about something we knew all along.

So you see my point amplify fake stories and bury real ones like theyre former Clinton associates. They actually killed them. Or rather amplify stories that are easy to speculate on, like documents or Russian disinformation or Kats marriage and avoid ones with real ugly facts.

But I know that when I'm on vacation, what passes for news has no effect on me unless I'm in Mexico and the news is about a cartel member leaving a human head next to the waffle maker at the hotel's continental breakfast, I really don't care.

I also know that when journalists go on vacation, so does the news. It's like they both own a timeshare together in Boca. So in the absence of facts, we went from nuclear codes to documents to indictments.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Indictments. The media loves this word, assuming you don't know what it means. But you guys watching me right now do. And that's why the media hates you so much.

Someone once said you could indict a ham sandwich, and I bet it probably wasn't Brian Stelter. He'd keep on tampering with a defendant. So fake news rules and real news is redefined as hateful speech.

Is there a crime wave? Yes, but don't talk about it bring up a Soros funded D.A., well, you're anti-Semitic. If you point out that it's young black kids knocking out other black kids and older people. Well, that's racist, too.

If a citizen on Twitter calls a Children's Hospital and catches them admitting wrongdoing against young patients, well, it's the citizen who's guilty. A person gets banned from Twitter for doing what people used to call journalism.

So what's left is an array of bottomless what-ifs, which are perfect for hackneyed drama queens on cable, the stuff that's ignored or palpably real and affect you: inflation, crime, corruption, me being the new king of late night.

Hold your applause. Oh, that was gratuitous. I need a shower after that. I actually do. I stink.

But real stuff in life? Journalists don't have time for that. It used to be the dog days of August when producers would do anything to plug a hole. Even asking amateurs to host for me.

Except, you know, fake news is year round. It's the profit model. So what to do with the media hacks? I say turn them off, pack their bags and send them on a one-way trip to somewhere they can't even tweet from. Tell the ladies of The View to pack extra moomoos because they won't be coming back soon. Maybe when they're on permanent vacation. The rest of us can finally get some peace.

Greg Gutfeld currently serves as host of FOX News Channel's (FNC) "Gutfeld!" (weekdays 11PM/ET) and co-host of "The Five" (weekdays 5PM/ET). He joined the network in 2007 as a contributor. He is the author of several books. His latest is "The Plus: Self-Help for People Who Hate Self-Help." Click here for more information on Greg Gutfeld.

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GREG GUTFELD: The media buries real stories and amplifies fake ones - Fox News

Hundeyin said: So of course, I went digging to see who is behind it. Turns out that this lady regularly interacts with DOlusegun and 4EyedMonkey on Facebook.

Independent Journalist, David Hundeyin, has revealed that an online news platform, Podium Reporters, was created to release fake news content to discredit the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

According to a thread on his Twitter handle, Hundeyin says the news website is being run by Seyi Falulosi, who is the web manager for the All Progressives Congress (APC).

He says: Podium Reporters is a fake news content mill run by Seyi Falufosi, owner of @theonekshop and a web developer BMC operative too dumb to conceal her own internet footprint, to the extent of inadvertently revealing that the APC is directly behind this operation.

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This dumbass didnt just build a fake news site dedicated to attacking Peter Obi, myself, Rinu and anyone else considered to be anti-regime, but she also put her companys name stamp at the end.

READ ALSO

Nigeria 2023: Beyond Peter Obi (2)

So of course, I went digging to see who is behind it. Turns out that this lady regularly interacts with DOlusegun and 4EyedMonkey on Facebook, with so little attention to basic Op-Sec that within 2 clicks on her page, you can access a phone number that links directly to her. But thats just the start of how dumb this lady is.

A refined string search of the name Seyi Falufosi brings up a reference to a Seyi Falufosi on siteindices.com, a website that keeps records of website traffic, domain owners, who registered websites etc. Her full name appears on the page, alongside a contact telephone number and an email address, [emailprotected]. So naturally, I carried out exact string searches for both pieces of information, and what came next illustrates APCs tremendous lack of basic intellect.

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Another siteindices.com reference showed up, this time for a website called officialapc.ng. You didnt misread that an official APC website that is regularly referenced here by APC operatives. And what is more this dumbass went and put her actual government name, telephone numbers and physical address on public record to register this website for the APC.

This is all publicly available information. Im not doxxing her. officialapc.ng.siteindices.com. I even used WhatsApp to check the phone number she provided when registering officialapc.ng, and sure enough, it checked out. All Publicly. Available Information. A whole entire dunce.

Thats the building where the fake news factory producing these stories is coming from. Number 3, Olaiya Street, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos. Have fun dears.

Go here to see the original:

Hundeyin says Podium Reporters is fake news website created to discredit Peter Obi - The Niche

Turkish Air Force F-16 fighter jets taxi on the runway at the Incirlik Air Base, Turkey. [AP]

Ankara appears to be deploying fake news as a tactic in its ongoing escalation of tensions with Athens, claiming that on two occasions Greek jets harassed Turkish aircraft that were conducting NATO exercises together with American aircraft in the Aegean Sea.

The most recent of these incidents occurred on August 24, in the northeastern Aegean. Turkish Defense Ministry sources claimed that NATO AWACS aircraft and two Turkish F-16s carrying out the Nexus Ace training mission in the Aegean were harassed by Greek warplanes. However, Greek military sources dismiss the claim as false.

More specifically, they noted that a military exercise of Turkish fighters was indeed taking place, under the guise of NATO, but without the participation of aircraft of other Alliance member-states, as is normally the case with real NATO exercises. It also noted that an AWACS-type flying radar was requested by Turkey for a drill within Turkish airspace. However, seeking to build a narrative, Ankara ordered a pair of F-16 fighter jets to carry out a flight within Greek airspace, north of Lesvos, without submitting a flight plan to the competent Greek authorities. As is customary and in accordance with international rules, Greek fighters carried out an interception procedure. This turned into an engagement because of the Turks refusal to leave the area of Greek national sovereignty. The tension was further escalated by Ankara, which sent 10 more fighters, four of which were armed, to the area.

In an earlier incident on August 22 in an area between the islands of Megisti and Karpathos, Turkey claimed falsely as it turns out that Greek F-16s harassed Turkish fighter jets that were carrying out NATO missions over the Eastern Mediterranean.

According to Athens, a flight of US B-52 planes took place in the Athens FIR at noon on August 22 following consultation between the Joint Chiefs of Staff and NATOs Air Command (AIRCOM). The B-52s entered the southwestern boundary of the Athens FIR in order to exit it west of the island of Megisti. Although this flight was not intended to be accompanied by fighter aircraft, as was the case on previous occasions, five unidentified jets moved east of Karpathos, interfering with the B-52s route without a flight plan being filed. An interception procedure ensued.

Turkey has always refused to file flight plans for its fighters in the Athens FIR, claiming that as NATO aircraft they are part of missions within, supposedly, a single allied space.

Continued here:

Ankara resorts to fake news over violations - Kathimerini English Edition

There are so many things that dont change about a Nigerian election: candidates, colourful election rallies, laughable campaign promises and of course, fake news.

Fake news is typically weaponised to manipulate perceptions about candidates or situations and were already seeing, in real time, how thats affecting Nigerias 2023 presidential election.

Campaigns for the 2023 elections dont officially start until September 2022, but the pre-season campaign has been littered with an abundance of misinformation. On August 9th, 2022, Ghanaian president, Nana Akufo-Addo, raised alarm on Twitter that his name was being used for dirty business in Nigeria.

He was responding to a story that was trending on social media, where he allegedly wrote a letter to the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu. In this letter, he supposedly advised Tinubu to consider his supposedly frail health and step down for Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP). The long and short of Akufo-Addos reaction was that the story was fake and the reply was:

Obi has also been the subject of endorsements from Hollywood stars endorsements that have turned out to be fake.

Tinubu has featured in another story involving the circulation of a presidential campaign council list that he said was fake.

There have also been fake social media accounts of prominent people like the former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, being used for misinformation.

This account is fake

Every fake story allowed to spread unchallenged pollutes the public consciousness heading into the elections. Fake news can be harmless mischief, sure, but it can also be malicious and dangerous.

And the tension of this current fake news season is already getting to the presidential candidates themselves.

Tinubu has called out Obis supporters to stop spreading lies against him. In an indirect response, Obi accused faceless opposition of creating misinformation materials for his benefit so that his campaign can be blamed.

Unfortunately, its impossible to completely eliminate fake news online, whether its created unintentionally or intentionally to manipulate. But it doesnt matter what the intention of creators of fake news is, they need unsuspecting people to carry this message.

Its important for internet users to step into the gap and ensure they dont help the spread of fake stories. Because, more than the creators, its the people who share fake news that really give such news life. This is why its important that everyone is cautious about the kind of stories they share online.

There are a few obvious things to look out for to help curb the spread of misinformation:

The source of a message can be as important as the message. Before you share a story of any weight, ask yourself if you trust the source to be telling the truth.

If theres an opportunity to double-check the information from other sources, do that for sure. Trust is fine, but verify first.

Emotionally-charged topics like elections can make us more likely to fall for fake news, especially when its something that fits neatly into our biases. Always check to see that your judgement isnt clouded by your bias.

Before you share that juicy story about a candidate or party, are you sure that you need to? You need to answer this question especially if you cant find corroborating sources, or feel your bias is in the way of good judgement.

It can be ridiculously easy to fall for fake news, no matter how refined you think you are. This is why its important that you tick all the boxes on this list. Scrutinise everything carefully. Be curious and dont stay stuck inside your bubble.

Burst it

You may not create fake news, but youre needed as fuel to make it spread to more people.

ALSO READ: What We Learnt About the 2023 Presidential Candidates at NBA Conference

Original post:

Who's Responsible for All the Fake News Around the 2023 Elections? - Zikoko

The fake sports news on Twitter is getting a bit out of control. Im aware that part of responsible internet usage requires users to vet sources. Its not like people havent been getting burned by fake Woj and fake Schefter accounts for years, but handles like CockSources and Ballsack sports while appealing to the more juvenile side of my sense of humor are fooling people with tweet designs that look so official, they forget the name of the handle.

Its also easy to spread fake news when, while it seems excessive, said news does line up with a persons capabilities or talent level. The FIBA Mens Basketball World Cup Qualifiers arent broadcast on ESPN, so not many people are looking for the box score from Greeces win against Belgium on Sunday. Therefore, if @Bobbysworld414 decides to tweet out that Giannis Antetokounmpo recorded a 60-point, 20-rebound quadruple-double in the game, many people will take that at face value.

On a slow sports news Sunday, two weeks prior to the start of the NFL season and more than a month before the MLB postseason, the tweet went viral. The entire stat line was 60 points, 20 rebounds, 12 assists, 10 blocks, three steals, no turnovers, on 86/100/93.8 shooting splits. The stats were lined up vertically, atop a good photo of Antetokounmpo in a Greece jersey, and many people bought it.

What really happened was Antetokounmpo went for 26 points and seven rebounds and shot 3-9 from the free-throw line in an 85-68 win for Greece. BobbysWorlds math was just a bit off, but in one day the tweet has garnered nearly 10,000 RTs and over 60,000 likes. A loss for accuracy and for the stability of a nation that continues to believe anything, but a huge win for one user and for Antetokounmpo, because all of those people glanced at a one of the rarest feats in basketball only four quadruple doubles have been record in NBA history and just assumed it to be true. Its still being quote-tweeted on Monday afternoon.

G/O Media may get a commission

It shows just how far Antetokounmpo has risen in the eyes of basketball fans. As recently as the second round of the 2021 NBA Playoffs, his entire game was getting picked apart by critics, piece by piece. His free-throw shooting is a liability, he has average footwork, he cant shoot, he commits too many offensive fouls, etc. Then Kevin Durants big toe touched that 3-point line and a few weeks later Antetokounmpo dropped 50 points and went 17-19 from the free-throw line, and the Milwaukee Bucks won their first NBA Championship since before Jermaine left the Jackson 5.

Even before the title, that tweet likely wouldve been accepted as news by most people, but after seeing Antetokounmpo these last two postseasons, of course it makes sense that he would treat Belgium like My Player Mode on the easiest difficulty level.

The potential that became visible in the Bucks seven-game, first-round loss to the Boston Celtics in 2018, is now reality. Antetokounmpo is the best athletic specimen to ever play in the NBA. The way he runs and jumps, moves laterally, and also is capable of running an offense all while being over seven-feet tall and built like a boulder carved into the shape of a basketball player, and he still has guard-like court vision.

Hes the NBAs Bo Jackson. Any athletic feat is believable. If someone told you that while practicing in Greece, Antetokounmpo elevated so high that he grabbed a basketball off the top of a backboard and dunked it, you might buy it.

Who wins a race between Giannis and a rocket ship. Race would never happen, because the rocket wouldnt dare show up.

So yes, I would like the fake sports news Twitter handles to stop being so good at fooling people. It points out a far more serious problem of people believing whatever they want and feeling no need to verify the information. But I am now interested in how extreme an athletic feat would have to be before the average person would believe that Antetokounmpo couldnt do it.

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Giannis has become the Paul Bunyan of basketball - Deadspin

Russia's failure to secure a quick victory against Ukraine forced Vladimir Putin to adapt.

Over the past six months, Russia has been fighting an information war alongside its military campaign.

How Moscow rerouted the internet

On 30 May the internet connection in occupied Kherson dropped. It returned within hours, but people could no longer access sites like Facebook, Twitter and Ukrainian news.

The internet had been rerouted to Russia. The online activity of those in Kherson was now visible to Moscow and was subject to censorship.

Internet traffic in Kherson was originally routed from network hubs elsewhere in the country and passed through Kyiv.

These connections remained in place during the first three months of the invasion before it was rerouted.

As Russia gained strength in southern Ukraine, reports emerged that it was taking over control of local internet providers in Kherson either through cooperation or by force.

Once in control, Russia could reroute the internet to Moscow via a state-owned internet provider in Crimea.

This briefly happened on 1 May, before Ukrainian officials managed to reverse it. But on 30 May, with Russia now in control of more infrastructure, it happened again. It now appears permanent.

With the people of Kherson now forced to use Russian internet if they want to go online, they are subject to Moscow's censorship.

For three months they have been unable to access Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites. Some Ukrainian news websites are also blocked.

Alp Toker, director of Netblocks, an internet monitoring company, says the rerouting has "effectively placed Ukrainian citizens under the purview and surveillance of the Russian state at the flick of a switch."

Internet operators and monitors report internet access in large areas of Kherson is censored to a similar level as experienced in Russia. Some smaller areas are experiencing even tougher censorship, with some Google services blocked.

Ukrainians in Kherson are finding ways to evade Russia's efforts to monitor and censor their online activity.

When Ivanna (not her real name) leaves her home, she deletes social media and messaging apps like Instagram and Telegram in case she is stopped by a soldier who may search her phone.

"You need to be careful," she tells Sky News, using an online messaging app.

She goes online using a VPN (virtual private network) which hides the user's location and allows them to bypass Russian censorship.

Searches for the software spiked in Kherson when internet controls tightened.

Russia has also shut down the mobile phone network in Kherson and new SIM cards are being sold for locals to use.

Ivanna told Sky News a passport is needed to buy the sim cards, prompting fears their use may be tracked.

Cautious, she paid a stranger to buy a SIM under his name.

TV and phone communications targeted

In the unoccupied parts of Ukraine, Moscow has sought to destroy the communication infrastructure - such as TV towers and communication centres.

It's a tactic Russia initially wanted to avoid as it did not want to damage resources that would be useful as an occupying force, explains William Alberque, director of strategy, technology, and arms control for the Institute for Strategic Studies.

"Russia thought they were going to win so fast [so wouldn't] destroy infrastructure as it was going to own that infrastructure," he tells Sky News.

Subscribe to the Ukraine War Diaries on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and Spreaker

But by keeping the lines open, Ukrainians were able to communicate with one another and the wider world.

Ultimately Russia moved to destroy what it was unable to quickly seize.

Examples of the attacks on communication infrastructure have been logged by the Centre for Information Resilience, which has been tracking and verifying attacks like these using open-source information.

One incident logged by the group was a communication centre in southern Ukraine.

Russia's attempt to control information has also included targeting TV towers.

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Power cuts in Ukraine have also caused the nation's biggest broadband and mobile internet providers to lose connectivity.

Disinformation has doubled since the war began

Russia has used disinformation during the war to influence those in Ukraine, the country's allies, as well as its own population at home.

Examples of pro-Russian fake news include a clumsily faked video of the Ukrainian president telling people to surrender (known as a deepfake video) and social media posts accusing bombing victims of being actors.

Some of Russia's efforts have been effective. Moscow claimed the invasion was in part to tackle nazism in the Ukrainian government. Searches for "nazi" in both Russia and worldwide spiked in the first week of the war.

The number of disinformation sites has more than doubled since the Russian invasion in February, according to Newsguard, which provides credibility rankings for news and information sites.

In March, its researchers found 116 sites publishing Russia-Ukraine war-related disinformation. By August, that number had risen to 250.

It's not possible to show that all of those sites are run on the orders of Russia, however, Moscow has allocated a boosted pot of funds for its propaganda arm.

The independent Russian-language news site The Moscow Times reported the government had "drastically increased funding for state-run media amid the war with Ukraine".

The article cited figures provided by the Russian government. It said 17.4bn rubles (244m) had been allocated for "mass media" compared to 5.4bn rubles (76m) the year before.

It said in March, once the war was underway, some 11.9bn rubles (167m) were spent. This is more than twice as much as the combined spend of the two months before, which was 5bn rubles (70m).

The research comes as no surprise to Mr Alberque, who says Russia's disinformation campaign has been "constant".

"As they shift into war mode, [Russia] has to go to directly paying salaries and no longer hoping that people will echo its messages but paying them to send a certain number of messages per day," he told Sky News.

Looking forward, Mr Alberque believes the death of the daughter of an ally of Vladimir Putin will be a distraction for those directing Russia's disinformation efforts.

Russia has pointed the finger at Ukraine for carrying out the fatal car bombing in Moscow but Kyiv denies any involvement.

An apparent high-profile assassination in the capital has sparked a number of conspiracy theories, including claims the responsibility may lie with a Russian group looking to influence the war.

"The Russian government is going to have to try to control this narrative," Mr Alberque explains.

He adds that propaganda resources that would be focused on Ukraine may now be drawn into the fallout of the death, saying: "I think it's going to be a huge information sink for them because it's going to take up time and attention."

The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.

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How Putin used internet censorship and fake news for six months to push the Ukraine war agenda - Sky News

The fact-checking wing of the Public Information Bureau (PIB), the centre's nodal agency, has issued a clarification related to a letter claiming that the dearness allowance (DA) of central government employees has been received from 34 per cent to 38 per cent.

The bureau also added that the letter was circulated on WhatsApp.

Sharing a picture of the "fake order" on Twitter, the PIB fact check team said, "A fake order circulating on WhatsApp is claiming that the additional instalment of Dearness Allowance will be effective from July 1, 2022.

The Department of Expenditure has not issued any such order." The text on the image read, "The Ministry of Finance has not issued the memorandum."

The "fake circular" subject line read, "Grant of Dearness Allowance to Central Government employees- Revised Rates effective from 01.07.2022."

This was followed by the note that stated, "The President is pleased to decide that the Dearness Allowance payable to Central Government Employees shall be enhanced from the existing rate of 34% to 38% of the basic pay with effect from July 1 2022."

It also carried a memorandum number to make it look authentic. The letter also carried the signature of Nirmala Dev, Deputy Secretary to the Government Of India.

The central government revises the Dearness Allowance twice a year - January and July.

In January 2022, thecentral government decided to increase the DA by 3 per cent, taking it to 34 per cent.

The next installment announcement is due and

as of now, close to 47 lakh central government employees and more than 68 lakh pensioners are getting the benefits of the Dearness Allowance.

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Fact-Check: DA (Dearness Allowance) Increased By 4%? Government Says Fake News - NDTV Profit

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The leadership of the Redeemed Christian Church of God has debunked the news making the round on Twitter that an explosion occurred within the Redemption City where the main sanctuary is situated.

In a statement by the RCCG Public Relations Unit, it explained that the incident occurred inside Axella Gas depot on the Sagamu bound traffic in between the Car Park C gate and the main gate of the Redemption City.

It added that the fire has been brought under control by the combined efforts of the RCCG Fire Service and Lagos Fire Service.

The church also empathized with the people involved in the unfortunate gas explosion that occurred in the early hours of Monday, August 29, 2022.

The statement partly reads, Against the news making the round, the incident was completely outside of the Redemption City and our fire service team only responded as part of our community service support to our neighbours within the environ.

We thank God the incident has been put under control and will like to inform all residents and visitors to the Redemption City that there is no scare of any sort and everyone can go about their lawful and godly activities.Thankyou.

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Explosion Not In Redemption Camp, We Helped To Put Off The Fire RCCG Debunks Fake News The Whistler Newspaper - The Whistler Nigeria