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    • Showing only topics in ~society with the tag "politics.usa". Back to normal view / Search all groups

    18. PSA: Disinformation and the over-representation of false flag events on social media.

      Text 220 words
      I've noticed lately that on certain social media websites, particularly Reddit and Facebook, there has been an uptick in articles about fake hate crimes and false rape reports. The comments on...

      I've noticed lately that on certain social media websites, particularly Reddit and Facebook, there has been an uptick in articles about fake hate crimes and false rape reports. The comments on these articles especially fan the flames on the subjects of homophobia, racism, and sexism. While the articles themselves are still noteworthy and deserving of attention, the amount of attention that they've been receiving has been disproportionately high (especially when considering how fairly unknown the individuals involved are) and the discourse on those articles particularly divisive.

      On top of that, there are clear disinformation campaigns going on to attack current Democratic presidential candidates in the U.S. It seems pretty clear that we're having a repeat of the last presidential election, with outside parties stoking the flames of discrimination and disinformation on social media in order to further ideological divisions, and the consumers of that media readily falling for it.

      I would caution readers to be mindful of the shifting representation of historically controversial or contentious topics moving forward. Even if the articles themselves are solidly factual, take note of how frequently you're seeing these articles, whether or not they're known to be contentious topics, and how they're affecting online discourse.

      In short: make sure that you can still smell bullshit even when it's dressed up in pretty little facts.

      30 votes

    48. What would happen if the US House of Representatives decided to investigate sitting Senators?

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      The current US Senate majority continues to support the president. However, the current president may have been compromised by the Russian government. The connections that several senators have to...

      The current US Senate majority continues to support the president. However, the current president may have been compromised by the Russian government.

      The connections that several senators have to Russia (Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul, to name two) raise the very real possibility that the current Republican majority in the Senate owes its existence to Russian help.

      The FBI, a renewed Republican target, has suggested as much in briefings given to that same U.S. Congress.

      What are the chances of the House investigating sitting menbers of Senate, and what twists and turns might occur should it happen?

      9 votes