Joe the Rapist is determined to get us in a hot war with the Soviet Union
Do you think the Russians are serious when they threaten to nuke the US if the US sends high-grade weapons to Ukraine?Looks like somebody is having a "senior moment."
The Ukraine biolab conspiracy theory quickly went viral. It took weeks to pinpoint the source.
On the eve of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a post baselessly suggesting the Kremlin was targeting U.S.-run bioweapons labs began to gain steam on Twitter. Fact-checkers quickly identified the claim as false, but within days it went viral, eventually reaching Tucker Carlson’s prime-time show on Fox News and being amplified by the Russian government.
A pair of anonymous social media accounts were initially identified as the origin of the conspiracy theory. It wasn’t until just this week that researchers said they found the exact source.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) said Tuesday that a Virginia man with ties to extremist ideology QAnon was behind not only those accounts but a series of others that have amplified conspiracy theories about the war, which have come to dominate portions of the Internet.
The findings illustrate how the claim morphed into a perfect storm: the bogus post got traction on a prominent platform before its moderators stepped in, and then gained new life by hopping between sites and feeding off other conspiracy theories.
“The discovery highlights how a fringe QAnon figure, harnessing the power of social media, sparked a viral conspiracy theory that — in just a few weeks — made its way from QAnon to the world stage,” ADL wrote in a post summarizing its findings.
According to ADL’s Center on Extremism, Jacob Creech created a slew of anonymous accounts under aliases like “WarClandestine” and “BioClandestine” and posted about the theory across major platforms, including Twitter, TikTok, Reddit, Facebook and Telegram.
Creech did not return a request for comment sent to his LinkedIn account, but on Tuesday he publicly disclosed his full name and identified himself as the source of the viral Twitter post while appearing on a broadcast for Infowars, a fringe show that dabbles in conspiracy theories. Creech later referenced appearing on the show on one of his anonymous Telegram accounts.
Hill said the claims are particularly pernicious because they misrepresent real facts (that Ukraine has biological research facilities supported by countries including the United States) to create the illusion of something more nefarious (that the labs work on bioweapons).
“The mixture of truth, and fiction, it's hard to separate out, and I think that is one of the biggest challenges,” she said.
As Poynter noted in a fact-check of these claims, “These labs work with a number of pathogens, including the ones that cause anthrax, plague and hemorrhagic fever in humans. They study viruses that affect birds and pigs. That does not make them bioweapon facilities.”
The bioweapons claim has become a staple of the talking points used by the Kremlin to justify Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“While Russia has peddled false claims about U.S. biolabs in the past, Creech’s thread helped revive a languishing Russian disinformation narrative, providing the Kremlin with another explanation to justify its invasion of Ukraine,” ADL wrote in its blog post Tuesday.
Not only did the conspiracy theory get a boost from the Russian government and prominent conservative media figures like Carlson, but it also gained a foothold among those who believe in conspiracy theories tied to QAnon and covid-19.
“As the war in Ukraine rages on, the biolab conspiracy has quickly emerged as the prevailing narrative among QAnon adherents to explain Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” ADL wrote. “Not only does it ‘justify’ the invasion in their eyes, it also validates their belief that Covid-19 is a U.S.-created bioweapon.”
Please provide a link that shows this was previously acknowledged by the US Department of Defense.Seriously, Jefferson? This is not news.
In fact it was deniedPlease provide a link that shows this was previously acknowledged by the US Department of Defense.
I wonder that so many Americans seem unbothered about so much ongoing evidence of lying by so many government officials.
They only care if it can be used to smear TrumpI wonder that so many Americans seem unbothered about so much ongoing evidence of lying by so many government officials.
We know how that 'aid' business works by examining how aid was designed and sent to Ukraine during the Obama administration. First, Obama agreed to allow Putin to invade Ukraine in 2014 by disregarding the Budapest Memorandum signed by Bill Clinton. Here are details:Sure hope 10% is going to the big guy
Biden announces $1.2B in additional Ukraine aid
Biden announces $1.2B in additional Ukraine aid
President Biden announced that another $1.2 billion in defensive and humanitarian aid will be provided to Ukraine as the war brutal war with Russia continues.www.foxnews.com
We're seeing it here in person with the bananahead and rusha. Unable to think on their own they're repeating the same talking points that I see on leftist sites on Reddit and Facebook and other social media platformsHow the US government and other countries manipulate public opinion. This is a study done at Oxford on media and the internet by having government employees pose as Joe Citizens repeating the government's propaganda.
Conservative radio talk show hosts reported this happening during the Clinton years and said it was very obvious who they were as they all read from the same scripts and said exactly the same things.
That's not the same thing as the study describes. It describes intentional, deliberate misleading of the public by government employees and media sources to shape public opinion.We're seeing it here in person with the bananahead and rusha. Unable to think on their own they're repeating the same talking points that I see on leftist sites on Reddit and Facebook and other social media platforms
The article focused on the explosion of social media propaganda just in the last 10 years. Clearly, the US has been under assault from liars and manipulators desiring to promote themselves and their agenda over the ideas and agendas of others. Most mainstream media and social outlets in America have been proven to be propagandists for the democrat party. That is sad and is doing great damage to the fabric holding America together as one nation under God.How the US government and other countries manipulate public opinion. This is a study done at Oxford on media and the internet by having government employees pose as Joe Citizens repeating the government's propaganda.
Conservative radio talk show hosts reported this happening during the Clinton years and said it was very obvious who they were as they all read from the same scripts and said exactly the same things.
Anybody who is OK with this global disorder is an absolute anarchist who believes that endless war is the ideal state for Man.Putin has just announced a 40% reduction in natural gas flows to Germany. As their gas prices have already tripled in the last three months German politicians are going to find out just how expensive it is to be the US lap dog.
I feel for the common man as they are the ones who are going to be paying the price for what their leaders have done to them.
Meet The New Boss; Putin Reroutes Critical Hydrocarbons Eastward Leaving Europe High-and-Dry
'Rejection of Russian energy resources means that Europe will become the region with the highest energy costs in the world. This will seriously undermine the competitiveness of European industry which is already losing the competition to companies in other parts of the world.... Our Western...www.unz.com