Category Archives: Fake News

India is going through an undeclared emergency which was considered fake news, several events in the last 2 years are concrete evidence of a financial emergency in India.

The undeclared emergency in India was considered fake news by some people. If its fake news then what are those financial crises that are happening in the last 2 years in the Indian economy? Money market crises, job crises, economic crises, political crises, etc. are happening every day but still, people are not admitting the fall.

According to IMF GDP statistics, India has surpassed the United Kingdom to become the fifth-largest economy in the world. Mahindra Group Chairman and a business billionaire from Indiana praised the news, saying it would have filled the hearts of every Indian to free themselves from their previous colonial masters. But no one is talking about how and why its happening.

At the BJP-organized commemoration of the Emergency, which was imposed, in 1975, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai argued that while democracy is weak in many other countries and is more like brief movie trailers. India is the only country where democracy is increasing. Continuous democracy has not existed in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, or Sri Lanka, he stated.

Indias constitution is the best one in the world. It safeguards our democracy and is a tried-and-true document. After voting their ballots, voters shouldnt feel that their involvement in current events is no longer essential. Democracys true essence is participation. Everyone should be a stakeholder. He claims that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made an effort to bolster democracy.

Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao cited several political happenings that he said reeked of the dictatorial style while increasing his already harsh criticism of the BJP in general and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in particular.

In a press conference at Pragathi Bhavan, the Chief Minister said, Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi formally proclaimed an emergency in the country, under the current BJP mindset, an undeclared emergency now prevails in the country.

The Indian economy was already on a downhill slide when the coronavirus pandemic hit the country in early 2020; in the March quarter of FY20, the growth rate had dropped to an 11-year low of 3.1%. After a 40-year hiatus, India experienced its first recession in FY21 (at -6.6%) as a result of the governments decision to enforce a statewide lockdown in response to the fast-increasing Covid-19 cases.

Beginning in March 2021, the second wave resulted in a significant increase in the number of fatalities while also significantly slowing the rate of economic growth.

Unlike the two previous coronavirus waves, the Omicron wave in January had little impact on the Indian economy, according to high-frequency statistics. Rather than an outright fall as in previous months, the manufacturing and services PMI indices only showed a slowdown in activity in January.

An increase in retail inflation was caused by difficulties moving about and a shortage of supplies during the initial wave. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was under pressure to change its accommodative stance in order to promote growth, despite the fact that wholesale and retail inflation has remained high because of the global economic recovery and hardening commodity prices.

The government reports that product exports slightly declined to $33 billion in August 2022 from $33.38 billion in the same month in 2021.

According to information provided by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the value of non-petroleum exports in August 2022 was $28.09 billion, representing a negative growth of 2.22 percent over non-petroleum exports of $28.73 billion in August 2021.

Indian business executives and officials are carefully assessing the impact of this crisis two months into the conflict as the economy is beginning to recover from the pandemic and oil prices might reach $140 per barrel.

All these declining situations are concrete proof of what is happening in the Indian economy. The news that India has surpassed the United Kingdom to become the fifth-largest economy in the world manipulates people, but at the same time, none of the other issues that need to be resolved as quickly as possible are discussed.

In 20222023, Indias growth was projected to be 7% on average, with a 28% and 22% contribution to both Asian and world growth, respectively. However, the economy continued to experience one crisis after another.

The current state of economic emergency in India is evident from the rupees all-time low against the US dollar, the forex reserves, the economy, the employment rate, the export ban, etc. The country has to take the necessary steps to overcome all these situations otherwise itll keep getting worse.

edited and proofread by nikita sharma

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India Is Going Through An Undeclared Emergency Which Was Considered Fake News, Several Events In The Last 2 Years Are Concrete Evidence Of A Financial...

Information reaching Kossyderrickent has it that Journalist has confirmed Sir Donald Trump getting knighted privately on Truth Social app byQueen Elizabeth II is fake news.

Taking to social media (Twitter), a fake post from Donald Trump claiming he secretly got knighted by Queen Elizabeth II before her death began to go viral.

The message reads: "I never told anybody but knighted me in private."

The journalist took to social media to confirm that such wasn't typed by Donald Trump.

The message reads: "Ive gone and looked on Truth Social to see if Donald Trump posted this claim that he was secretly knighted by the Queen. Either its been deleted, or he never posted it at all.

His timeline is heavy with pictures of him and Her Majesty, but theres no trace of this post.

"If he had been knighted (privately or otherwise), it would have been in The London Gazette. His only listings there are for Trump-related companies established in the UK.

"Conclusion: It sounds like something he would say, but he almost certainly didnt.

Besides, he would have triumphantly added Sir to his name at the first opportunity, even though hes not actually entitled.

Mischief-making of the first water."

Reactions below:

Johnson: Trump claimed yesterday that he was secretly knighted by Queen Elizabeth.

Sir Donald Trump will play well in the break yard at Leavenworth.

Patrick: If you believe DJT was Knighted in secrecy, hes got some classified docs he wants to sell you.

Oh wait.

Moon: Can you imagine the level of gullibility it must take to think Donald Trump was knighted in secrecy?

...or to believe anything that man ever said?

Haba: That is bulshit.. no American or president has never been knighted they've been blessed but never knighted royal protocol. But she didn't bless Donald Trump. HISTORY...

Excerpt from:

Journalist confirms Sir Donald Trump getting knighted in private on Truth Social app by Queen Elizabeth II is fake news - KossyDerrickEnt

Lucknow, September 10: Child-lifting rumours have triggered widespread panic in parts of Uttar Pradesh. Following such rumours, several incidents of mob lynching, and killing on suspicion of being a child-lifter increased. Uttar Pradesh on Saturday witnessed yet another casualty of child lifter rumours after a construction worker was shot dead by two brothers in Parauli village.

Several incidents have emerged where people were mob lynched on suspicion of being child lifters. A few days ago, six women in an autorickshaw were dragged out and assaulted by a mob before being rescued by police who took them to a station. In the second, a car driver was held hostage and assaulted. Two policemen who attempted to rescue the victim too were beaten up. Reportedly, an official said that so far 35 people were booked over the incidents.UP Shocker: Youth Shot Dead by 2 Bothers on Suspicion of Being Child Lifter in Parauli.

Meanwhile, UP police have said that these rumours are baseless, fake, and misleading. Police have urged locals not to fall for such fake news. Meanwhile, ADG LO of UP Prashant Kumar, on being asked about the rumours and lynching that it follows, said that "the issue is serious and the department has issued a circular regarding it.Instructions have been given to verify and investigate the information related to child theft by a gazetted officer." Kumar said that if a matter comes to light, a senior official should go to the spot and start a probe. While the people who are spreading such rumours shall not be spared. Strict actions should be taken against such miscreants, he added. Kumar also stressed that the police are on high alert over the situation.

ADG LO of UP Prashant KumarRefute Rumours:

Maharajganj Police Says Rumours of 'Child Lifting Gang' are Misleading:

Raebareli Police on Misleading News of Child Theft:

Saharanpur Police Debunks Child Theft Rumours:

Prayagraj Police Appeals Citizens Not to Fall For Fake News:

Kasganj Police Urge Residents Not to Spread Such Rumours:

The issue of fake news has been a dominant factor affecting the harmony and integrity of society. Fake news is news stories that are false, the story itself is fabricated, with no verifiable facts, or sources. Sometimes, acknowledging and identifying fake news is a complex problem, however, checking the truthfulness of a news story is absolutely necessary. Before believing or sharing any news, one should checkfor its sources and its background. Do not only rely on one source, get your news from a variety of sources to confirm information.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 10, 2022 02:14 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).

View post:

Child-Lifting Rumours on WhatsApp, Social Media Trigger Panic and Mob Attacks in Parts of Uttar Pradesh, - LatestLY

The war in Ukraine has taken another turn. This week, Ukraine launched its long-awaited counteroffensive against Russian positions in the south. It also reclaimed territory in the northeast. The United States announced an additional $2.8 billion in aid to Ukraine and its neighbors, including $675 million in munitions, vehicles, and field equipment. The finance ministers of the G7 agreed to a price cap on Russian oil (with details to follow). U.N. ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield condemned Russias barbaric "filtration operations" whereby Ukrainian civilians are searched, interrogated, and marked for detention or population transfer.

Vladimir Putin is not pleased. The Russian autocrat threatened to escalate the conflict. On September 2, Gazprom shut down the Nord Stream One gas pipeline to Europe. On September 7, Putin warned that he might ban oil and gas exports to Europe altogether. Then he said he might cancel the deal that allows Ukrainian wheat exports to transit the Black Sea. His indiscriminate shelling of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant turns nearby residents into hostages. "We havent lost anything, and we wont lose anything," Putin declared.

Fake news. Russia has lost a great deal since February 24, when Putin launched his unprovoked war on a neighboring democracy. And the toll is sure to climb. Putin failed to achieve his initial war aim of regime change in Ukraine. Nor did he break the West. He unified it. Germany is spending more on defense. Sweden and Finland joined NATO.

U.S.-led export controls have forced Russia to buy weaponry from ramshackle rogue states Iran and North Korea. Russia occupies some 20 percent of Ukraine. For how long and to what purpose? The flagship of the Russian Black Sea fleet is no more. The life expectancy of Russian generals has plunged. Casualties up and down the chain of command are why Putin called to expand the military. Yet he wont impose a general mobilization of either the Russian economy or the Russian people. Why? Because he might not survive the reaction.

Putin is left with threats. He brandishes the oil weapon. He raises the prospect of famine. He drops hints of nuclear war. His goal is to intimidate the democracies into paralysis. He wants to paint a scary portrait of the future so that Western governments abandon Ukraine. The truth is that escalation has risks for both sides. Putin is not the only leader with cards to play. Nor is the United States powerless. President Biden could raise the stakes for Putin in ways that will help bring the war to an end. The moment requires him to act.

America must give Ukraine the means to build on its recent success. The Ukrainians slowed the Russian advance to a crawl thanks to the help of U.S.-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS). Sixteen of these systems have been enough to change the trajectory of the war. Imagine what the Ukrainians could do with more of them. According to the Department of Defense, the next shipment of arms to Ukraine will include HIMARS ammunition. It wont include HIMARS platforms.

This is a mistake. In July, former Pentagon official Michael G. Vickers told the New York Times that Ukraine could win the artillery battle against Russia with 60 to 100 HIMARS. Its not that these systems do not exist. They do. It's just that America has not moved speedily enough to send them to Ukraine.

Why? The typical answer is that it takes time to deploy HIMARS and to train Ukrainians to operate them. But bureaucratic delays are surmountable. And the Ukrainians seem to have figured out how to work the HIMARS they have just fine. Another reason for Americas stinginess is that Pentagon officials worry that sending too many HIMARS to Ukraine depletes U.S. capabilities. As the Wall Street Journal reported this week, Americas aid to Ukraine reduces our own weapons stocks. The fear is America will be left unprepared for contingencies.

The good news is that there is a solution. "There are some problems you can buy your way out of," my American Enterprise Institute colleague Mackenzie Eaglen told the Journal. "This is one of them." Procurement reform combined with a massive increase in the Pentagon budget, aimed at renewing Americas defense industrial base, would allow us to provide more HIMARS to the Ukrainians while readying ourselves for unexpected events. Those unexpected events, by the way, are more likely to occur if Americas enemies perceive our will flagging, Putin gaining, and Ukraine losing ground.

The simple announcement that America plans to send Ukraine as many HIMARS as possible would have an effect. Nor are the HIMARS the only weapons that America can offer Ukraine. There is no better opportunity than now to revisit the error America made in March when it scuttled the proposed transfer of MiGs to Ukraine. The Ukrainians also need tanks. They need the long-range Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) to put any Russian asset on Ukrainian territory within reach of Ukrainian arms. And America could assist in the construction of a multi-layered air defense that would protect Ukrainians from Russian air and missile strikes.

Senator Rob Portman recently returned from a trip to Kiev. "Having more air defense systems at every rangeshort, medium, and long-range, would enable people to come back," he said in a September 7 speech on the Senate floor. "This is crucial because one of the issues now is that Ukraines economy has been reduced by about 40 percent because of the terrible war thats being raged." Air defenses protect populations. They would encourage Ukrainian refugees to return to their homeland.

"The Kremlin is counting on Western weakness and believes European leaders will ultimately cave in when confronted by a combination of rising economic costs and escalating terror tactics," wrote Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraines minister of defense, last month. Let's give Putin reason to believe that his threats will backfire. Make it clear to him that a total ban on oil and gas exports to Europe would hurt Russias economy at least as much as it would hurt the Westand that the West is willing to drop its self-defeating green energy obsession in order to cope with the oil shock.

Let Putin know that if he jeopardizes the safe passage of grain exports, President Biden will support labeling Russia a state sponsor of terrorism. The other day the White House repeated its concerns that naming Russia a state sponsor of terror would jeopardize food exports. If Putin backs out of the deal, then there will be nothing left to jeopardize. The blanket sanctions that accompany the terrorism classification would make life hard for Putin, his circle, and their war machine. Deservedly so.

Since 2008, when he invaded the republic of Georgia, Putin has been playing the escalation game by himself. Americas response to his aggression in Georgia, in Ukraine in 2014, and in Syria in 2015 was slow and fitful and half-hearted. In the runup to this years invasion, America miscalculated Ukrainian resilience. The Biden team didnt send Javelin missiles to Ukraine until one month before Putin attacked. Over the past half year, the Biden team has sent weapons to the Ukrainians in dribs and drabs, always with one hand tied behind its back and always eager to tell the world what it wont do.

The Ukrainian counteroffensive offers Biden a chance to unleash the arsenal of democracy for real. Teach Putin that he no longer sets the parameters of this conflict. Do what it takes to give freedom the upper hand.

Read more:

Putin Plays the Escalation Game - Washington Free Beacon

A post sharing an URL of a purported article published by The Indian Express is being shared on social media claiming that thousands of people were raking in millions of rupees in a new cryptocurrency investment that is said to be advised by the Indian Business Tycoon Gautam Adani. This purported article reported that Gautam Adani, during an interview with Sonal Mehrotra Kapoor on Good Morning India, advised people to invest in a new cryptocurrency auto-trading program called Ethereum Code, for making money in a short time. Lets verify the claim made in the post.

Claim: The Indian Express article that reported a cryptocurrency investment suggested by Gautam Adani.

Fact: The purported Indian Express article shared in the post is from a dubious & fake website. The Indian Express did not publish any such article reporting such a new cryptocurrency investment promoted by Gautam Adani. Gautam Adani did not promote Etherium Code cryptocurrency in any of his interviews. Hence, the claim made in the post is False.

On carefully observing the purported article shared in the post, one can see the masthead of the purported article stating The Indian Expres, which is different from the The Indian Express masthead printed on the original news website. Further, the URL shared in the post indicates that it leads to a dubious phishing website as it is different from the URL of the Indian Express. Also, we could find several grammatical errors in the purported article shared in the post.

On searching for further details regarding this fake website, we found that this fake website with the domain name rsnmdfgh5l.digital was registered on 12 May 2022. The Registrars name was mentioned as NameSilo, LLC. The registrar contact organization was mentioned as See PrivacyGuardian.org. On opening the home page of this website, it states, Were Coming Soon.. Were working on our new website. Join our newsletter and get notifed. So, it can be confirmed from all these details that the purported Indian Express article shared in the post is published by a dubious website.

When we searched to check whether The Indian Express had published any such article reporting the new cryptocurrency investment said to be advised by Gautam Adani, we could not find any such news report on the official website of The Indian Express. Earlier, The Indian Express through the tweets clarified about similar fake articles attributed to the Indian Express on social media. We could not find any video of Money-control Editor, Sonal Mehrotra Kapoor, interviewing Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani. Also, when we searched to check whether Gautam Adani had advised people to invest in Ethereum, we could not find any news report confirming this information.

Ethereum Code is a dubious cryptocurrency trading platform that asks users to provide names and e-mail addresses to join the community. From all these pieces of evidence, it can be concluded that the purported Indian Express article shared in the post is fake.

To sum it up, this purported Indian Express article reporting a new cryptocurrency investment said to be promoted by Gautam Adani is fake.

See the original post:

This purported The Indian Express article reporting a new cryptocurrency investment said to be promoted by Gautam Adani is fake - Factly

Russian officials who appealed to the country's State Duma to remove President Vladimir Putin from power on the charge of high treason say they have been summoned by police for "discrediting" the Russian government.

Nikita Yurefev, a municipal deputy for Smolninskoe in St. Petersburg, and Dmitry Palyuga, another municipal deputy for the area, both shared screenshots of text messages from the city's police department No. 76.

The pair were ordered to make an appearance at a police station located on Mytninskaya Street in St. Petersburg at 9 a.m. local time on Friday, according to the messages.

They were informed that the purpose of the summons was to draw up a protocol on an administrative offense under a stringent new law that cracks down on dissent over the war against Ukraine.

Yurefev and Palyuga were accused of committing actions aimed at discrediting the Russian government, police said.

It comes after Yurefev published a tweet on Wednesday, writing that the Council of the Smolninskoye Municipal District "sent a proposal to the State Duma demanding to remove Putin from office based on the charges of high treason," Newsweek previously reported.

The treason charge appears to be directly related to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which is described as a "special military operation" by Putin.

"His decision to start the Special Military Operation led to 1) deaths of Russian servicemen, 2) problems in the Russian economy, 3) the expansion of NATO (the border with NATO has doubled!," Yurefev's tweet read.

"Ukraine is militarizing and has received $38 billion worth of weapons to fight Russia. All these are the consequences of the decision to start the Special Military Operation. Putin's actions pose a threat to Russia's security. He should be fired! Adopted at a meeting of the Municipal Council of Smolninskoye," a separate tweet states.

Yurefev said that the draft decision proposed to the State Duma was introduced by Palyuga and signed by six other deputies. The pair said the proposal was supported by a majority of deputies present.

Palyuga told Russian-language independent news outlet MediaZona that all seven deputies of Smolninskoye municipality were summoned.

The appeal says that in the course of the war, "young able-bodied" Russian citizens are dying and that the Russian economy is suffering.

Shortly after Russia's invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, deputies of the Smolninskoye municipality called on Putin to "stop the bloodshed, immediately withdraw Russian troops from the territory of Ukraine and resign."

Since the war began, Russia has charged multiple officials and even its own soldiers with "discrediting" the country's armed forces and government.

Russia's parliament passed legislation in March imposing jail terms of up to 15 years for intentionally spreading "fake" news about the country's armed forces. The Kremlin has used the law to crack down on those who veer away from Putin's narrative of the war.

Russia introduced Article 207.3 which states that "public dissemination of deliberately false information about the use of the armed forces of the Russian Federation" is punishable by fines and jail terms of up to three, five, 10 or 15 years.

Article 280.3 was also introduced, which states that "public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the armed forces of the Russian Federation" are punishable by fines and jail terms of either three years, or five years, depending on how damaging the offense committed is considered to be.

Newsweek has contacted Russia's foreign ministry for comment.

Link:

Russian Officials Who Plotted To Overthrow Putin Summoned by Police - Newsweek

So, how should America deal with media that purports to be news but, in fact, is offering a healthy serving of spin, misdirection, and outright lies? if you have any additional ideas, what are they?

Can a nation survive as a democratic republic without an honest and trusted news ecosystem? Is it an actual fact that truthful and reliable news combined with the kind of cultural trust people have in both government and each other as the result of a shared reality are both historic and necessary preconditions for a democracy to work at all?

Thomas Jefferson once famously said that if he was given the ultimatum of choosing to live in a functioning nation without newspapers or a place with newspapers but no national government, hed surely choose the latter.

It was a statement of his generations love of newspapers, literature, and free speech far more than the anti-government spin that rightwingers try for when quoting the author of the Declaration of Independence. No republic in the history of the world had ever survived without an informed, participating electorate, and this nations Founders knew it.

This truth was echoed two generations later when the young French aristocrat, Alexis de Tocqueville, spent half a year traveling America and wrote one of the entire centurys best-selling books, Democracy in America, published in 1833.

Astonished, he repeatedly mentions in the book how blown away he is that the dirt-poorest farmer or remote-hollow hillbilly is as literate and enthusiastic about discussing current world events and politics as an upper-class resident of Paris.

Alexis de Tocqueville concluded that our vibrant, free, trusted press was the one thing that set America apart so democracy could work here; it was so critical, he believed, that he was openly skeptical there were enough literate people or a free enough press in France to be able to safely give up the monarchy and imitate America.

Now, it seems, consolidation and the pouring of billions of dollars by conservative billionaires into our media infrastructure has produced a crisis in Americas democracy.

Its frightening people, and theyre looking for solutions.

The Pew Research Center published a surprising new study this week showing that fully 48% of Americans say the government should take steps to restrict false information, even if it means losing some freedom to access and publish content This is up almost 10% from just four years ago.

Similarly, the percentage of Americans, Pew notes, who say freedom of information should be protected even if it means some misinformation is published online has decreased from 58% to 50%.

Depending on the outlet, news is often skewed (either by omission of stories or simply presenting partial information) even on so-called mainstream media; naked lies told by politicians are only rarely called out; and political advertising today is more often deceptive than straightforward.

And Americans know it, and are sick of it.

A Pew study from last November found that roughly two-thirds of Americans believe theyve seen news media slant stories to favor or disadvantage one political party or point of view. Three-out-of-five people said this was causing a great deal of confusion about issues related, for example, to the last presidential election.

The problem is particularly bad on the conservative side of media, in part because theres only a very limited progressive media ecosystem, and in part because (in my opinion) conservative positions are often so unpopular that lies are necessary to bring voters along.

Who in their right mind, after all, is enthusiastic about voting for politicians whose platform includes defunding the FBI, denying toxin-exposed veterans healthcare, forcing 10-year-olds to carry a rapists baby to term, keeping insulin prices almost 10 times higher than in most other nations, and ending Social Security and Medicare?

No wonder so many rightwing radio, podcast, and cable-TV personalities focus instead on trans girls in sports, refugees from Guatemala, and crimes committed by Black and Brown people.

I have colleagues and acquaintances in conservative media who, in moments of braggadocio or drunken candor, have told me straight-up that they know some of the stories they cover are either lies or spun in ways that distort their actual meaning. Their justification is Socrates noble lie doctrine: that a small lie serving a greater good is not really a sin.

One was both shocked and skeptical when I told him that, to the best of my knowledge, Id never promulgated a lie on the air and, when I do occasionally get things wrong, I always try to correct them on-air as soon as possible.

The nonprofit group Media Matters for America has built a solid following and reputation by almost daily identifying naked lies and half-truths being promulgated on Fox News and other rightwing media. Fox hosts and guests most recent spin, for example, is that the FBI spent Tuesday of this week planting evidence at Trumps Mar-a-Lago home.

Brian Maloney used to run a site called the Radio Equalizer designed to hold lefties to account when they lie on the air and used to occasionally skewer me. He hasnt posted on his blog since 2012, however, and his YouTube channel seems moribund. His latest project, Media Equalizer, seems not so much to hold liberal media to account as to complain about liberal politicians and progressive policies.

Either leftie shows like mine and those on MSNBC are generally truthful, or were so small compared to the multi-billion-dollar conservative empires that populate the American media landscape that were not worth covering.

So, how should America deal with media that purports to be news but, in fact, is offering a grotesque serving of spin, misdirection, and outright lies in addition to the factual news that gains them credibility and underpins their coverage?

This is a really, genuinely tough one. Truth in media laws are a legal and political minefield, particularly when it comes to public policy.

For example, is Medicare Advantage a sneaky way to privatize and thus destroy real Medicare, or an innovation allowing competition in the senior healthcare market?

My opinion is solidly in the former camp, but there are some seniors who simply cant afford the premiums for Medicare and a Medigap plan so, for them, the free Advantage programs are barely but definitely better than nothing at all. My opinion, in other words, isnt necessarily a fact and there are arguable shades of gray around conclusions that can be drawn from the facts themselves.

That said, there are objectively definable lies that are regularly told by so-called conservative media and propaganda outlets run by foreign governments. Not to mention the striking reality that 45% of Americans get much or most of their news from Facebook.

And this is serious stuff. Propaganda and fake news represent an existential threat to liberal democracies. When theres no consensus about shared reality, governance even highly compromised governance becomes nearly impossible.

Today in America (and, increasingly, around the world) advocates of dictatorship and oligarchy are using this device to divide and tear apart liberal democracies, from the Americas to Europe to Australia.

Billionaire oligarch Rupert Murdoch began his rightwing propaganda operation in Australia, throwing that nations political system so deeply into crisis that former Prime Minister Keven Rudd was moved to write an op-ed for the nations largest independent newspaper, The Sydney Morning Herald, in which he chronicles how Australian politics has become vicious, toxic and unstable.

Rudd then asks, The core question is why? and answers his own question unambiguously:

But on top of all the above, while manipulating each of them, has been Rupert Murdoch the greatest cancer on the Australian democracy.

Murdoch is not just a news organisation. Murdoch operates as a political party, acting in pursuit of clearly defined commercial interests, in addition to his far-right ideological world view.

From Australia, Murdoch moved to the UK where he took over numerous newspapers and media outlets, cheerleading for grifter and Trump wannabee Boris Johnson and his Brexit. He then became an American citizen, which let his company legally own US television networks and stations and now lords over Fox News, arguably the second most toxic source of anti-American and white-supremacist propaganda.

In the social media arena, Facebooks owner and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, oversees what is the largest purveyor of news in the world today, including here in the US.

Zuckerberg, the countrys richest millennial, had a secret dinner with Donald Trump during the Trump presidency, and held multiple meetings with rightwing politicians, reporters, op-ed writers and influencers, according to Politico. I can find no record of him having similar private dinners with either Obama or Biden, nor with any groups of progressive journalists, writers, or influencers.

Numerous sources identify Facebook as one of the major hubs of organizing for rightwing events including January 6th, the rise of Qanon, and the contemporary militia and white supremacist Nazi movements.

His company continues to keep a tightly held secret the algorithm which decides which pages and posts get pushed to readers and which dont, thus secretly deciding what types of news and opinion are most heavily spread across America.

Arguably, their dominance of news dissemination makes Rupert Murdoch and Mark Zuckerberg two of the most powerful men in America. Another morbidly rich billionaire, Jeff Bezos, owns The Washington Post, although apparently hasnt personally influenced or interfered with that publications reporting. But the potential is certainly there: he who has the gold makes the rules, as the old saying goes.

To compound the confusion about who to trust in the news business, about two decades ago two reporters for a Fox station in Florida were explicitly told by station management to alter a story about Monsantos recombinant bovine growth hormone to make it friendlier to Monsanto. They complied multiple times until the alterations reached the point where they believed the story was filled with blatant lies and refused to air it.

The Fox station fired them and they sued for wrongful termination. Fox fought the case, arguing that, as their employer, it could tell them what to say and they had to do it to keep their jobs.

A jury awarded them about a half million dollars, but when Fox appealed the case it was reversed (and Fox then went after the reporters for attorneys fees, threatening to bankrupt them). The court explicitly ruled that news organizations can direct their on-air personalities to lie to viewers.

So, what do we do about this?

Al Franken had a novel idea a few years back, suggesting a way to deal with lying politicians like Trump:

Anyone can call the FCC and lodge a complaint. The FCC then presents the complaint to an adjudicative body comprised of three judges appointed by Republicans and three judges appointed by Democrats. If a majority determines that the statement is untrue, the FCC can warn the president. And if he tweets or tells the same lie again on TV or radio or to a newspaper, he can be fined up to $10,000, or 15 percent of his net worth.

The problem, of course, is the old James Madison quote about our not needing laws if men were angels, and its corollary, that those who administer and adjudicate our laws are as potentially corruptible as anybody else.

For example, what if President DeSantis were to hand-pick the six members? As we learned with the board that overseas the Postal Service, there are more than a few people with a D after their names who are just as corrupt as many Rs: would you trust the outcome?

The FCC already has a policy opposing fake or misleading news. As they note on their website:

The FCC is prohibited by law from engaging in censorship or infringing on First Amendment rights of the press. It is, however, illegal for broadcasters to intentionally distort the news, and the FCC may act on complaints if there is documented evidence of such behavior from persons with direct personal knowledge.

That said, the FCC doesnt regulate the content of cable or internet-based programs; content-wise, their authority is pretty much limited to over-the-air broadcast media like radio and TV.

Libel lawsuits are another remedy for the victims of fake news, but theyre extraordinarily difficult to win in the US given our First Amendment protections and the doctrine that public figures generally cant sue for libel at all.

Canada explicitly outlaws fake news, although that hasnt stopped Fox News from popping up on outlets across that country. Their Broadcasting Act explicitly says:

Prohibited Programming Content:

Its nonetheless difficult to enforce on cable or Internet outlets in Canada, and a similar approach here would run afoul of the First Amendments prohibitions on regulation of freedom of speech, or of the press.

Finland has taken an unique approach to the problem of fake news, particularly on social media, by incorporating news and media training into required elementary and secondary school classes. America could consider the same, although, like the snit we just saw about teaching American history or sex education, it would almost certainly provoke squeals of outrage from rightwingers.

But screw them. America is in a crisis right now caused, in large part, by dishonest actors across the rightwing spectrum of our media and social media.

Forty % of Americans dont believe the results of the 2020 election, and nearly half of Republicans think Democrats engage in ritual drinking of childrens blood and worse. There is no corollary or even similar misunderstanding of reality or bizarre set of beliefs among the left or those in the center.

For the moment, media literacy training in schools across America and requiring transparency from social media both things Congress would have to undertake to succeed seem like the best approaches we can take to both protect free speech and diminish the impact of lies and propaganda on American political and social life.

If the Biden administration were to enforce the nations antitrust laws and break up the media conglomerates, or Congress were to bring back the media ownership limits as they were before being gutted in the Telecommunications Act of 1996, either or both would go a long way toward increasing the social and political diversity of voices across our media public squares.

These will all be hard, but theyre important if we value our democratic republic and want it to survive. And theyre just the start: if you have any additional ideas, Id love to hear them.

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Can American Democracy Survive the "Fake News" Crisis - Random Lengths

Hoax stories, frauds, conspiracy theories and rumors have been around for hundreds of years. Anyone can claim that they saw, heard or felt something. However, with the advent of the internet, all this fake news and propaganda can be manufactured and presented as real.

Anyone can use Photoshop to pretend theyre in a luxurious hotel or hanging around with a few celebrities. Angry idealogues can create fake news articles to prove their point in the comment section of a Facebook post. Of course, conspiracy YouTube channels also purposefully present stories and made-up facts to make people believe that the Earth is flat or that lizard people run the world.

However, things can become much worse. Politicians can use the power of propaganda and fake news for their own agenda. The most recent example is the war between Russia and Ukraine. The Russian government is saying that the war and attacks are a hoax, and many people believe that its real, and the footage going viral is made by staged actors.

With all that said, lets look at the top movies about fake news and propaganda, which will help you second guess everything you see or hear online.

The Social Dilemma is at the top of the list. Everyone whos ever used social media in their life needs to watch it. Seriously. It will make you change the way you look at the internet and enhance your understanding of the algorithm and what its trying to make you do.

Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and Instagram are the tech platforms that control the world. The people that work there have control over billions of lives, both directly and indirectly. More than half of the people who have joined extremist groups got directed there because of the algorithm. Countries are creating political disinformation campaigns.

Teenagers and kids using the platforms have poor physical and mental health, and rates of suicide are increasing because of it. The Social Dilemma is a disturbing documentary that will make you throw away your phone, avoid news outlets altogether, and second-guess everything you see online.

After watching the documentary, most people want to become anonymous so that the algorithm doesnt track them anymore. The only way to do that is by using a VPN. Virtual private networks hide your IP address and make you nearly invisible online. Getting a USA VPN is the only line of defense against the trillion-dollar algorithm directed at your brain at every moment.

Twenty years ago, you would never go out with someone you met online. Parents taught their children never to talk to strangers. However, dating apps like Tinder have taken things to a whole new level.

People meet on the app, talk for a while, and get together to have a chat or more. Even though the stigma about dating apps has dropped, The Tinder Swindler shows that there are plenty of people who should never be trusted.

Equipped with a fake name and fake news articles about him being the son of Israels king of diamonds, he bewitched women into falling in love with him. He wore designer clothes on the first date, took them for a ride in his private jet, and lavishly spent in front of his dates.

Soon after, he sent videos claiming he was in trouble, asking for a payment from their credit cards because he didnt want to be tracked. After all, the diamond business is bloody, and he would pay them back immediately. He sent fake checks and fake watches. Then, he went for a new victim. After watching The Tinder Swindler, you will become extra careful when meeting people online.

Inventing Anna is the reverse Tinder Swindler. Instead of a dating app, she uses her social media persona to trick the elites in New York City into thinking that shes an incredibly wealthy German heiress.

Again, social media and the internet play a prominent role in how people perceive her. You can still find the real Anna Delvey on Instagram, which goes on to say just how twisted society has become.

Instead of condemning the behavior of these criminals who created fake identities, people are following them and giving them even more attention. The only thing you can do is to change the way you use and trust the internet and social media overall.

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Top Movies About Fake News and Propaganda - Study Breaks

This film is only available in the United States because of territorial licensing.

A film about Colin Wallace, an intelligence officer who blew the whistle on fake news and was framed for a murder, The Man Who Knew Too Much is a documentary by Michael Oswald about Colin Wallace, a former military intelligence officer involved in psychological operations in Northern Ireland. Colin Wallace spread fake news, created a witchcraft scare, smeared politicians, and attempted to divide and create conflict among communities, organizations, and individuals. He fell out with members of the intelligence community and found himself accused of murder. In conjunction with the public release of the film in October 2021, Colin Wallace has announced legal action against the British Ministry of Defence.

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The Man Who Knew Too Much: Spies, Fake News, and Disinformation - The Epoch Times

The more things change in American politics, the more they stay the same. Thats one possible takeaway from Campaigns, Inc., a new political comedy at TimeLine Theatre Company that marks the playwriting debut of company member Will Allan.

Allans inspiration is the 1934 race for governor of California, and more specifically the work of a duo he identifies as among the first of a new professional breed: the political consultant.

Campaigns, Inc. was the name adopted by the two-person firm of Leone Baxter (Tyler Meredith) and Clem Whitaker (Yuriy Sardarov, late of NBCs Chicago Fire). As the play opens, theyve defected from the campaign of the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor to pitch their services to the Republican incumbent governor, a vulgar blowhard named Frank Merriam (Terry Hamilton), who only ascended to his job upon his predecessors death a few months earlier.

Merriams opponent in the general is Upton Sinclair yes, that Upton Sinclair. The muckraking author of The Jungle, the influential novel about the Chicago stockyards thats made generations of high-school students consider vegetarianism, Sinclair (played here by Anish Jethmalani) was an activist but not a natural politician. He had twice run for office as a Socialist, unsuccessfully. But in 1934, with California still in the throes of the Depression, his E.P.I.C. agenda (End Poverty in California) led him to a surprise landslide victory in the Democratic primary.

At the time, California was a staunchly Republican state a fact that feels so foreign to our current reality that just stating it can get some chuckles from a friendly audience. But Sinclair had both fame and a solid ground game on his side; his campaign had registered more than 300,000 new Democrat voters, and he received more total votes in his primary than Merriam did in his.

Spooked, and willing to do almost anything to avoid the humiliation of handing the state to a Democrat, Merriam is receptive to Baxter and Whitakers overtures. Unable to come up with any real dirt on the principled Sinclair (in a scene that suggests the birth of opposition research), the consultants decide to invent some.

The pair extract nasty passages from Sinclairs books often quoting the stories grotesquely anti-worker captains of industry and printed them on millions of billboards and direct-mail flyers as if they were quotes from Sinclair himself. They enlisted the political editor of the then-conservative Los Angeles Times to print false attacks on Sinclair while also writing speeches for Merriam. Eventually, anti-union movie mogul Louis B. Mayer signed on to create phony, scripted anti-Sinclair newsreels to run before MGM movies.

Candidate Upton Sinclair (Anish Jethmalani) speaks to the people about how his E.P.I.C. plan will improve California in Campaigns, Inc. at TimeLine Theatre.

That this sophisticated of a smear campaign really was deployed many decades before cable news and social media is fascinating history. But the tactics werent new, even if their scale was. What was new, Allans script suggests a little too subtly, is Baxter and Whitakers amoral, party-agnostic attitude toward their work.

Particularly in the scenes between Baxter and Whitaker, Campaigns, Inc. takes on the flavor of the kind of screwball comedy that was popular at the movies in the 1930s. You can understand Allans impulse. The real-life Whitaker eventually divorced his first wife to marry the widowed Baxter, and appealing actors Meredith and Sardarov have the kind of timing and chemistry that you could see slotting right into a period piece, say, the Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert roles in 1934s It Happened One Night.

And yet, in Allans script and in director Nick Bowlings staging, Whitaker and Baxters story often seems to take a backseat to competing interests. As if bound by the old FCC fairness doctrine, Campaigns, Inc. is determined to allot equal time to Hamiltons cartoon-villain Merriam and Jethmalanis too-good-for-this-world Sinclair.

And for some reason, Allan gives far too much focus to Charlie Chaplin. Sinclair was friendly with the silent film legend, played here by Dave Honigman, but Allan makes Chaplin and his own anxieties about a changing Hollywood too prominent. Despite Honigmans engaging performance, Chaplin feels like a distraction.

The number of Depression-era boldface names who played a part in this election is interesting, sure. (Allan even includes a cameo by early film royalty Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford that I suspect will fly over the heads of most audience members.) But Baxter and Whitaker should be the stars here. Ive checked the latest polls, and what Campaigns, Inc. could use is a tighter focus on its central characters mercenary motivations.

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Early days of 'fake news' fuel the politics of 'Campaigns, Inc.' at TimeLine Theatre - Chicago Sun-Times