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What was the single most impactful piece of disinformation spread during the last election cycle? I think the answer to that question would obviously be the Ste
by zaroth 6y ago
What was the single most impactful piece of disinformation spread during the last election cycle? I think the answer to that question would obviously be the Steele Dossier.
I'm much less concerned about foreign actors directly spreading disinformation than domestic actors amplifying disinformation that happens to align to their beliefs.
The "Russian troll on social media" seems like a total boogeyman to me. I'm not saying it doesn't happen at all, but that it's so negligible that the level of hand-wringing around it becomes its own kind of disinformation.
The Steele Dossier was mainly based on Russian sources, but amplified by a national media blinded by their hunger for anything to attack Trump. But I have a hard time laying the blame for this on "the Russians". I blame the people with a large national audiences that lent credence to the conspiracy.
- quickthrowman 6y ago> What was the single most impactful piece of disinformation spread during the last election cycle? I think the answer to that question would obviously be the Steele Dossier. You mean the dossier that Buzzfeed News published on January 10th, 2017[0], which was over two months after the election? This would’ve been the first time voters had a chance to see it, which I remind you was after they already voted in the election. How then, did it influence the 2016 election? [0]https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/kenbensinger/these-reports-allege-trump-has-deep-ties-to-russia https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/kenbensinger/these-repo...
- zaroth 6y agoYou’re right and it clearly didn’t influence the election. I meant to say the single most significant piece of misinformation since the last election.